[nabs-l] Statistics Course

Mon Nov 14 00:58:02 UTC 2011

Hi, Arielle and all,
If you go to Insert > Functions in MS Excel 2003 or select Insert
Function under the Formula tab in MS Excel 2007 or 2010, you will be
taken to a dialog box titled Insert Function. Select Statistical as
your desired category, then tab over to access a list of statistical
formulas. The formulas specifically relevant to critical values are
normsinv (for z-scores), TInv (for t distributions), and FInv (for f
distributions). Press Enter on the formula you are looking for and you
will be prompted to enter information such as degrees of freedom and
the desired p-value. Of course, as in other Excel formulas, you can
save a lot of time by entering the formulas directly without going
through the menus, but since I haven't done this for a while I can't
remember the exact order of the elements that go into a particular
formula. I have personally find Excel a good statistics tool; I used
it extensively along with a talking scientific calculator in my basic
statistics course as an undergrad.
Katie

On 11/12/11, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Katie,
> Do you know what the specific Excel formula is to compute a critical
> value? I didn't know Excel could do that, but that could be a useful
> command for many blind stats students. Of course, I don't recommend
> that blind students use Excel to do things the sighted students need
> to do by hand (like computing means and standard deviations) but Excel
> could be a useful workaround when the sighted students have to look up
> values in a table, since these tables aren't always fully accessible.
> Best,
> Arielle
>
> On 11/12/11, Katie Wang <bunnykatie6 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Greg,
>> In addition to the on-line resources Arielle referred to, I would also
>> like to mention that Microsoft Excel actually has a variety of
>> built-in statistical functions. It doesn't run t-tests or ANOVAs, but
>> it does allow you to look up the p-value of a particular z-score or
>> vice versa. You can also use it to look up critical values on the f or
>> t distribution after inputting the specific degrees of freedom you
>> want.
>> Hope this helps!
>> Katie
>>
>>
>> On 11/12/11, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 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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>>>>>> m
>>>>>>
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