Statistics and Psychology

There are numerous applications of statistical reasoning and research methods in the field of psychology. From simple aspects of reading and interpreting psychology articles, to completing personal research, statistics is a necessary concept to understand. The scientific method is essential to research, and many of the concepts cross the lines into statistics. It is also imperative for us to compare and contrast the characteristics of primary and secondary data. Ultimately, the focus of these topics centers on the application of statistical reasoning in psychology.Statistics in Psychology One might ask themselves how mathematical concepts could possibly apply to psychology. The answer is simpler than many imagine, all one has to do is focus on the interpretation. Reading psychology research articles is a common occurrence for anyone in the field. Without the ability to understand the jargon, tables, graphs, and other aspects at the heart of statistics, one is unable to truly process the findings of research (Aron, Aron, & Coups, 2009). Research is an iatrical part to nearly every field of psychology, but especially those who seek to answer questions and gain insight to problems.Most fields of psychology –including counseling and clinical focuses- require answers to questions (Aron, Aron, & Coups, 2009). Answering questions requires some form of research, which uses statistics on some level. To answer many of these questions, research is done with some application of the scientific method. Research and the Scientific Method When searching for the answer to a problem, most go about it in an orderly way. The research done in the scientific method is simple application of systematic and logical steps to problem solving (Cowens, 2006).Using the five-step process allows researchers to examine any inquiry. The Five-Step Approach The first step is to determine a problem to solve, or make an observation (Cowens, 2006). This can be a simple question or a more comp lex desire to understand how or why something works. For instance, a psychologist seeks to understand why certain object triggers rage in a patient. Step two is to determine a hypothesis (Cowens, 2006). A hypothesis is usually a speculation or idea about how or why something happens. This step seeks to predict the outcome or reasoning of the problem.The psychologist may form the hypothesis that the object triggers rage because the patient associates the object with past trauma. Now it is time to test the hypothesis. Experimentation and research enters the picture for this step (Cowens, 2006). To test the hypothesis, the psychologist may use sessions or questions as research. They may also try other objects, or use hypnosis to recall the trauma. Recording the observations is an essential step in the scientific method (Cowens, 2006). All observations are important, and frequency tables, graphs, and charts explore the statistical application of the scientific method.In addition to thes e, psychologists may use notes to explore the reasoning. The final step is drawing a conclusion (Cowens, 2006). The purpose of this step is the interpretation of the findings. The results may either support the hypothesis, or raise new questions to explore. The psychologist may find no past trauma, and determine that all purple objects trigger both rage and fear. They then will seek a new hypothesis to begin a new search for answers. Primary and Secondary Data In any aspect of research, it is imperative to consider the validity of results.Primary data is described as data observed or collected directly from first-hand experience (Triola, 2010). Secondary data is published data, or data collected by others (Triola, 2010). Primary data is preferred in research because the knowledge is obtained first-hand, where secondary relies on the observations of others. For instance, more accurate results in a weight study will come from the direct weighing of the patients than asking them their weight. Statistics in Research Psychologists use univariate principles when they measure only one variable and multivariate procedure when using variables to ascertain relationships (Chow, 2002).Psychologists often use statistics to identify areas of research interest. In testing a hypothesis, many researchers need to turn questions into testable numerical data. One of the most common statistics applications is the testing of the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis involves the original claim –like 50 out of 100 patients see success in regression techniques to overcome phobias- and turning it into a mathematical claim (Â µ = 50). The alternative hypothesis represents the difference of a claim, or the probability that it is untrue because the test statistic is outside the given range (Â µ ? 50).These claims are tested, and if it is found that less than 50 patients saw success with regression techniques, then researchers are able to use statistical reasoning to disprove the statement. Overall, statistical reasoning is extremely important in the interpretation of research results obtained through the scientific method. Personal Application The concepts discussed throughout this paper have focused on many answers this author hopes to find in her professional life, and has pursued in her personal life. The author cited the example of rage and fear caused by purple, because her nine-year-old sister suffers problems with this concept.After many trials, tests, and visits to therapy, we were able to determine that she associated the color with Barney the dinosaur, and she cross-associated Barney with a fear of dinosaurs coming back to life in an old movie. Although a simple study, it had great impact on this author’s life, and her future pursuit of psychology. Conclusion Statistical reasoning in psychology may seem like a contradiction to many. However, any pursuit of answers requires research –which employs the scientific method and statistics. We have determined primary data to be more beneficial and reliable than secondary data.We have also applied the concept of hypotheses to statistics and basic research. In conclusion, even simple understanding in psychology is often related to statistical reasoning. ?References Aron, A. , Aron, E. N. , & Coups, E. J. (2009). Statistics for psychology (5th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall Chow, S. L. (2002). Statistics and its role in psychological research. Methods in Psychological Research. Retrieved October 3, 2010 from ProQuest database. Cowens, J. (2006, August/September). The scientific method. Teaching PreK-8. (37)1. 42. Triola, M. F. (2010). Elementary Statistics. (11th Ed. ). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Human Resource Management Overview Essay

