ASA Connect

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

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Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
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I suggest The Analysis of Biological Data by Whitlock and Schluter. The have an accompanying website for the book that gives you an idea of what they cover. It's easy to read and has a lot of interesting examples. I think it would be a great statistics resource for any aspiring biologist or psychologist.

I have to tip the hat to Frank Harrell who listed it as recommended reading for his Biostatistics for Biomedical Research course. That's where I first heard about it. 


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Clay Ford
Statistical Research Consultant
University of Virginia Library
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2022 10:23
From: Achut Adhikari
Subject: Intro Statistics Books

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

------------------------------
Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
------------------------------

Hi Achut,
This might be a good start for your biology students:  https://www.openintro.org/book/biostat/
It's from the Open Intro folks.
(Sorry if a double-reply pops up somewhere, I replied a minute ago but am not seeing the message.)
Best,
Glen




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Glen Wright Colopy
DPhil Oxon
The Data & Science Podcast / LifeBell AI
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2022 10:23
From: Achut Adhikari
Subject: Intro Statistics Books

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

------------------------------
Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
------------------------------

Hi Achut,

Learning Statistics with JASP is a free textbook covering the basics of statistical inference for beginners in psychology and related applied disciplines. It uses the free software package JASP. Written in a lively, conversational style, it provides the reader with a perfect balance of readability and rigor, and gives students a modern view of statistical inference in the psychological and behavioral sciences.

Best,
Alejandro

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Alejandro Espinoza Olazaba
Graduate Student
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2022 10:23
From: Achut Adhikari
Subject: Intro Statistics Books

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

------------------------------
Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
------------------------------

Choice will depend somewhat on the level of your students and what you are trying to accomplish.
My kids took a general stats course with Moore & McCabe, which seemed to work just fine.
If you are looking for a general linear modeling approach you can try coursekata.org.

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Michael Granaas
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2022 10:23
From: Achut Adhikari
Subject: Intro Statistics Books

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

------------------------------
Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
------------------------------

I enjoyed my dissertation work observing an Intro Psych course using https://www.cengage.com/c/understanding-statistics-in-the-behavioral-sciences-10e-pagano/9780357670804PF/

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Beverly Wood
Associate Professor
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2022 10:23
From: Achut Adhikari
Subject: Intro Statistics Books

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

------------------------------
Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
------------------------------

Most of my intro to stats students are Pre-Med/Nursing or Business. So, they have little to no calculus training.

I don't get a say in what textbook I use. However, I do take the material in the book, and make up example problems based upon business and medicine discussions. I skip the pointless material, like "normal approximation methods" because the students have a calculator. I make them use it. I cover 5-6 different probability distributions (Normal, Log-Normal, Poisson, Binomial, Exponential and Triangular) and give them all equal weight in the first half of class. 

I also cover material up to multiple logistic regression. I might add in survival analysis too. 

I give 2 big exams and one comprehensive final. The first exam is over probability. The second is over the "stats" stuff. This frees up several days of class time. It also gives them time to soak in the information.   

I don't expect "mastery". (Some of my colleagues don't have "mastery" of stats, yet they "teach" it.) In the real world, they can look up things. I'd rather have a former student look up a YouTube video on how to do multiple linear regression in Excel, because they kinda remember doing it in my class, than to have them use multiple simple linear regressions, because they don't know MLR even exists. 

As a graduate student in biological sciences, as one who took some graduate level psychology stats classes too, I cover the minimum amount of material to make UG research and even grad level research better.

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Andrew Ekstrom

Statistician, Chemist, HPC Abuser;-)
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2022 10:23
From: Achut Adhikari
Subject: Intro Statistics Books

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

------------------------------
Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
------------------------------

Greetings!!

Speaking as a student, I found the OpenIntro Statistics (4th edition) to be quite beneficial, regardless of major. It has optional labs for those wanting to work with software, additional slide presentations, and videos to assist with understanding the material. In addition, the book is free if kept as an electronic copy, or a hardcopy can be purchased for about $20. 

In the text, it covers much of the calculus involved and summarizes the formulas. My professor has a background in mathematics and was able to elaborate further with the calculus side, but I feel that would be optional.

Check out the textbook and resources below:
OpenIntro Statistics

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cody Williams
Roanoke College - Student
B.S. in Data Science
Concentrations in Statistics and Sports Analytics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-17-2022 10:23
From: Achut Adhikari
Subject: Intro Statistics Books

Dear ASA Community,

I am looking for some textbooks that can be used to teach intro stat to Psychology and Biology major undergraduate students. Any intro stat book with psychology and / or biology applications would be preferred. I would appreciate your suggestions in this matter.

------------------------------
Sincerely,

Achut Adhikari
Miami University
------------------------------