Understanding Descriptive Statistics as a Way to Overcome Anxiety from Conducting Empirical Psychological Research

Authors:

Pages: 98-130
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/HNTH5367

Abstract:

Statistical anxiety is a condition characterized by intense experiences of fear, tension, and discomfort when faced with tasks that require the use of specialized software or interpreting statistical information. This often leads many students to avoid performing statistical tasks, whichnot only affects their academic education but also their continued professional development. The current study aims to present basic statistical concepts (descriptive statistics) in an understandable manner and to propose familiar software for their calculation that does not require specialized training. The presented model for entering data into Microsoft Excel, processing it, calculating, and describing descriptive statistics aims to show the reader that this is not a difficult and time-consuming task and is entirely achievable using software that „is lying around on our computers anyway“ (Thiagarajan, B., 2023: 8).

Keywords:

Statistical anxiety, descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, Microsoft Excel, Analysis tool pack.

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