Name:

Syeda Noor Fatima

Class:
BS. Psychology 5th Semester
Roll no:
18501
Assignment Topic:
Importance of Statistics in Psychology
Subject:
Statistics
Submitted To:
Sir Ashfaq

Govt. M.A.O College Lahore

Define Statistics

Statistics is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and
presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, industrial, or social problem, it is
conventional to begin with a statistical population or a statistical model to be studied.

Importance of Statistics in Psychology

 Statistics is how we communicate in science. It serves as the link between a research

idea and usable conclusions. Without statistics, we would be unable to interpret the
massive amounts of information contained in data.

 Statistics provides tools that you need in order to react intelligently to information you
hear or read. In this sense, statistics is one of the most important things that you can
study.

 Statistics are often presented in an effort to add credibility to an argument or advice.

The purpose of this course, beyond preparing you for a career in psychology, is to help
you learn statistical essentials. It will make you into an intelligent consumer of statistical
claims.

 For psychologists and other social scientists, statistical analysis is a powerful tool for
research.

 Psychologists use statistics for a number of reasons, including to find relationships

between different variables, identify correlations among different things, and to use
data to draw more general conclusions about our society.

 When psychologists begin a research project, they start with a hypothesis. A hypothesis
is an explanation for something that a researcher then examines, using data, to see if
her hypothesis is the correct explanation for a particular phenomenon. To do this,
psychologists often use statistics.

 In psychology, we are also confronted with enormous amounts of data. How do changes
in one variable impact other variables?

Statistics allow psychologists to:

  Organize data: When dealing with an enormous amount of information, it is all too
easy to become overwhelmed. Statistics allow psychologists to present data in ways
that are easier to comprehend. Visual displays such as graphs, pie charts, frequency
distributions, and scatterplots allow researchers to get a better overview of data.
 Describe data: Think about what happens when researchers collect a great deal of
information about a group of people (for example, the U.S. Census). Descriptive
statistics provide a way to summarize facts, such as how many men and women
there are, how many children there are, or how many people are currently
employed.
 Make inferences based on data: By using what's known as inferential statistics,
researchers can infer things about a given sample or population. Psychologists use
the data they have collected to test a hypothesis. Using statistical analysis,
researchers can determine the likelihood that a hypothesis should be either
accepted or rejected.

From the development of new therapy techniques to evaluating the effectiveness of the
techniques upon implementation, it is statistical analysis that provides the means by which
conclusions can be drawn. While a bachelor’s degree in psychology may allow for a college
graduate to obtain entry level jobs in a variety of fields (e.g. human resources, education,
customer service, etc.), developing a career within the field of psychology requires a graduate
degree. Further, with the exception of graduate degrees aimed at marriage and family therapy
licensure, most graduate programs focus on learning to conduct, and then conducting,
publishable research.