[nabs-l] Statistics Course

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Sat Nov 12 22:06:37 UTC 2011


Hi Greg,
I found an online table of critical values for the T-statistic at
http://www.jeremymiles.co.uk/misc/tables/t-test.html
That is the most common table you'll use. You can also go to
www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/index.cfm
and do the following:
1. Select the third option, "statistical distributions and
interpreting p-vvalues".
2. Select the second option, "calculate z, f, t, or chi-square from a
probability".
3. To find the critical value for z, enter your alpha level (it will
usually be .05) in the "probability" box and click "compute z". To
find the critical value for a T-test, enter your alpha level in the
"probability" box as above and your degrees of freedom in the "df"
box, and then click "compute t".
If what you are needing to do is to find the probability for a given z
or t-statistic, go to graphpad as above, select "statistical
distributions and interpreting p-values" as above. Then select the
first option, "calculate p from z, t, f, or chi-square". Enter the z
or t-statistic you have in the relevant box and click "compute p from
z" or "compute p from t" accordingly. The calculator will tell you the
probability.
I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if I misunderstood what you
need to do with the critical value table or if my suggestions don't
work.
Best,
Arielle

On 11/12/11, Icewolf <icewolf2011 at gtwebdesign.us> wrote:
> Hello Arielle,
> I am taking an introductory stats course.  Do you know of a good online
> source for the critical value table that reads well with JAWS?  The one
> in my book is kinda hard to follow.  This stats stuff can be confusing.
> I am onto probabilities at the moment now.
> Thanks,
> Greg Wocher
>
>
> Yesterday is forever gone, tomorrow may never come, today is the day of all
> days.
>
>
> On 11/12/2011 12:49 PM, Arielle Silverman wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> As I said, I have taken two undergraduate and two graduate statistics
>> courses. I agree that Braille textbooks are ideal, but I don't think
>> Braille is the only way to learn the material. In fact, due to
>> resource limitations at my university and some philosophical
>> disagreements I had with my DSS office, I never had a Braille stats
>> textbook, and I still did well in the course. For the first course I
>> used E-text, and for the second course I used a recorded book from
>> RFBD (now Learning Ally) on one of those old analog audiocassettes.
>> Believe it or not, I had a better experience with the audio textbook
>> than I did with the E-text, because some formulas and equations don't
>> read properly with JAWS, but the RFBD reader was great at reading
>> formulas and equations and describing diagrams. The secret when using
>> an audio textbook is to take detailed notes, preferably in Braille on
>> a slate or with a refreshable Braille notetaker like a Braille Note or
>> Pac Mate. Copy down all the formulas you hear verbatim, so you can
>> make yourself your own Braille equation book or file to study. Don't
>> worry about proper Nemeth code; the key is to write it down in a way
>> that makes sense to you, and that you can refer back to later. The
>> same notetaking method is invaluable to use in class. In
>> graduate-level stats, the textbook was optional and almost identical
>> to the lecture material. I had a PDF copy of the text, but never read
>> beyond the first chapter. (My sighted boyfriend didn't read the
>> textbook either, and got a better grade in the class than I did :).
>> I did my stats homework assignments on a regular computer in MS-Word,
>> but used my Braille Note as a notepad to copy down data sets and to
>> perform computations. Doing homework assignments on the Braille Note
>> itself is also an option, although making your answers legible to a
>> sighted grader requires some computer Braille knowledge, so I
>> preferred to write my answers on the computer.
>> Regarding an accessible stats calculator: again, I would recommend
>> www.graphpad.com/quickcalcs/index.cfm
>> It will do most introductory stat functions, is completely accessible,
>> and is Web-based, so it can be used on your personal computer without
>> having to purchase software. Despite the name, it is not graphical. In
>> fact, I learned about it when I was a TA for a research methods course
>> and my professor preferred teaching it rather than having our students
>> learn a software application. If you are about to enroll in stats, I
>> would suggest asking your professor if you can use Graphpad instead of
>> whatever software program the rest of the class is using. If you are
>> doing more advanced statistics work or analyzing your own data, you
>> may want to invest in a software program. Both SAS and R are
>> accessible, and R is free. (SPSS is more commonly used, but I have had
>> some accessibility issues with it myself and I have heard conflicting
>> things about whether newer versions are accessible). As a graduate
>> student I got my department to buy and renew my SAS license so I can
>> analyze my data, and I imagine most departments should be able to
>> provide this accommodation especially if you are on a graduate student
>> stipend.
>> Finally, regarding those pesky graphs and diagrams: In my experience,
>> graphs and diagrams are just one tool for understanding statistical
>> concepts. Statistics itself is not a graphical field; performing
>> statistical analyses requires the application of mathematical formulas
>> but not the interpretation of graphs. Stats is taught to sighted
>> students in a graphical way because this is the way many sighted
>> people prefer to learn, but it is just one way of communicating the
>> conceptual knowledge. Some blind students find the graphs helpful,
>> while other blind students prefer to focus on the formulas and the
>> mathematical side of things. Once you get beyond the first month of
>> the course, it is mostly about doing a calculation and seeing if the
>> number you get is greater than or less than another number you find in
>> a table (called the critical value). This is relatively
>> straightforward and requires no graphical information. By all means,
>> though, if you are having trouble following the course or think a
>> graph would be helpful, you should talk to your professor or teaching
>> assistant in their office hours, or hire a tutor. Most professors and
>> TA's would love to get more office-hour visits than they generally get
>> in a semester.
>> Again, I would be happy to talk one-on-one with anybody who is doing
>> statistics or social science research, or to present about techniques
>> for stats and research (including online and library research) at a
>> NABS conference call or breakout session. Some of this stuff is better
>> explained in person, but it is all important and relevant to most
>> blind college students at some point in your career.
>> Best,
>> Arielle
>>
>> On 11/8/11, Marsha Drenth<marsha.drenth at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>> I am currently enrolled in a statistics course. My college brailled the
>>> necessary parts of the book that I needed. I could have not done it
>>> without
>>> the book being brailled. So if I were to say the things that will make
>>> you
>>> successful in a statistics course, are: brailled book, accessible
>>> statistic
>>> calculater, and perhaps a tutor that can help you understand the
>>> graphics,
>>> diagrams and the like. I would say, you will need to push your college or
>>> university to Braille the book. Don't give up, because they will and can
>>> do
>>> it. Mine said they could not, but I made a good case in that it would
>>> help
>>> me understand the materials better.
>>>
>>> Good luck!
>>> Marsha
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>> Behalf
>>> Of Miranda Morse
>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2011 2:13 PM
>>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Statistics Course
>>>
>>> Hi Everyone,
>>>
>>> For those of you have taken statistics, what is the best way to go about
>>> doing that?
>>>
>>> Should I get the book in braille, hire a reader, or has anyone
>>> successfully
>>> used a PDF format for this course.
>>>
>>> Miranda
>>>
>>>
>>>
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