YouTube Presentation: http://bit.ly/GradTrackStatistics2018 Dr. Gary Burns, Professor, School of Psychology, Florida Institute of Technology, Evans Library GradTrack Workshop

1. Getting Started with
Statistics
Gary Burns
gburns@fit.edu
Professor
School of Psychology
(don’t be afraid)

2. Outline
Interpreting Statistics
Putting Statistics into Context
Statistics Resources to Use
Board Games
(not necessarily in that order)

3. Why do you want to get
started in statistics?

5. Purpose of Statistics
Organize Data
Summarize Data
Interpret Data

7. How many
people do I
tend to play
Board Games
with?

8. Did moving to Florida interrupt my
Board Game Playing Schedule?

9. Who plays more games, Page or Mindy?

10. What is Mélanie’s favorite game?

11. Why does Scott spend so much
more time playing Dominos
than his other games?
6
6.5
7
7.5
8
8.5
9
9.5
10
10.5
Dominos 7th Continent Terraforming Mars
HoursSpentPlaying

12. What game should I buy next?
Title Avg.
Rating
Num.
Voters
Deep Madness: Rise of
Dagon(2017) 10 2
Twilight Imperium: Fourth
Edition(2017) 8.80 3899
Wander: The Cult of
Barnacle Bay 8.80 27
Pandemic Legacy: Season
1 (2015) 8.498 27,385

13. Lessons from Board Games
 We need to…
be specific with the questions that we are asking.
make sure that the data can answer our questions.
be careful not to misinterpret or misrepresent the
data.
remember the limitations of our data.

14. Purpose of Statistics
Organize Data
Summarize Data
Interpret Data

15. The 5 Questions Data Science Answers
 Question 1: Is this A or B?
 Question 2: Is this weird?
 Question 3: How much? Or how many?
 Question 4: How is this organized?
 Question 5: What should I do now?
(a Microsoft perspective for folks
less obsessed with board games)

16. Gary’s Steps to Move
Forward with Statistics
Learn about data!
Understand sampling error and
corresponding standard errors
Grasp statistical significance
Know what statistical test to use
Search for the
^
tests

17. Keeping it Simple
 What do we want to know about?
 Type of data?
 How is our data structured?

18. Keeping it Simple
 What do we want to know about?
 Sample (descriptive statistics)
 Population (inferential statistics)
 Type of Data
 How is our data structured?

19. Sampling Error
and Standard Error

20. Keeping it Simple
 What do we want to know about?
 Type of Data
 Nominal
 Ordinal
 Interval
 Ratio
 How is our data structured?

21. Keeping it Simple
 What do we want to know about?
 Type of Data
 How is our data structured?
 One group of objects with one score per object
 One group of objects with two or more variables
measured for each object
 Two or more groups of objects with the same
variable(s) measured

22. One group of objects with one score per
object
 Typically describing something
 Descriptive statistics include frequencies, proportions, percentages, mean,
median, and mode
 Example Inferential Statistics Questions
 Is this sample different from a known population value? (single-sample t-test)
 Do these frequencies adhere to a uniform distribution or do they follow a normal
curve distribution? (chi—square good of fit)

23. One group of objects with two or more
variables measured for each object
 Describe and evaluate the relationship between variables
 Descriptive statistics include (previous slide) + correlation coefficients and
regression coefficients
 Example Inferential Statistics Questions
 Does the distribution of frequencies depend on the level of another variable? (chi-
square test of independence)
 Can we predict the value of one variable from another variable? (regression)
 Are these numerical scores related to a dichotomous variable? (point-biserial
correlation coefficient)

24. Two or more groups of objects with the
same variable(s) measured
 Describe and evaluate differences between groups of scores
 Descriptive statistics will primarily be means, median, mode, and categories
 Inferential statistics
 Are two groups different from each other? (independent-measures t-test)
 Did two groups develop differently over time? (repeated-measures ANOVA)
 Is the rank order of one group different than the rank order of another group?
(Mann-Whitney U test)

25. Two or more groups of objects with the
same variable(s) measured
 Describe and evaluate differences between groups of scores
 Descriptive statistics will primarily be means, median, mode, and categories
 Inferential statistics
 Mann-Whitney U – evaluates rank order differences between two groups
 Kruskal-Wallis Test – evaluates group differences for more than two groups
 Friedman Test – evaluate repeated measurements across groups
 Chi-square Test for Independence - test if frequencies on one variable depend on
the level of a another variable
(^ these are for nominal or ordinal data)

26. Lots of tools like this online
(the link just googles “choosing the right
inferential test” and goes straight to the pictures)

27. Machine Learning Blog: Which Algorithm
Family Can Answer My Question?

28. xkcd: A
webcomic
of
Romance,
Sarcasm,
Math, and
Language

29. Common Data Analysis Programs
 Excel
 SPSS or programs like SAS, Minitab, MATLAB,…
 JASP – Developed as a free, open-source alternative to SPSS
 R – free software environment for statistical computing and graphics
 Platform independent
 Consistently in the top programs languages identified by IEEE
 Data scientists report Python and R are the most common programs they use
 Survey of technology professionals name R as the highest-paying skill

30. R you interested?
 R was designed by statisticians
 Freely available and has add-ons
to meet your needs
 R Studio – makes R easier to use
 Shiny – web applications for
visualizing data
 R Packages – users develop
packages to meet their needs
 But it does have a steep learning
curve
Not only is Dr. Joe Houpt
really tall, he also authored
the sft package (Functions for
Systems Factorial Technology
Analysis of Data)

31. Online Resources for R

32. Resources for R

33. Campus Resources for Getting Started
with Statistics

35. Campus Resources for Getting Started
with Statistics Building 405
Academic Quad, West
entrance. See
on Google Maps.

36. MAC
 Open M-F 9-5 (MTF)/6:30 (WTh)
 Walk Ins Welcome!
 Priority does go to students in math classes!
 Offers tutoring for
 Algebra, Precalc, Calc 1, 2, and 3
 Differential Equations
 Probability and Statistics
 Complex Variables
 Intro to PDE
 Discrete Math
 Models in Applied Math
 Functions and Modeling

37. Campus Resources for Getting Started
with Statistics
 Bleakley
 Bolton
 Bostater
 Burns
 Carney
 Conradt
 Converse
 Mingareev
 Nezamoddini-
Kachouie
 Park
 Smith
 Wang
 Deaton
 Dshalalow
 Edkins
 Gallo
 Gates
 Jensen
 Mesa Arango

38. Special Thanks To!
(click for links)
Facebook’s The Board Game Group users who
shared their BG Stats screen shots with me.
Local game shop at 3020
W. New Haven Ave. –
they have a library of
games that you can stop
by and play – open late
Thursdays!
My Wife for
Supporting My
Hobby! (no link)
JASP