Before we begin – A guide to planning your study This guide is taken from Statistics without Math by Magnusson and Mourao

“I have not met anyone who could develop an understanding of any area of statistics without performing many analyses of actual sets of data – preferably data that were truly important for him.” – Harris 1975

A guide to planning your study Are you ready to start collecting data? If you reply “yes” to all of these questions, you do not need to take this class.

Have you decided what the target of your study is (the dependent variable)? Can your dependent variable be measured objectively, and have you asked other researchers whether they consider your measure objective? Have you consulted with all of the other members of your research team to make sure they have the same aims? Have you drawn a flow chart that shows which variables influence the dependent variable and the relationships among the independent variables? Are all members of the team collecting data on the same scale and from the same places so that the results can be integrated at the end?

Have you decided what your universe of interest is and do all of the team members agree on this? Have you optimized the size, shape, orientation and distribution of your sampling units so that variability in the dependent variable is due mainly to the independent variables you are investigating? (i.e. do you have adequate control?)

8. Is the scale of your sampling appropriate to the scale of your question(s)? 9. Have you decided whether you are interested mainly in direct effects, indirect effects, or overall effects? 10. Have you decided whether your results will be used mainly for estimating whether an effect exists, estimating the magnitude of an effect under present conditions, or predicting what will happen if conditions change? 11. Do you feel confident that your statistics training has prepared you to undertake the operations described above?

12. If you answered “yes” to question 11, have you consulted with a statistician and shown them the results of all the operations listed above to make sure you are not fooling yourself? 13. Based on those operations, do you feel confident that your statistics training has prepared you to choose the appropriate analysis before going to the field or lab? 14. Will using these statistics help you communicate with your target audience?