چکیده (انگلیسی):

Avoiding statistical mistakes is important for educators at all levels. Basic concepts will help you to
avoid making mistakes using statistics and to look at data with a criticaleye. Statistical data is used
at educational institutions for many purposes. It can be used to support budget requests, changes in
educational philosophy, changes to programs, and addition of new programs. Therefore, it is
important to be sure that decisions based on statistical data are valid. Also, it is important to be
certain that the data has been presented in a fair and unbiased way. Otherwise, the changes and
decisions may not reflect the best interests of the educational institution or its constituents. Many
faculty, staff, and administrators at colleges and universities use statistics to support their findings.
Most conclusions are based on the data collected and the analysis. If eitherthe data collected or
the analysis is faulty, the conclusions may be invalid. Unfortunately, misuses and abuses are
common. This paper attempts to present basic concepts that will help you to avoid making mistakes
when using statistics and to look at data with a critical eye. No extensive knowledge of mathematics
or statistics is needed to be able to judge the validity of the data. The following questions will be
answered: How can administrators avoid making invalid decisions when presented with statistical
data? And, how can researchers avoid making mistakes that undermine the validity of their data?
First, we will look at sources of bias. Experiments and the collection of data can be influenced by
many different sources of bias. These sources include the population used for the study, the sample
size and method of selection, the funding of the experiment, statistical assumptions, the publication
source, and the biases of the researcher. Examplesfrom within education will be used to gain an
understanding of the biases that can occur. Second, we will look at the methods used to analyze and
display the statistical data. This can include descriptive statistics and more advanced analysis as
well. The characteristics of good graphic presentations of data will be compared to those that are
flawed. Examples of graphs that present data fairlywill be shown as well as graphs that distort the
data. The differences between ordinal and ratio data types will be emphasized. Appropriate uses of
ordinal data will be discussed. Also for ratio data a discussion of the meaning of average and
importance of measures of variance will be examined.We will also look at the crafting of surveys
and the choosing of samples. Finally, we will look at how the results can be interpreted. Valid data
and analysis can still result in incorrect interpretation. We will examine examples of cases where
misinterpretation is common and results in invalid conclusions. It is important to realize that
statistical data and analysis is subject to many forms of error and misinterpretation. All consumers
of statistical data need to look carefully at the data and the analysis. Numbers do lie! However, the
use of statistics and data is very important in making decisions. By using statistics correctly, we can
significantly impact education for the better. This goal can be achieved by those who are
knowledgeable about statistics and its use. Thispaper presents the tools for using statistics
correctly and identifying problems with statistical data.