Resource Library

This resource defines what a p-value is, why .05 is significant, and when to use it. It also covers related topics such as one-tailed/two-tailed tests and hypothesis testing.

This resource defines and explains variance and standard deviation.

This website helps students learn concepts underlying statistical inference, through the simulation software, Sampling SIM. This software lets students explore sampling distributions by building population distributions, taking random samples, and exploring the behavior of sampling distributions and confidence intervals. The site includes instructional modules and assessment instruments. Key words: measures of center, sampling, sampling distribution, confidence interval, p-values, power

Statistics is a poem by Canadian physician Neil Harding McAlister (1952 - ). The poem contains material that can help with class discussions about sample surveys, medical experiments, and significance testing.

This applet simulates and plots the sampling distribution of various statistics (i.e. mean, standard deviation, variance). The applet allows the user to specify the population distribution, sample size, and statistic. An animated sample from the population is shown and the statistic is plotted. This can be repeated to produce the sampling distribution of the statistic. After the sampling distribution is plotted it can be compared to a normal distribution by overlaying a normal curve. These features make it useful for introducing students in a first course to the idea of a sampling distribution. The site also includes instructions and exercises. Also available at: http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~dinov/courses_students.dir/Applets.dir/SamplingDistributionApplet.html

The applets in this section of Statistical Java allow you to see how the Central Limit Theorem works. The main page gives the characteristics of five non-normal distributions (Bernoulli, Poisson, Exponential, U-shaped, and Uniform). Users then select one of the distributions and change the sample size to see how the distribution of the sample mean approaches normality. Users can also change the number of samples. To select between the different applets you can click on Statistical Theory, the Central Limit Theorem and then the Main Page. At the bottom of this page you can make your applet selection. This page was formerly located at http://www.stat.vt.edu/~sundar/java/applets/

This resource contains a broad range of information concerning statistics. It is divided up into 18 chapters and also includes links to other resources pertaining to statistics.

This goal of this resource is to aid in the understanding of the relationship between statistics and the scientific method and how it applies to psychology and the behavioral sciences. The learner will learn how to read and understand the statistics presented in the professional literature and will learn how to calculate and communicate statistical information to others.

A pinch of probability is worth a pound of perhaps. A quote by American humorist and cartoonist James Thurber (1894 - 1961). The quote appeared in "Such a Phrase as Drifts Through Dreams," a short story in Thurber's last book, "Lanterns and Lances", Harper Publishing, 1961. The quote also appears in "Statistically Speaking: A dictionary of quotations" compiled by Carl Gaither and Alma Cavazos-Gaither.

This applet allows you to explore the validity of confidence intervals on a proportion with various values for sample size (N) and population proportion (Pi). After you specify N, Pi, the level of confidence, and the number of simulations you wish to perform, the applet samples data according to your specification and computes a confidence interval for each simulation. The proportion of simulations for which the confidence interval contains Pi is recorded. If the method for constructing confidence intervals is valid, then about 95% of the 95% confidence intervals should contain Pi.