Statistics for Psychology/ Social Science courses?

Okay, after much thought I've finally decided to finish up my Bachelors in Psychology at Excelsior. However, in order to fullfill the major requirements, I need a statistics course in either Psychology or Social Sciences. I cannot, for the life of me, find a school that offers this. If you are in a Psych program, please let me know if your school offers a Statistics for Psych/ Social Sciences course.

Thanks!

Rhonda

 

I did a search on google and didn't find an exact answer, but here is a website that looks like it may have some good info if you do some searching...http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/majors/100674.html

Good Luck!!

 

Here's what I did...

I took the Excelsior Collge Examination in statistics back in 2003, and that worked for me. I was able to pass it with an A after about 1 month's study.

That was with my poor, poor math background.

When I was deciding what to do to meet that statistics requriement, I contemplating taking this online statistics course in the University of Georgia system. You have one year to complete it. You may like this option as well:

http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/idl/courses/offerings/mathematics/MATH2400U.phtml

 

Right here,

http://www.correspondencestudy.ufl.edu/college.asp?Course=632

 

I haven't taken this class but the price is right. It is also upper level credit.

http://utdirect.utexas.edu/ecweb/cenroll1.wb?dept=PSY&crse=317__&unique=R09/98_

 

Hi,

I'm too, currently enrolled into the Excelsior BS in psychology. I took DANTES statistics to satisfy the statistics requirement. It is probably the cheapest option as well.

Dennis

 

If the DANTES exam satisfies Excelsior's psych/soc statistics requirement, I'd also recommend it to anyone primarily interested in meeting that requirement quickly and cheaply. I took it before I started studying stats, and I suggest it as an alternative to my Intro to Stats students who are struggling. It is not as demanding as a typical 1-semester course covering probability and statistics.

 

Can you recommend a good, easy to understand textbook to use for independent study for the DANTES or ECE statistics exams? Thanks

Rhonda

 

Hi Rhonda,

If you have even an inkling of pursuing Psychology, Business or Management at the Graduate level, then I highly recommend that you take a Statistics course, rather than test out of the requirement. All three disciplines rely on Statistics (less so with Management), and having a solid background in this subject is critical.

With that said, BYU offers a TON of courses online, including a Psychological Stats course:

BYU - PSYCH 301 — Psychological Statistics:
http://ce.byu.edu/is/site/courses/description.cfm?subject=91&course=PSYCH301Psychological%2520Statistics

BYU - Online Courses:
http://ce.byu.edu/is/site/courses/select.cfm?type=univ

The class is a bit pricey ($492), so you may wish to look around for something a bit less expensive. But don't skimp on Statistics!

- Tom

 

Rhonda,

Here is a list of Stats courses from Excelsior's "Preferred Provider Catalog":

Lower Level
Statistics (Exam: Excelsior College)
Introduction to Business Statistics (Exam: Ohio University)
Introduction to Business Statistics (Print: Ohio University)
Introduction to Statistics (Print: University of Texas-Austin)
Principles of Statistics I (WWW: Brigham Young University)
Principles of Statistics I (Print: Brigham Young University)
Statistical Methods in Psychology (Print: University of Texas-Austin)
Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (Exam: Ohio University)
Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (Print: Ohio University)
Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (WWW: Ohio University)

Upper Level
Applied Social Statistics (Print: Brigham Young University)
Psychological Statistics (Print: Brigham Young University)

- Tom

 

Tom certainly has a point urging you to consider a course instead of the exam. On the other hand, if you are comfortable on studying independently there is nothing to prevent you from taking the exam. Preparing for DANTES or ECE in statistics will also give you a basic understanding of the concepts and you will have the opportunity to review major statistical concepts again, when studying for the Research Methods exam.
I, personally, used for my DANTES statistics exam the following books(which others from this board also used):
-Cliff's Quick Review Statistics(price $10)
-Statistics for the Utterly Confused, by Lloyd Jaisingh(price $17)

I've also heard that The Complete Idiot's Guide to Statistics by Robert Donnelly is a good book.

This books have the advantage that they are written in a clear day-to-day language without jargon(just what the biginner needs)

Good Luck with your studies


Dennis

 

Although I recommended the DANTES exam for those primarily interested in meeting a requirement, I'd certainly echo japhy4529's advice for those who plan to use statistics later on to take a bona fide course.

If you DO decide to go the DANTES route, the recommended texts are good choices. Another one I've heard spoken highly of is co-authored by Larry Gonnick (sp?), The Comics Guide to Statistics or something like.

You can pick up a used stats text for almost nothing in a non-university bookstore. There isn't a lot of demand . Look for those that signal they are very basic texts.

Brase & Brase's Understandable Statistics is very user-friendly. The chief drawback is that it doesn't use set notation, but and and or for intersection and union, while, IIRC, DANTES uses the notation.

In any event, you'd want to check the DANTES study guide for topics, though, because any text will have more than you need--again, provided that what you want to do is get past the requirement.

Best of luck. The probabilities are in your favor.

