Research foundations
Everything you need to know before you touch the software.
7 modules from the SPSS & Research Methods curriculum.
What you'll learn
By the end of this course
- Tell the difference between a research question and a hypothesis
- Turn a research question into a specific statistical test
- Match a research design to what it can and can't actually prove
- Classify variables by type and level of measurement
- Read a p-value correctly and explain Type I/II errors and power
- Work out how big a sample needs to be, and why
- Judge whether an instrument is valid and reliable before trusting its data
Curriculum
7 sections · 7 lessons
Section 1
7 modules
Section 1
- What research actually asks of youTwo studies can run the identical test on the identical data and only one of them survives review. The difference is never the arithmetic.~25 min
- From research question to statistical analysisTwo checks. The first asks whether the question is worth doing; the second asks whether it is answerable at all.~30 min
- Research designs and what each one can proveThat is the entire distinction, and it is the only thing that changes what your study can prove.~30 min
- Variables and levels of measurementFifteen minutes, and it is the highest-return quarter of an hour in this course.~25 min
- Hypotheses, p-values, errors and powerThis is the part that feels backwards, and it stays feeling backwards until you notice what it buys you.~30 min
- Sampling and sample sizeThat is the whole distinction, and everything you are allowed to say about a population follows from which side of it you are on.~35 min
- Validity, reliability and the instrumentTwenty minutes, and it will tell you whether you owe anybody anything.~30 min
About this course
Research foundations is where every SPSS track should start. It's the theory that makes the software make sense — what a research question actually asks of you, how it turns into a statistical test, and what a given design can and can't prove.
Seven modules, about 3 hours and 25 minutes total. What research asks of you and turning a question into an analysis stand alone as entry points; from there, research design and measurement level branch out into sample size on one side and hypothesis testing and validity on the other.
No software required. This track is pure groundwork, built to run before anyone opens SPSS for the first time.
Who it's for
- Anyone starting a research or dissertation project with no formal training in methods
- People who can run SPSS commands but aren't sure which test to reach for
- Students who need the theory before the software, not alongside it
What you'll need
- Nothing — no software required, this track is pure theory
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