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Using statistics

Psychology students are increasingly expected to present and manage numerical data with confidence. In this issue, Anthony Curtis explores the notion of statistics and shows how they can be used and misused to portray different arguments

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Numbers and statistics dominate our lives. You can hardly venture anywhere without confronting a number or value of some kind, and finding yourself asking, ‘What does that mean?’, ‘How true is that?’, ‘What are the implications of this statistic?’ Whether we like it or not, and whether we truly understand them or not, statistics are not only part of our everyday lives, but their application influences global financial markets, the orbit of the International Space Station and even our emotional states.

As a psychology student, the ability to understand and critically evaluate statistics, in a variety of different contexts, enhances both your skill set and academic profile. Further, in these days of significant economic change and uncertainty, there has never been more need for people to be able to review articles critically, including the statistics on which their arguments are based, and then make an informed judgement in terms of what, if anything, this adds to our understanding of a particular research field.

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How has Facebook changed romantic relationships?

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Life after A-levels

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