Types of Analysis: Know What’s Out There and When to Use Each One
Statistical Skills Accelerator
Knowing what kinds of analyses exist is half the battle when picking the best analysis.
A structured, 4-week, online training event
by Karen Grace-Martin, Jeff Meyer, and Kim Love
The training you wish you had years ago…
The Types of Analysis Skills Accelerator is a 4-week, online training event in May 2024 that teaches you how to make solid decisions picking an analysis that fits your data and knowing what questions to ask.
You get to watch the training videos independently. And then, our team will walk alongside you and support you with weekly Q&As with our instructors Karen and Jeff, where they’ll answer your questions and guide you on best practices!
What you’ll learn in Types of Analysis
- Four common “families of analyses” and when to use the analyses of each family
- How to ask the right questions about your research question and design to know what analysis is right for you
- Types of Measures of Association and When to Use Them
- Types of Group Comparisons and When to Use Them
- Types of Regression Models and When to Use Them
- Types of Latent Variable Models and When to Use Them
How this Accelerator sets you up for success
When you apply what you’ve learned to your own research, you’re bound to have questions, and we’re here to support you:
Weekly open Q&As with our team of Instructors
Sometimes you just need to ask the teacher a question. We get that and we won’t leave you hanging! That’s why our instructors host a weekly Zoom call that’s only available to participants of this Statistical Skills Accelerator. Get your questions answered and learn from the questions of the other participants.
Karen Grace-Martin has a superpower: explaining complex statistics in a way that makes you say, “oh, I finally get it!” That is why she created Statistically Speaking, so that you could have that light bulb moment.
Karen presents many of the Stat’s Amore trainings within the membership and is on the forums everyday helping members with missing data, mixed models, logistic regression, interpreting regression parameters, and much more.
“The way Karen explained the connection between total variance explained, component loadings and how it relates to the components was just so helpful in tying it all together for me in a way that I could then see how it’s applied/interpreted.” – Eileen Mack Thorley
For Jeff Meyer, being an effective stats mentor takes more than just a knowledgeable and logical approach to analyzing data. You have to also enjoy working with people – and most importantly, care about their success.
Jeff is the go-to resource for Statistically Speaking members working with Stata and MPlus. He’s also well-versed in confidence intervals and effect sizes. Jeff loves to chat about multivariate, logistic, mixed models, truncated, censored, Poisson, and negative binomial regression, or anything latent variable—SEM, latent class analysis, factor analysis, latent growth curves, etc
“The only reason I am going to have a Ph.D. by the end of this year is because of Jeff Meyer and that is not an exaggeration.” – Statistically Speaking member
While Kim Love enjoys working with all her clients, she particularly enjoys working with those who feel they have a less-than-perfect relationship with statistics.
Her goal is to spread an appreciation of statistics across many fields of study, starting by making it understandable to those who interact with it. She has taught our trainings on a variety of topics, everything from GLMM to Likert Scale Data to Logistic Regression Results.
“Kim Love demonstrates a mastery of the subject, which she covers with warmth and a clear desire to ensure everyone understands each step…” – John Williams
What’s Covered
Choose the Best Analysis
- This one is important because it gives you the process. It includes asking the right questions of your research question, types of variables, design, and data issues. This training points you in the right direction.
Measures of Association
- There are dozens of measures of association. Even just correlations come in many flavors: Pearson, Spearman, biserial, tetrachoric, squared multiple, to name a few. And there are many measures beyond correlation. You will re-examine many of these measures, see how they fit together (or don’t), and talk about when each one is useful.
Group Comparisons
- How do you know which method to use when you want to compare groups? You will learn these considerations, see why they lead to the choice of particular models, and provide some examples of these analyses and their results.
Regression Models
- Linear, Logistic, Tobit, Cox, Poisson, Zero Inflated… The list of regression models goes on and on before you even get to things like ANCOVA or Linear Mixed Models. You will explore types of regression models, how they differ, how they’re the same, and most importantly, when to use each one.
Latent Variable Models
- An extremely useful area of statistics is a set of models that use latent variables: variables whose values we can’t measure directly, but instead have to infer from others. These latent variables can be unknown groups, unknown numerical values, or unknown patterns in trajectories. You will learn about latent variable models and when to use each one, what it does, and see examples.
Enrollment Closes on May 2nd at 5pm EDT!
Accelerate your growth with a Statistically Speaking Membership
We want you to get the best deal AND the most support. You have the option to purchase the Statistical Skills Accelerator on its own or purchase a Statistically Speaking membership and get the Accelerator included!
