This worksheet provides you with experience in calculating (by hand or using Excel®) formulas from the weekly readings. Using these formulas and performing these calculations provides you with an understanding of how and why statistical formulas work and what they mean. This worksheet also provides you the opportunity to interpret results in the context of specific problems, which assists you in critically evaluating current research in your field.

Descriptive and inferential statistics are two broad categories in the field of statistics. In this blog post, I show you how both types of statistics are important for different purposes. Interestingly, some of the statistical measures are similar, but the goals and methodologies are very different.
Descriptive Statistics
Image of a person holding a pen with a calculator and graphs.
Both descriptive and inferential statistics help make sense out of row after row of data!

Use descriptive statistics to summarize and graph the data for a group that you choose. This process allows you to understand that specific set of observations.

Difference between Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Descriptive statistics describe a sample. That’s pretty straightforward. You simply take a group that you’re interested in, record data about the group members, and then use summary statistics and graphs to present the group properties. With descriptive statistics, there is no uncertainty because you are describing only the people or items that you actually measure. You’re not trying to infer properties about a larger population.

The process involves taking a potentially large number of data points in the sample and reducing them down to a few meaningful summary values and graphs. This procedure allows us to gain more insights and visualize the data than simply pouring through row upon row of raw numbers!
Common tools of descriptive statistics

Assignment: Descriptive And Inferential Statistics

Descriptive statistics frequently use the following statistical measures to describe groups:

Central tendency: Use the mean or the median to locate the center of the dataset. This measure tells you where most values fall.

Dispersion: How far out from the center do the data extend? You can use the range or standard deviation to measure the dispersion. A low dispersion indicates that the values cluster more tightly around the center. Higher dispersion signifies that data points fall further away

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.