0.1: A Perspective on Statistics

In the end, there’s not a damn thing I can do to make you enjoy statistics.

If you want to do something else other than statistics, then you do. If you prefer doing a qualitative analysis versus a quantitative analysis in your dissertation, then you do. I could “scare” you into learning statistics by stating there are future situations where you will be using statistics. The psychology profession espouses the importance of learning statistics as part of a scientist-practitioner or scholar-practitioner model. You might find yourself as part of a group that sees a need for developing measures, evaluating services, or investigating something. That is the professional pressure for learning statistics. For most of us, we would rather obtain a statistical consultant. After all, if you do not know how to fix your light bulb problem, hire an electrician to help you fix your light bulb because no one is saying that you alone must fix your light bulb. If learning statistics is out of your comfort zone, out of your orbit, if you feel external pressures to learn statistics, if you would rather be somewhere else, then there is not a damn thing I can do to help you feel better about learning statistics.

But so what?

If you are reading this textbook, then we are here, in the present moment, and we will make the best of it. Whatever you gain out of this textbook, I hope it is useful to you. It is up to you, though, how you engage in the process of getting through a statistics course. You can go through the process by doing the minimum to pass or engaging at a deeper level to learn it. I will do what I can to increase your knowledge of statistics with this textbook, but in the end, it is all about your process and your goal.

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