[nabs-l] Statistics Course
Chris Nusbaum
dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Fri Nov 18 21:57:35 UTC 2011
There are also statistics functions on the calculators in the
notetakers. I know there are statistics functions in the
BrailleNote, and I think there are also in the BrailleSense and
PacMate.
Chris
"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight. The
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that
exists. If a blind person has the proper training and
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical
nuisance."
-- Kenneth Jernigan (President, National Federation of the Blind,
1968-1986
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Sent from my BrailleNote Apex
----- Original Message -----
From: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 21:33:34 -0700
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Statistics Course
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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