Combining a curriculum built for researchers with the power of mentor support, the skill-building Accelerator and Statistically Speaking membership give you a path and resources to develop your skills in statistics, improve your research, and advance your career.
Not only will you have access to this one-time event in May, but the full curriculum of over 120 Stat’s Amore Trainings and software tutorials within Statistically Speaking, with new content being added monthly.
Custom progress tracking and maps to skills in statistics meet you where you are on your journey. A team of mentors keep you on track while you apply your new skills to your research.
Types of Analysis: Know What’s Out There and When to Use Each One
Accelerator Includes
- Accelerator event for 4 weeks in May 2024
- Weekly live Q&As with an Accelerator instructor
- An Accelerator special forum where you can talk to other students and support each other
- Accelerator-specific progress tracking and mentor support and encouragement
Accelerator: $497
Types of Analysis AND Statistically Speaking
The Accelerator plus Statistically Speaking mentorship and resources!
Membership Includes
- The May 2024 Statistical Skills Accelerator!
- Full curriculum of over 120 Trainings you can watch at your convenience
- 2-3 weekly live open Q&A Sessions with our stats mentors
- New trainings each month
- Software Tutorials on R, Stata, and SPSS
- A private online forum for asking your pressing stats questions, answered by a team of statistical consultants
- A framework for planning your statistical skills-building
- Curriculum maps to help you decide what to learn next
- An individual online tool for tracking your skills-building progress
- Discounts on one-to-one statistical consulting
Accelerator + Membership: Only $79 per month
Accelerator + Membership: Only $790 per year (savings equal to 2 months free!)
When you have a Statistically Speaking membership:
Purchasing a Statistically Speaking membership not only gets you access to the Accelerator, but a wealth of resources.
What is Statistically Speaking?
Statistically Speaking is the #1 statistics skills-building program where researchers like you can build confidence in statistics through ongoing learning and support.
Led by Karen Grace-Martin, Statistically Speaking empowers you to finally understand statistics in a way that makes YOU a better researcher.
“Not only are Analysis Factor staff knowledgeable and credentialed, bringing great theoretical understanding to quantitative empirical research, but they are practicing professionals who understand the challenges of actually undertaking research projects in the field… I have no doubt that the value I bring to my university through my work has been enhanced tremendously as a result of my membership in The Analysis Factor.” – J.W., Statistically Speaking member
What’s in Statistically Speaking?
Stat’s Amore Training Videos
Weekly Live Q&A Webinars
Statistically Speaking Ask-A-Mentor Forum
Stat’s Amore Training Webinars
Wish you had a clear and easy way to aways be learning new statistics?
Statistically Speaking includes 90 minute trainings on a wide variety of stats topics and guided maps to the trainings you need.
Each training brings you the most valuable topics and information in statistics and data analysis. Forget the jargon, though — each and every presentation is in conversational language non-statisticians can understand.
We pride ourselves on presenting topics that are applicable to a wide range of research areas and statistical methodologies, and that will help YOU make the right decisions as you analyze your data.
Just a Few Examples:
— Communicating Statistical Results to Non-Statisticians with Kim Love, PhD
— Model Building Approaches with Karen Grace-Martin
— Dealing Effectively with Small Sample Sizes with Audrey Schnell, PhD
— A Gentle Introduction to Propensity Score Adjustments and Analysis with Trent Buskirk, PhD
— Cox Regression with Steve Simon, PhD
Each month, you can attend the featured training webinar live or get access to a new software tutorial. Of course, the session is recorded and available to stream on demand as long as you’re a member.
All members get immediate access to our complete collection of more than 120 Stat’s Amore Trainings and are guided to the ones they need.
“Just wanted to thank you for your help in the webinar last month. I had some questions about mean reversion – I seemed to understand it less the more I thought about it. Anyway, we talked it through in the webinar, and it greatly helped my understanding of the topic.” – Paul Grayson, Statistically Speaking member
Weekly Live Q&A Webinars
Get expert insight from your friendly stats mentors who know what you are going through.
Every week, you have access to Q&A sessions where you can get support for your specific statistical challenges, questions, and issues — in a private, supportive environment.
We know it can be hard to ask statistical questions. It seems like you’re either greeted with a blank stare (“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”) or a superior smirk (“You don’t know that?!”).
But our Statistically Speaking mentors love to help smart researchers like you understand the finer points of their data, and what it all means. So we encourage you to ask away!
The live, open Q&A sessions are available each week.
