"Written in a humorous and encouraging style, this text shows how the most common statistical tools can be used to answer interesting real-world questions, presented as mysteries to be solved. Engaging research examples lead the reader through a series of six steps, from identifying a researchable problem to stating a hypothesis, identifying independent and dependent variables, and selecting and interpreting appropriate statistical tests. All techniques are demonstrated both manually and with the help of SPSS software. The book provides students and others who may need to read and interpret statistically based research with the essential knowledge and skills needed to make decisions based on data."--Pub. desc.

Introduction: you do not need to be a statistician to understand statistics! -- Identifying a research problem and stating hypotheses -- Identifying the independent and dependent variables in a hypothesis -- Measures of dispersion and measures of relative standing -- Graphically describing the dependent variable -- Choosing the right statistical test -- The one sample t-test -- The independent sample t-test -- The dependent sample t-test -- The analysis of variance -- The chi-square tests -- The correlational procedures -- Conclusion: have we accomplished what we set out to do?.