After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

1 Define inferential statistics and explain why they are necessary.

2 Describe the process of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST).

3 Distinguish between Type I and Type II errors and define power.

4 Distinguish between parametric and nonparametric tests and choose an appropriate test statistic for research designs with one and two factors.

5 Distinguish between a chi-square goodness-of-fit test and a chi-square test for independence.

6 Identify and describe the following effect size measures: Cohen’s d, eta squared, the coefficient of determination, and Cramer’s V.

7 Distinguish between a point estimate and an interval estimate and explain how estimation relates to the significance and effect size of an outcome.

8 Distinguish between the precision and the certainty of an interval estimate.

9 Compute a chi-square goodness-of-fit test and a chi-square test for independence using SPSS.