ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explains the 5 things we need to know about statistics, but, of course, some preliminary considerations are necessary before one applies statistical thinking. The aim of the book is to help researchers to improve the quality of their fieldwork through better integration of qualitative and quantitative methods. The book suggests that there are five basic concepts that lay the foundation for much of the way anthropologists and other social scientists use statistics and numerical inference in the research. These five basic concepts include the mean, the standard deviation, the logic of statistical significance testing using the chi-square, the logic of statistical significance testing using the analysis of variance and the correlation coefficient. Beyond the 5 things need to know is the logic of incorporating quantitative methods and data into ethnographic research.
