Short Course: Introductory Statistics for Researchers Using SPSS

Course Overview

This workshop is designed as an introduction to statistical analysis for researchers. There is emphasis on understanding the concepts of statistical procedures (with a minimum of mathematics, although some will be discussed) and on interpreting computer output. It is designed to help you, the researcher. It is helpful if you have done an undergraduate statistics subject, although this workshop can serve as a first introduction or a refresher. The theory behind the statistical procedures will, in general, not be discussed. A range of statistical analyses will be discussed in the workshop, as described in the outline below. We will talk through examples of all analysis types and will demonstrate how to carry them out in SPSS. Equal emphasis will also be put on interpreting the output of these analyses. There will be plenty of practical work.

Course outline

Revision

• SPSS basics
• Descriptive statistics – mean, mode, standard deviation, inter-quartile range, correlation
• Data visualisation - boxplot, histogram, scatterplot, bar graph

Introduction to statistical inference

• Uncertainty, confidence intervals, p-values, significance
• T-test (comparing two groups)
• Checking model assumptions

Analysis of continuous responses with linear models

• Simple linear regression
• Regression with a categorical predictor (aka. ANOVA)
• Multiple regression (aka. ANCOVA)

Analysis of categorical responses

• Relative risk, odds ratios
• Chi-square test
• Logistic regression

Accessibility

This is an in person course. If you wish to participate, but in person attendance is not accessible to you (e.g. you have hearing or vision impairment, parenting responsibilities, live too far) please email Gordana (g.popovic@unsw.edu.au) to arrange online attendance. The virtual component will be run using Zoom, and closed captions will be activated on request.

Slides are in PDF format, exercises are in R markdown, and both will be downloadable in advance. If HTML slides and alt text are needed to assist accessibility we will make every effort to provide these, please let us know well in advance. Lectures will be recorded, and available for a week following the workshop. Please email Gordana g.popovic@unsw.edu.au with any questions or requests.

SPSS skills

We do not require you to have any prior skills in SPSS, and we will spend the first morning getting with some very basic SPSS skills, just enough to participate in this course. Resources include SPSS Tutorials and UCLA Institute for Digital Education and Research SPSS pages.

Date: Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 August 2024 (3 days)

Duration: 9.30am to 4.00pm - each day

Location: K-D26-G07 - Bioscience G07, this workshop will be delivered mainly in person with limited remote access. We highly encourage you to attend in person.

Prerequisite: You will be expected to watch this seminar on study design and statistical principles ahead of the course.

SPSS access: If you have a UNSW zID you can access SPSS through myAccess. If you do not have a UNSW zID, we cannot provide access to SPSS.

Course requirements: You will need to bring and use your own computer during the workshop.

You will receive a certificate of completion for the course.

Note: If you have a funding support and would like to pay by "Internal Funding Payment", please contact us stats.central@unsw.edu.au

FAQs

How can I contact the organiser with any questions?

Please send us an email at: stats.central@unsw.edu.au