At the beginning of this semester, I was admittedly worried about how I would perform in this class. The previous semester, I had the prerequisite class for SOCL 346, which was SOCL 345. I felt the same way about that class at the beginning too—but to a lesser degree. I ended up completing that class with a somewhat acceptable grade. As soon as I realized I had to take 346 the following semester, which would incorporate pieces of information from 345, I was worried. But, that is the old me, who was unconfident in their ability to calculate and view statistics. Now, I enjoy SOCL346 and its content, audience, and instructor.
In this course, I learned about several facets of statistics. The most obvious things about statistics that I learned was how to use and operate software which enables statistical calculations to be completed easier. I am of course speaking about rStudio.cloud and SPSS. Rstudio and SPSS are programs that are generally used to calculate statistical responses based on the input data. For Rstudio, much of the work has to be done yourself. I mean in this instance that with Rstudio, actual coding must be done by hand, in order to achieve the results which you are aiming for. This is somewhat reminiscent to coding itself, except that the code is a lot simpler and often only two to three lines of syntax.
With SPSS, the work is a bit simpler to understand, as there is no manual input necessary. In SPSS, you navigate through the possible functions of the program with tabs that can simply spell it out for you on how to proceed. Tabs labeled things such as “analyze” help you with the idea that a lot of the tests you may be using can be found within that subfolder. It is as simple as clicking your way through the tests, tweaking a value or two, and having your statistical data there right in front of you.
Through working with Rstudio and SPSS, I learned how to perform and calculate a series of tests. Some of these tests are included but not limited to: Chi-Squared, Pearson’s Correlation, ANOVA (analysis of variance), and T-test. All of these tests were used in the class (obviously), and were used and later completed using my variables through the software previously mentioned.
I think all of the information that I learned in SOCL346 was very important, even just for basic life. The things I learned, such as how to accurately read data and write syntax, I feel is very helpful in several areas outside of the Statistics sector. Like the guest speakers we had in class said, there is knowledge that you attain from college level statistics that is applied in several areas of life. While they were both in the business sector of professional life, they spoke on the uses they have in their field (and the uses in other fields) that they have for statistics, which they studied and practiced in college.
I think this matters in a larger context because it shows that the things you learn in college, and specifically those from the statistics side, can be applied in real life no matter what you do. It shows that statistics specifically can be applied in a wide range of areas, much like math that you learned in high school, whether it’s basic or not.
What I will do with what I learned in this course is apply this to my day-to-day life as an I see fit. As a Criminal Justice major, I won’t be working with calculators and statistics as much as say, a Business major. However, this doesn’t mean I won’t be working with it at all. Rates and percentages of criminal activity and crimes in general are recorded annually through the NCVS (National Crime Victimization Survey) and the UCR (Uniform Crime Report). These sources provide valuable information to the public about their contents, such as: demographic (gender, nationality, age), location, type of crime and more. All of this data is used in creating the sources, which could then be run through statistical tests, such as the ones I mentioned above to get results which could use within research. Tests such as Pearson’s Correlation, for example, can be used in reference with crime statistics, and come out with logical answers which can explain the correlation between the set(s) of data.
Overall, the knowledge gained from both SOCL345 and SOCL346 is overwhelming. Learning how to use, calculate, type, and read statistics is a trait that can be used in many facets and sectors of the real world. Sectors such as: Mathematics, Statistics (of course), Business, and even the legal side, can use statistical analysis to their benefit. I am grateful for having such a caring instructor, Dr. Pederson, who made sure each of her students knew the material and taught the curriculum in a fun, easy to understand way, by incorporating the students into real-world examples and tests.