<p>Cross Validated has a long list of answers to, "<a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/421/32036">What book would you recommend for non-statistician scientists?</a>" including <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/a/488/32036">an answer from our own</a> @JeromyAnglim regarding <a href="http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SPSS</a> for psychologists. Jeromy has also listed a number of good recommendations in response to <a href="https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/853/4086">The current recommended text for statistics in behavioural sciences</a>, and @Mike suggested one for <a href="http://cran.r-project.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">R</a> users such as myself. I hesitate to recreate their content here because their original wording seems appropriate to preserve, and I'd rather have you read their answers and upvote them than try to take any credit myself.</p>

<p>I'd offer additional recommendations of my own if I had any good ones, but my stats textbooks were pretty deficient in retrospect, and I've had to overwrite a great deal of my formal education in psychological statistics through more diffuse study of sources other than textbooks. <a href="https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/5808/4086">My standards for "a firm grip" on statistical research methods</a> are probably more stringent than is truly necessary though, so my experience shouldn't concern you necessarily.</p>

<p>Also, FWIW, I had good but limited experiences with the textbooks that were assigned to me in my graduate stats classes for all areas of doctoral study in psychology (which excluded ed psych at my alma mater). My experiences with these were limited because I borrowed from colleagues instead of buying to save money. I will provide references to these books below. They were assigned by two psychometricians whose professional opinions I hold in high regard, one of whom is the primary author, Bob Rosenthal.</p>

<p><strong>References</strong></p>

<p>Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., &amp; Aiken, L. S. (2003). <em>Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences</em> (3rd ed.). Routledge.</p>

<p>Rosenthal, R., &amp; Rosnow, R. L. (2007). <em>Essentials of behavioral research: Methods and data analysis</em> (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. <a href="http://product.half.ebay.com/Essentials-of-Behavioral-Research-Methods-and-Data-Analysis-by-Robert-Rosenthal-and-Ralph-L-Rosnow-1991-Hardcover-Revised/29355&amp;tg=info" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Presently available used from \$1.11</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-26T23:02:10.147Z
Thank you for all the help I am marking down the books to give them a check.
JFarobek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-25T18:27:58.467Z
2014-02-25T18:27:58.467Z
2017-04-13T12:56:16.417Z
Nick Stauner
<p>In my country, studying educational psychology is a postgraduate qualification. It implies that you have completed an undergraduate sequence in psychology, and therefore would have already been exposed to the basics of statistics and research methods (e.g., univariate, bivariate statistics, significance testing, various ANOVA, regression, study designs, measurement reliability/validity, etc.). This may also include a subject on multivariate methods (e.g., factor analysis, logistic regression, perhaps a little SEM, etc.). Popular texts within psychology courses for this material include Andy Field's book and Tabachnick and Fidell <em>Using Multivariate Statistics</em>.</p>

<p>Thus, for students coming into an postgraduate Educational Psychology program, they may need a refresher or consolidation of the above statistical methods. </p>

<p>In general, educational psychology uses a lot of the same statistical techniques as other areas of psychology. A few techniques of particular relevance include:</p>

<ul>
<li>Multivariate methods: In particular, regression, factor analysis, SEM and so on are all common techniques for analysing observational studies common in educational psychology</li>
<li>Multi-level modelling: to model longitudinal data (e.g., student change) or students nested within classrooms or schools</li>
<li>Various models related to measurement and test design: In particular Item Response Theory, Classical Test Theory, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis</li>
<li>Meta-analysis: to systematically evaluate interventions and other findings across studies</li>
</ul>

<p>Ultimately, how well you want to learn any of the above techniques depends on your aims. These more advanced techniques can help you read the literature, and are particularly important if you want to do research using the technique.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-26T02:15:25.560Z
2014-02-26T03:46:22.990Z
2014-02-26T03:46:22.990Z
Jeromy Anglim
<p>I plan to study educational psychology in the near future. I know research methods is a big thing for educational psychologists, so I wanted to get a firm grip on the statistical knowledge required for research methods. Thus, I am looking for good stats books for educational psychologists? Either that or a lists of stats methods that an educational psychologist should master/know.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-25T18:01:28.147Z
Welcome to cogsci.SE. Your question is a variant of [The current recommended text for statistics in behavioural sciences](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/853/4086). I will offer an answer based on this and another question from [Cross Validated](http://stats.stackexchange.com), but it will mostly redirect to these other posts. I encourage anyone who can provide an answer tailored to ed psych to do so, and will request input from a friend/colleague/ former roommate of mine getting her PhD in ed psych. In the meantime, you may want to see if you can edit your question to differentiate it more.
Nick Stauner
<cognitive-psychology><statistics><educational-psychology>
Statistics books for educational psychologists?
JFarobek
# Statistics books for educational psychologists?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-02-25)