Human Resource Management is a very important key to any business there are many areas that relies on the people that work in this field. Working in this field takes a lot of dedication and time not only as a person but as a team member as well. Let me go ahead and get started discussing the importance of Human Resource Management. First of all, what is Human Resource Management also known as HRM? Human Resource Management is a group of people within an organization that focuses on recruiting new employees, providing directions to the current employees, etc. Human Resource Management responsibility is to work with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training [(About. com) ]. Human Resource Management is also a strategic and comprehensive approach to managing people and the workplace culture and environment [(About. com) ]. Effective Human Resource Management enables employees to contribute effectively and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organization’s goals and objectives [(About. om) ]. The goal of Human Resource Management is to maximize the productivity of an organization while treating employees with respect and keep them safe at the same time. What is the primary function of Human Resource Management? When it comes to a primary function to Human Resource Management; this is a difficult area because there is more than one function th at is important in this area. As I can recall there are four main functions that revolves around this job category. The first major function is what they call acquisition in which this consists of planning for employees which involves the following; needs of employees, skills needed, recruiting, and hiring (11Ju). The second major function is development which consists of basically training activities (11Ju). The third function involves compensation which includes paying the employees and giving them incentives (11Ju). The fourth function that I can think of is maintenance which involves employee benefits, insurance, and etc (11Ju). So with this being said I can not narrow it down to one primary function. The main role for Human Resource Management in an organization’s strategic plan is the following. Human Resource Management works directly with the employees and they are aware of the employees needs and aware of the surrounding that the employees are put into. So therefore their main role is to help the others decide if a certain change would benefit or hurt the employees’ production, etc. Having some members from Human Resource Management aware of the strategic plan is critical when an organization is making plans to change something because they are able to say what they need to in order to keep the employees safe in the environment while making changes as necessary. If the HRM is left out of this type of planning there could be problems in a lot of different areas, Human Resource Management is able to see if the actions will interfere with the employees progress. In conclusion to this paper, there have been several important areas covered concerning Human Resource Management throughout this paper. The first section consisted of material that described what human resource management is in detail. The next section that was covered is concerning what the primary function of Human Resource Management is. The last section that was covered is the role that human resource management plays in an organizations strategic plan.

Working thesis statement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Working thesis statement - Essay Example In my earlier papers; one on Definition Essay which discussed fashion's negative impact on societies throughout history, and The Midterm Essay, wherein I discussed how the health and beauty industries have all along encouraged us to think of our bodies in terms of machines, I had maintained that health could not be compromised for the sake of appearance. To prove this, I quoted the names of Luisel Ramos and Ana Carolina Reston, who, seeking stardom and money, paid the supreme prize for their body abuse. Sad, but true, this is the life of models, who walk the ramps to the appeasement of a handful. In order to substantiate my argument that the two industries (Health and Beauty) in discussion have all along been more inclined to improve their personal interests, this research will take a look at what happens behind the scene. Fashion and beauty are but short-lived, life is not. Being identical to a Jane Fonda or an Arnold Schwarzenegger does not guarantee stardom or success. Every indiv idual on his or her own terms is as attractive as any other. It's all in the mind. Models have for long caught our attention as being pretty and sexy. The notion that men prefer women with a model's body is all wrong. Does this mean that women who are healthy are less attractive or pretty Definitely not! In fact, men prefer women with more flesh.

