Graduate students and their use of statistical knowledge in educational psychology.

This work describes the use of statistics made by graduate students in the field of Educational Psychology at the National Pedagogical University, when writing their theses or dissertations in support of their candidature for a degree of professional qualification. The results show that, in general, the thesis writers used statistical analyses when their investigation required them; however, it was found that students mainly have the following difficulties: a) their choice of a suitable statistical test concerning their objective of research; b) the way of interpreting data; c) selection of the design consistent with their objectives; d) in their comprehension of the meaning of some statistical concepts; e) in their decision use of charts or graphs. Finally the work concludes by discussing the pertinence of the contents, strategies and procedures of instruction and evaluation of courses in statistics.