I plan to study educational psychology in the near future. I know research methods is a big thing for educational psychologists, so I wanted to get a firm grip on the statistical knowledge required for research methods. Thus, I am looking for good stats books for educational psychologists? Either that or a lists of stats methods that an educational psychologist should master/know.

Thanks!

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, statistics, educational-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to cogsci.SE. Your question is a variant of [The current recommended text for statistics in behavioural sciences](http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/853/4086). I will offer an answer based on this and another question from [Cross Validated](http://stats.stackexchange.com), but it will mostly redirect to these other posts. I encourage anyone who can provide an answer tailored to ed psych to do so, and will request input from a friend/colleague/ former roommate of mine getting her PhD in ed psych. In the meantime, you may want to see if you can edit your question to differentiate it more.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-02-25. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Cross Validated has a long list of answers to, "[What book would you recommend for non-statistician scientists?](https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/421/32036)" including [an answer from our own](https://stats.stackexchange.com/a/488/32036) @JeromyAnglim regarding [SPSS](http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss/) for psychologists. Jeromy has also listed a number of good recommendations in response to [The current recommended text for statistics in behavioural sciences](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/q/853/4086), and @Mike suggested one for [R](http://cran.r-project.org/) users such as myself. I hesitate to recreate their content here because their original wording seems appropriate to preserve, and I'd rather have you read their answers and upvote them than try to take any credit myself.

I'd offer additional recommendations of my own if I had any good ones, but my stats textbooks were pretty deficient in retrospect, and I've had to overwrite a great deal of my formal education in psychological statistics through more diffuse study of sources other than textbooks. [My standards for "a firm grip" on statistical research methods](https://cogsci.stackexchange.com/a/5808/4086) are probably more stringent than is truly necessary though, so my experience shouldn't concern you necessarily.

Also, FWIW, I had good but limited experiences with the textbooks that were assigned to me in my graduate stats classes for all areas of doctoral study in psychology (which excluded ed psych at my alma mater). My experiences with these were limited because I borrowed from colleagues instead of buying to save money. I will provide references to these books below. They were assigned by two psychometricians whose professional opinions I hold in high regard, one of whom is the primary author, Bob Rosenthal.

**References**

Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). *Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences* (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Rosenthal, R., & Rosnow, R. L. (2007). *Essentials of behavioral research: Methods and data analysis* (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. [Presently available used from \$1.11](http://product.half.ebay.com/Essentials-of-Behavioral-Research-Methods-and-Data-Analysis-by-Robert-Rosenthal-and-Ralph-L-Rosnow-1991-Hardcover-Revised/29355&tg=info).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you for all the help I am marking down the books to give them a check.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-02-26. Score: 3

In my country, studying educational psychology is a postgraduate qualification. It implies that you have completed an undergraduate sequence in psychology, and therefore would have already been exposed to the basics of statistics and research methods (e.g., univariate, bivariate statistics, significance testing, various ANOVA, regression, study designs, measurement reliability/validity, etc.). This may also include a subject on multivariate methods (e.g., factor analysis, logistic regression, perhaps a little SEM, etc.). Popular texts within psychology courses for this material include Andy Field's book and Tabachnick and Fidell *Using Multivariate Statistics*.

Thus, for students coming into an postgraduate Educational Psychology program, they may need a refresher or consolidation of the above statistical methods.

In general, educational psychology uses a lot of the same statistical techniques as other areas of psychology. A few techniques of particular relevance include:

* Multivariate methods: In particular, regression, factor analysis, SEM and so on are all common techniques for analysing observational studies common in educational psychology
* Multi-level modelling: to model longitudinal data (e.g., student change) or students nested within classrooms or schools
* Various models related to measurement and test design: In particular Item Response Theory, Classical Test Theory, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis
* Meta-analysis: to systematically evaluate interventions and other findings across studies

Ultimately, how well you want to learn any of the above techniques depends on your aims. These more advanced techniques can help you read the literature, and are particularly important if you want to do research using the technique.


---

