Quantitative Models in Psychology (PDF)

Training in quantitative methods primarily involves studying the mechanics of statistics or, in other words, the "how" of data analysis. What is less studied is the "why," or the foundational theory underlying these concepts. Using the organizing principle that quantitative methods are the building blocks of models, this book focuses on models of inference, models of measurement, and the modeling of psychological phenomena. With clear prose and a reader-friendly format, McGrath introduces a conceptual framework for the entire spectrum of quantitative modeling procedures used in psychology while providing a solid grounding in its methods and practices. Featuring cutting-edge developments in research methodologies and examples taken from published studies, this book will walk you through inferential statistics and quantitative modeling of psychological phenomena; the logic and limits of null hypothesis significance testing; alternatives to significance testing, including confidence intervals, meta-analysis, and Bayesian methods; models of measurement error—Latent-variable models; the mathematical qualities of quantitative variables; and the modeling of psychological phenomena, including such concepts as moderation and mediation. The result is a comprehensive survey of quantitative methods and concepts in psychology that covers everything needed at the graduate level and beyond, including generalizing from samples to populations, using measurement instruments to generate quantitative scales, and modeling real-world patterns and relationships. This book presents the most important and practically relevant quantitative models for the behavioral and social sciences and encourages psychologists and graduate students to think critically about the limitations of the methods currently in use.