 

Rhonda,
Check out your community colleges. I don't know where in PA you are, but if you live in Bucks County (near Mercer county, NJ) then Mercer County Comm College offers the following (unfortunately it's not online, but I concur with others on here in that you should take it in a classroom setting):

MAT 200 - Statistics for Social and Health Sciences I (3 credits)
An applied statistics course for the social sciences, nursing, etc. Topics include data production and access, one-variable data analysis, correlation and regression, normal and binomial distributions, sampling distributions, estimation and tests of hypothesis for a single sample. MINITAB statistical software is used to calculate statistics and generate graphs. 3 lecture hours

 

Re: Re: Statistics for Psychology/ Social Science courses?

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I live right near York, PA which is quite far from NJ! I think I will check out a Community College nearby though. I have never considered myself strong in math, so it would be to my benefit to take an actual class as opposed to trying to study on my own

Thanks all for the suggestions!

Rhonda

 

Re: Re: Re: Statistics for Psychology/ Social Science courses?

Rhonda,

If you can find a local school that offers a stats class, then great. However, you should do fine with an online class. I was just cautioning against testing out of this requirement...

- Tom

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Statistics for Psychology/ Social Science courses?

Hi Tom,

That's what I intend to do. There is a CC near me that offers loads of classes online You usually only have to come to the campus twice to take proctored exams. I wish I could find a place that DID NOT have proctored exams since it's a math class and I do better untimed. So have you decided to stay at National or join me over at Excelsior? I'm interested to hear

Rhonda

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Statistics for Psychology/ Social Science courses?

Rhonda,

Well, that's one plus for National - no proctored exams! The exams are timed though (via Blackboard).

I haven't made a decision yet regarding staying with National, or jumping ship and enrolling at Excelsior. Next to impatience, indecisiveness is paramount in all of my decisions in life.

I think that for now, I'm going to stick with National. What I might do is continue taking classes at National, and study for the Psych GRE. I'll take the exam next April and if I score well, I'll enroll with Excelsior. If not, I'll stick with National. That's the plan at this very moment anyway! lol

Right now, I'm considering two important factors: Money and the ability to be accepted into a Grad school program. That shouldn't be an issue with National, since they have a campus based program and I'm actually taking all of the courses (albeit, online).

With a Bachelor's from Excelsior, I'm afraid it's going to be a bit more difficult to get into a Grad school program. NCU seems to be fairly liberal in their admissions requirements, so I might be okay applying there (I'm considering the NCU Masters and/or PhD in Psychology). However, they're not the only game in town and I'm also looking at MPH programs, as well as UK programs (er programmes). I have a sneaking suspicion that a UK school will laugh (quite heartily) at a degree earned from Excelsior. They couldn't give a rat's you-know-what if the school is RA or not. What they will see is the fact that I tested out of the majority of my courses (to include my major!). From what I've read (here and elsewhere), the British frown upon this practice.

Speaking of which... Does anyone have experience with completing a degree from one of the "Big three" and then continuing on to Graduate studies at a University in the UK?

- Tom

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Statistics for Psychology/ Social Science courses?

I, too, was considering NCU after Excelsior. I really like the Master's in Psych program and will probably go back to do that after getting the MS in Human Resources Management. What is your main motivation for getting an MS in Psychology? Are you hoping to become a professor, a practicioner, or a counselor? Does their program certify one to practice 'psychology'? If I threw all practicalities out the window, I would go for the MS and then PhD in Psych and become a Marriage and Family Psychologist/ Counselor. I am afraid of how long that will take though I too am a very indecisive one! Well, keep me updated on your classes. I checked out National's Psych program as well and it looks very comprehesive, so you won't be sorry you stayed with them. What kind of work do you do now?

Rhonda

 

Hi guys,

Would you still advise taking a Statistics class instead of DANTES Statistics, if a psychology major had previously taken 6 semester hours of science-major type math? (I'm including algebra, matrices, trig. and elementary calculus). I passed with a solid "C" way back when, it was my lowest grade. Since I am trying to protect my solid 3.85 at this point, I am leaning towards taking the test, hoping that studying for it will bring back the old course info.

I have spoken with a math professor at our local CC and he felt that with my credits in college algebra & calculus, statistics would be no problem for me. Yeah, I don't know....there's the fear of exam-block and all in all, I'd rather get a pass/fail grade, if it doesn't hurt me for graduate school admission.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Statistics for Psychology/ Social Science courses?

Rhonda,

I’m exploring possibly becoming a Counselor or Psychologist. Since we both live I PA, I should note that you only need a Master’s to practice MFT in the state. According to the General Provisions and Licensing section of the “Social Workers, Marriage and
Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act (63 P. S. § 1906(2))”, beginning in March 2007, you will need 60.sh. credits. If you go to NCU, this will mean a Master’s in MFT from NCU (if you go there) plus 4 additional courses (totaling 60s.h.). Add to this 3600 hours (for two years) of “Supervised Clinical Experience”. If you go the Ph.D in MFT route, you will only need 2400 hours. You will be allowed to counsel clients during this time, however not without a supervisor present (or nearby). It looks like NCU offers practicum and internship courses.

Here is a link to the document I was referring to above: http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/049/chapter49/049_0049.pdf

- Tom