Lesson 2 - The language of
statistics
Class Organisational Research Methodology IOP2601
Reviewed
This is a comprehensive summary of Lesson 2 in IOP2601. It
includes the demarcated information included in the prescribed
textbook as well as the study guide. If you choose not to buy the
Comments textbook, this summary fills in all the parts you would otherwise miss.
These notes are very useful in studying for assignments and using
as core study material.
Tredoux, C. & Durrheim, K. (2019). Numbers, hypotheses and
Sources conclusions: A course in statistics for the social sciences (3rd ed.).
Juta. [ISBN: 978 1 48512 544 0]
Quantitative methods
The use of quantitative methods has specific advantages. Quantitative methods are
especially useful to us because they:
are efficient in communicating information
allow for the re-modelling of real-world phenomena
are part of a well-designed and powerful disciplinary language
Classification of statistical techniques
Descriptive statistics – a technique for organizing, summarizing and describing
data
Inferential statistics – a technique applied to samples in order to make
inferences about populations. This is also known as the experimental research
approach.
Lesson 2 - The language of statistics 1