“I am just writing to say a HUGE thanks to Jeff. I had a 10 min chat with him earlier this week, and he directed me to the resource…that solved all statistical issues that I was having. Jeff is absolutely amazing, because he asked all the right questions, quickly got to the point of my problem, and helped with recommending just the right source!!! I am so grateful, and looking very forward to collaborate in a future.” – Irina Patwardhan
Statistically Speaking Ask-A-Mentor Forum
Got a burning question that just can’t wait for the Q&A session? Never fear, the private forum is at your fingertips.
Ask any question related to your research, data analysis, or statistics with the complete confidence that your posts won’t show up in Google searches or forwarded in an email chain around your department.
This is private, confidential community where you can ask anything about statistics, without fear. (You can even cloak your identity to remain 100% anonymous, if you so choose.)
“I love the breadth of topics. There is something for everyone from advanced generalized linear mixed models to testing the assumptions of common statistical tests. Despite my many years in research, I learn something new from each session I attend.” – S.Z., Statistically Speaking member
Ready to join Statistically Speaking?
We’re confident that you’re going to love Statistically Speaking.
As with all our programs, your satisfaction is guaranteed. If you participate fully and find you are not satisfied for any reason within the first 30 days of membership, we’ll issue you a 100% refund, no questions asked.
Of course, you can cancel your membership at any time.
Enrollment Closes on May 2nd at 5pm EDT!
3 Reasons to Join Statistically Speaking Right Now:
Build Real Skills
You want you to be the best researcher you can be — and that means knowing what’s happening in the world of statistics so you can set up your study in an optimal manner, knowing when to use different types of tests, and how to understand the results you get.
Our mentors pride themselves in understanding what you already understand so we can take you by the hand and help you grow in your professional development.
Get Real-Time Support
Get commentary, suggestions, and answers on your pressing statistical issues and data analysis questions.
Post in our forum and typically, you’ll receive a response to your question within one business day. Or attend our weekly Q&A sessions and ask any stats-related question — about a Stat’s Amore Training, about your research, or about something you never understood and finally want to clarify. The responses you receive from our mentors is based on solid experience you can trust.
When you join Statistically Speaking, you’ll get on-demand expert advice when you need it — in a confidential, supportive environment.
Have Light-Bulb Moments of Learning
Get something new every month, whether that’s a new Stat’s Amore Training, a software tutorial, or a map to a topic you’ve wanted to learn.
Our mentors know there is always something more to learn. That’s why every Statistically Speaking mentor is dedicated to ongoing learning, and then passing that on and empowering you.
Skills Accelerators, in fact, are a new feature we added just this year!
“If you are no longer in school, do not work full time in research, but you must implement tools that come from the researchers, [Statistically Speaking] keeps you up to date with methodologies… I have been able to take ideas/techniques picked up through [the membership site] that are generally not used in my field and apply them to solve problems.” – Martin Watts, Statistically Speaking member
Build Real Skills
We all tend to think of “Statistical Analysis” as one big skill, but it’s not. There are four stages of statistical skill:
Biggest Statistical Obstacles For Researchers
These are the three most common problems that we hear from researchers in regard to their data analysis:
No One to Ask
There’s no one to ask within your institution…
Or the people who are there make it very difficult to admit you aren’t 100 percent sure about analyzing your data…
Or you ask multiple people and get conflicting results.
You want to get this right, but asking that one colleague comes with a high price tag, so you’d rather figure out a way that doesn’t involve going to the Know-It-All.
Don’t Know What You Don’t Know
If you’re working on your dissertation, or you’re coming back to quantitative research after some time away, it can be difficult to translate classes in statistics into real-world data analysis… or to get caught up in the “new” trends that you’re expected to have mastered.
All or Nothing
Either you have to puzzle all this out on your own, or you hire a consultant to take the whole thing off your hands. But if you pass off your analysis to someone else, you never learn, so the next time you need to interpret — or defend — your results, you’re in the same boat. So you’re left having to choose “all or nothing,” and neither one feels quite right.
Want to know how to banish these three obstacles?
You got it… Statistically Speaking!
“I’ve been a member since Feb 2016, and since then I have felt the constant reassurance of having you all at my back! Really, what a tremendous service you provide… …I revisited those lessons many times and learned so much from your regular newsletters and webinars. I’m a scientist at a federal lab where we don’t have a statistical consulting group, so just knowing you were there was huge for me! I thank Karen and all of you for everything you do to improve statistical approaches, confidence, and outcomes for analyzers who are not statisticians. You truly get us!” – Hilary Neckles, Statistically Speaking member
Enrollment Closes on May 2nd at 5pm EDT!