Statistics in Psychology: An Historical Perspective

by Michael Cowles

Overview

This book presents an historical overview of the field--from its development to the present--at an accessible mathematical level. This edition features two new chapters--one on factor analysis and the other on the rise of ANOVA usage in psychological research.

Written for psychology, as well as other social science students, this book introduces the major personalities and their roles in the development of the field. It provides insight into the disciplines of statistics and experimental design through the examination of the character of its founders and the nature of their views, which were sometimes personal and ideological, rather than objective and scientific. It motivates further study by illustrating the human component of this field, adding dimension to an area that is typically very technical.

Intended for advanced undergraduate and/or graduate students in psychology and other social sciences, this book will also be of interest to instructors and/or researchers interested in the origins of this omnipresent discipline.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135660888
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/11/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Authored by Cowles, Michael

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface. The Development of Statistics. Science, Psychology and Statistics. Measurement. The Organization of Data. Probability. Distributions. Practical Inference. Sampling and Estimation. Sampling Distributions. Comparisons, Correlations, and Predictions. Factor Analysis. The Design of Experiments. Assessing Differences and Having Confidence. Treatments and Effects: The Rise of ANOVA. The Statistical Hotpot.

Editorial Reviews

Presents a historical overview of the field at an accessible mathematical level, for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in psychology and other social sciences. Delves into topics such as measurement, distribution, sampling, experimental design, and other statistical techniques found in basic texts. Also introduces major personalities and their role in the development of the field, showing that their views were sometimes personal and ideological rather than objective and scientific. This second edition features new chapters on factor analysis and ANOVA. The author is affiliated with York University, Toronto. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"The book is chock-full of interesting facts and tidbits and this along with the author's highly readable writing style makes the book difficult to put down. Mathematical level required is minimal and is highly recommended reading for students and teachers of statistics."
—The American Statistician

"...Cowles' book provides a convenient and readable account of the history of statistics. Indeed, because the study of variability is, as he points out in his opening sentence, a central concern of the life sciences, and also because he provides few concrete examples from psychology itself, his book will be of interest to anyone who uses statistics in their work."
—Journal of History of the Neurosciences

From the Publisher