Gene Expression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gene Expression - Essay Example Before we start to Compare and contrast transgenic methods for manipulating gene expression between Drosophila and vertebrate animals let us discuss in brief about what is gene expression and function of genes Gene expression Genes exert their effects on the phenotype. The biological information is contained in the base sequence of DNA. Gene expression is the process by which this information is made available to the cell. This has been described by the central dogma. This states that information is transferred from DNA to RNA and RNA to a protein. During expression gene synthesis from mRNA molecule, into which information has been transferred in the form of genetic code. This synthesis of mRNA from of the strands of the DNA molecule is called transcription. The first step in gene expression is called transcription. Two strands of DNA separate, only one them act as template for the transcription into mRNA in 5’ïÆ'  3’ direction. This strand is non coding (antisense) strand and the other stand of DNA is coding strand (sense strand). This synthesis of polypeptide chain or a protein from mRNA is called translation.... Many genes express whenever the product is required and the expression is regulated. These genes are called regulated genes. Certain genes are expressed as a function of the interaction between RNA polymerase with promoter without any regulation. Such genes are called constitutive genes. They are constantly needed for cellular activities. Flow of genetic information from DNA to protein through RNA was described by crick as central dogma of molecular biology. The studies of bacterial genetics indicate that all genes not only specify the structure of an enzyme but some of them also regulate the expression of other genes. These genes are called regulator genes. This concept of gene regulation has been studied by Franois Jacob and Jacques monod in 1961.the relationship between the nucleotide sequence of mRNA and amino acid sequence that constitute a polypeptide chain is called as genetic code. Gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster Introduction Heterochromatin was originally defined visually as the heavily staining region seen in both the meiotic and interphase nucleus (hietz 1928). The contrast between the openness of euchromantin and the compactness of the heterochromatic implied that the euchromatic is the location of most gene function and led to the neglect of heterochromatin. However, it has become increasingly clear that the nuclear genome is more than a collection of autonomous DNA sequence and that a deeper knowledge of the structure of the nucleus and the chromatin, including the heterochromatin, will contribute to our understanding of the gene expression. In Drosophila melanogaster heterochromatin accounts for approximately 30 % of the genome. Its properties have been studied since the advent

M3A1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

M3A1 - Essay Example Emotional intelligence, therefore, offers a way in which managers working in different cultural settings than their own can adapt and achieve success in their new setting. For example, Deirdre who works as a broadcast director for a London-based company was tasked to ensure all units adopt a single negotiating strategy. Instead of fighting it out with the managers who resisted this change, she had one-on-one meetings to find out their reasons for resisting. Later, she shared ideas with them and revised her negotiating methods to incorporate the approaches the managers had found successful. The managers chose to co-operate other than resist. An effective leader exhibits five components of emotional intelligence. These are self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skills and motivation (Hofstede, 1985). He further explains that emotional intelligence is necessary for building trust, solving problems with others, participating productively in a group and creating a sense of identity and efficacy. Emotional intelligence, however, has its weaknesses as shown by Earley & Mosakowski (2004). They give an example of an American expatriate engineer working with two German counterparts. After some time of the Germans shooting down other people’s ideas, the American mistakenly equated the action of the two as that of all Germans. With emotional intelligence alone, the manager is unable to show how much of the behavior of the engineers had been idiosyncratic and how much was culturally determined. He did not know how to influence their actions (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). Earley and Mosakowski state that human actions, speech and gestures that a person encounters in a foreign setting are subject to wide interpretations that may make misunderstandings likely and cooperation impossible (Earley&Mosakowski, 2004). Hofstede states

