ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 begins the introduction to statistics. Measurement accuracy is among the first concerns. Because the level of the measurements taken and the validity and reliability of the measures influence many statistical decisions that researchers make, these issues are discussed in detail. Once the data are shown to be trustworthy (that is, they are reliable and valid), aspects that the researcher must consider regarding the types of statistical procedures to use are presented. Statistics are often compartmentalized into descriptive, correlational, or inferential, although these categories often overlap. The remaining chapters in this textbook focus on these various types of statistics. In this chapter, an introduction to the SPSS and RStudio computer statistical programs is also made.
