This book critically examines the potential of, and suggests ways forward in, harnessing a versatile and powerful method of research - focus groups. The book challenges some of the emerging orthodoxies and presents accessible, insightful and reflective discussions about the issues around focus group work. The contributors, an impressive group of experienced researchers from a range of disciplines and traditions, discuss different ways of designing, conducting and analyzing focus group research. They examine sampling strategies; the implications of combining focus groups with other methods; accessing views of `minority' groups; their contribution to participatory or feminist research; use of software packages; discourse anal

Increased attention is being paid to the need for statistically educated citizens: statistics is now included in the K-12 mathematics curriculum, increasing numbers of students are taking courses in high school, and introductory statistics courses are required in college. However, increasing the amount of instruction is not sufficient to prepare statistically literate citizens. A major change is needed in how statistics is taught. To bring about this change, three dimensions of teacher knowledge need to be addressed: their knowledge of statistical content, their pedagogical knowledge, and their statistical-pedagogical knowledge, i.e., their specific knowledge about how to teach statistics. This book is written for mathematics and statistics educators and researchers. It summarizes the research and highlights the important concepts for teachers to emphasize, and shows the interrelationships among concepts. It makes specific suggestions regarding how to build classroom activities, integrate technological tools, and assess students’ learning. This is a unique book. While providing a wealth of examples through lessons and data sets, it is also the best attempt by members of our profession to integrate suggestions from research findings with statistics concepts and pedagogy. The book’s message about the importance of listening to research is loud and clear, as is its message about alternative ways of teaching statistics. This book will impact instructors, giving them pause to consider: "Is what I’m doing now really the best thing for my students? What could I do better?" J. Michael Shaughnessy, Professor, Dept of Mathematical Sciences, Portland State University, USA This is a much-needed text for linking research and practice in teaching statistics. The authors have provided a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in statistics education research. The insights they have gleaned from the literature should be tremendously helpful for those involved in teaching and researching introductory courses. Randall E. Groth, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, Salisbury University, USA

Introductory Statistics 2e provides an engaging, practical, and thorough overview of the core concepts and skills taught in most one-semester statistics courses. The text focuses on diverse applications from a variety of fields and societal contexts, including business, healthcare, sciences, sociology, political science, computing, and several others. The material supports students with conceptual narratives, detailed step-by-step examples, and a wealth of illustrations, as well as collaborative exercises, technology integration problems, and statistics labs. The text assumes some knowledge of intermediate algebra, and includes thousands of problems and exercises that offer instructors and students ample opportunity to explore and reinforce useful statistical skills. This is an adaptation of Introductory Statistics 2e by OpenStax. You can access the textbook as pdf for free at openstax.org. Minor editorial changes were made to ensure a better ebook reading experience. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is the first book to introduce the new statistics - effect sizes, confidence intervals, and meta-analysis - in an accessible way. It is chock full of practical examples and tips on how to analyze and report research results using these techniques. The book is invaluable to readers interested in meeting the new APA Publication Manual guidelines by adopting the new statistics - which are more informative than null hypothesis significance testing, and becoming widely used in many disciplines. Accompanying the book is the Exploratory Software for Confidence Intervals (ESCI) package, free software that runs under Excel and is accessible at www.thenewstatistics.com. The book’s exercises use ESCI's simulations, which are highly visual and interactive, to engage users and encourage exploration. Working with the simulations strengthens understanding of key statistical ideas. There are also many examples, and detailed guidance to show readers how to analyze their own data using the new statistics, and practical strategies for interpreting the results. A particular strength of the book is its explanation of meta-analysis, using simple diagrams and examples. Understanding meta-analysis is increasingly important, even at undergraduate levels, because medicine, psychology and many other disciplines now use meta-analysis to assemble the evidence needed for evidence-based practice. The book’s pedagogical program, built on cognitive science principles, reinforces learning: Boxes provide "evidence-based" advice on the most effective statistical techniques. Numerous examples reinforce learning, and show that many disciplines are using the new statistics. Graphs are tied in with ESCI to make important concepts vividly clear and memorable. Opening overviews and end of chapter take-home messages summarize key points. Exercises encourage exploration, deep understanding, and practical applications. This highly accessible book is intended as the core text for any course that emphasizes the new statistics, or as a supplementary text for graduate and/or advanced undergraduate courses in statistics and research methods in departments of psychology, education, human development , nursing, and natural, social, and life sciences. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding the new statistics, and future published research, will also appreciate this book. A basic familiarity with introductory statistics is assumed.