Principles of Statistical Data Handling

ABOUT THE APPROACH "I like the stress on a ′principled approach′ to data handling. The author makes clear that data analysts need to be thoughtful, careful, and reflective; data handling is not viewed as simply a mechanical or routine activity." --George Engelhard Jr., Emory University GENERAL "Principles of Statistical Data Handling deals with the most neglected aspect of implementing a quantitative research design, that is preparing the data for statistical analysis. Because this part of the process is so often neglected it is the most common source of trouble when a quantitative research project crashes, produces gibberish, and has to be done all over again. Remarkably, the author writes an interesting and easy-to-read book on what might seem an irredeemably dreary and technical topic. I will recommend this book to almost every one of my students who plans to do a dissertation using quantitative data." W. Paul Vogt, State University of New York, Albany "Many of the topics and strategies covered in this text are very realistic, and most of us that have been involved in data analysis over the years can relate to the data handling problems mentioned in the text; the author has done an excellent job of sharing his wisdom from many years of practical work as a data analyst." --George Engelhard Jr., Emory University ABOUT THE WRITING STYLE "The writing style is clearly informal. The author speaks to the reader as a good teacher speaks to a student." --Robert F. DeVellis, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "There is a delightful humor that comes through in this book and a playfulness that I enjoyed. The pace and level is appropriate for an introduction to data handling." --John W. Creswell, University of Nebraska, Lincoln ABOUT THE PEDAGOGY "The discussion questions are very, very good. I particularly like the idea of suggesting that the reader/student interact with some ′outsiders.′" --Carl J. Huberty, The University of Georgia Faulty data can lead to faulty