Jazz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Jazz - Essay Example The slaves bought with themselves their music traditions (Cooke, 7-9).  There were grand dinners and festivals arranged which featured the African dances in the city of New Orleans. Similar gatherings occurred in  New England  and  New York. The African music lacked the harmony present in the European music but the rhythms reflected the similarity of the two music genres (Cooke, 11-14). An increasing number of black musicians eventually learnt how to play various European instruments in the early 19th century, especially the  violin. The black slaves who had come as a result of the slave trade had by now learned the harmonic style of  European music  and incorporated it into their own music styles (Cooke, 14-28). Many historians agree to it that jazz began just prior to the 20th century and its birthplace is the city of New Orleans. Prior to the World War I, the Creole band which was a band of New Orlean black musicians toured many parts of the country and therefore, jazz music was introduced to many cities like this. The Dixieland band group created the very first example of Ned Orleans style jazz by recording the music. The very first Blues number was the â€Å"Dallas Blues† recorded in the year 1912. There were many hit songs from different musicians in the 1900’s including Saint Louis Blues by W.C Handy and Indiana by Ballard MacDonald. The latter was the first recording by the Dixieland jazz band. Until the 1950’s, jazz was considered as music intended mostly for dancing (Tyle). Jazz is more than hundred years old but the actual circumstances of the birth of this music are rarely known because the recordings of the first jazz band were lost and therefore it is difficult to assume as to how it sounded, but it is possible to create an account of its emergence by gathering scraps of tit bits and information pieces. Jazz music was different. In the beginning, many musicians had worried about the impact of Jazz on the young generation, as such

Do an analysis synthesis of the chosen texts, cross pollinate issues Essay

Do an analysis synthesis of the chosen texts, cross pollinate issues raised in various texts - Essay Example In Gogol's The Overcoat, one can see the personification of this 'common man', in Akaky Akakiyevich who lived almost an invisible life in the society until he felt a wish to have a distinct identity by acquiring a new overcoat, a wish that costs him his life (Gogol). In the beginning of the story itself, he is depicted as some one â€Å"who cannot bite back† (Gogol, 29). Gogol has spend a lot of his narrative time explaining the name, Akaky Akakiyevich, even referring to his family name, Bashmachkin, which is supposed to have originated from the word, bashmak, which meant, shoe (29). Here, accidently, but rather meaningfully, we see a reference to shoe both in Heaney's poem as well as in Gogol's story. And the word shoe, is synonymous with the concept, downtrodden, in both these contexts. Throughout Gogol's story, Akaky Akakiyevich is treated as a shoe, which is a symbol of getting insulted, getting trampled under the feet. A shoe is thrown away when it is of no more use. In t he same way, the protagonist in this story is replaced by some other person in his office without worries from any side, as soon as the story of his death reaches there (Gogol, 55). Akaky Akakiyevich had been a man who was deeply immersed in his mechanical ways of work and life as if he himself was a well-oiled machine until he saw that his overcoat was worn out and it was making him cold while moving outdoors (Gogol, 35). It was using the savings from depriving himself of the meager comforts that he could afford added with an act of benevolence from his director that Akaky Akakiyevich could find the money to buy a new overcoat. Once he bought the coat and started using it, he was elated from his position as a commoner though for a brief while (Gogol, 44). A party was held to celebrate his new overcoat but after the party, as he was returning home, his coat was stolen, his efforts to get a legal remedy was stiffled by official apathy, he was insulted and fell ill and soon he dies (G ogol). In the narrative, Akaky Akakiyevich passes away just like the shoe that is dipped into the water and grows cold with an â€Å" unpredictable fantail of sparks Or hiss† (Gogol, Heaney 4). And Gogol has said in the story that, â€Å"at last he began to curse, uttering the most horrible words, so that his aged landlady crossed herself, never in her life having heard anything of the kind from him† (54). This image is so similar to the sparks or hiss that came out from the shoe just before the heat died out (Heaney). And it is a wasted protest. The progress of the story on these lines, show that when a down trodden person tries to improve his social status, it is treated as a crime and the punishment is death. When Heaney, in another poem of his titled At a Potato Digging, says that, â€Å" going down and down/ for the good turf, digging,† the same concept is implied- a search for dignity and depth that ends up in darkness and unending toils (23-24). An effort to rise above one's social backwardness appears to be an individual's personal problem on surface, but once he/she actually makes an effort to do that, suddenly it becomes evident that there are forces in action which would not let it happen. And