Choosing a Statistical Test

Member Training: Choosing the Best Statistical Analysis

February 1st, 2021 by

Before you can write a data analysis plan, you have to choose the best statistical test or model. You have to integrate a lot of information about your research question, your design, your variables, and the data itself.

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Four Weeds of Data Analysis That are Easy to Get Lost In

January 18th, 2021 by

Every time you analyze data, you start with a research question and end with communicating an answer. But in between those start and end points are twelve other steps. I call this the Data Analysis Pathway. It’s a framework I put together years ago, inspired by a client who kept getting stuck in Weed #1. But I’ve honed it over the years of assisting thousands of researchers with their analysis.

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The Right Analysis or the Best Analysis? What to Do When You Can’t Run the Ideal Analysis 

March 9th, 2020 by

One activity in data analysis that can seem impossible is the quest to find the right analysis. I applaud the conscientiousness and integrity that underlies this quest.

The problem: in many data situations there isn’t one right analysis.

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Simplifying a Categorical Predictor in Regression Models

January 14th, 2020 by

One of the many decisions you have to make when model building is which form each predictor variable should take. One specific version of thisStage 2 decision is whether to combine categories of a categorical predictor.

The greater the number of parameter estimates in a model the greater the number of observations that are needed to keep power constant. The parameter estimates in a linear (more…)


Eight Data Analysis Skills Every Analyst Needs

October 24th, 2019 by

It’s easy to think that if you just knew statistics better, data analysis wouldn’t be so hard.

It’s true that more statistical knowledge is always helpful. But I’ve found that statistical knowledge is only part of the story.

Another key part is developing data analysis skills. These skills apply to all analyses. It doesn’t matter which statistical method or software you’re using. So even if you never need any statistical analysis harder than a t-test, developing these skills will make your job easier.

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Member Training: Non-Parametric Analyses

April 1st, 2019 by

Oops—you ran the analysis you planned to run on your data, carefully chosen to answer your research question, but your residuals aren’t normally distributed.

Maybe you’ve tried transforming the outcome variable, or playing around with the independent variables, but still no dice. That’s ok, because you can always turn to a non-parametric analysis, right?

Well, sometimes.
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