Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
School of Communication, Information and Library Studies
 
Message from the Dean
About the University
About the School
Academic Programs Available
Financial Aid
Academic Policies and Procedures
Undergraduate Programs
Master of Communication and Information Studies Program
Master of Library and Information Science Program
Ph.D. Program in Communication, Information, and Library Studies
Program
Program Options
Program Requirements
Statistics Competency
Course Requirements
Policy on Incomplete Grades
Qualifying Examination Requirement
Dissertation Requirements
Timelines for Completing Requirements
Admissions
Advising and Annual Review
Financial Support
Career Opportunities
Faculty
Courses
Professional Development Studies
Faculty and Administration
Divisions of the University
Camden Newark New Brunswick/Piscataway
Catalogs
  School of Communication and Information 2011–2013 Ph.D. Program in Communication, Information, and Library Studies Program Program Requirements Statistics Competency  

Statistics Competency


The school expects students entering the program to have achieved master's-level competency in statistics. This is a prerequisite for enrollment in Quantitative Research Methods (16:194:604), a program core methods course option for all students. Competency in statistics will be assessed by the instructor for 604 in the semester prior to enrollment. Some of the specific statistical competencies students are expected to have before enrolling in 604 are listed below (though each course instructor's expectations may vary somewhat from this):
  • Levels of Measurement:  Provide brief definitions and examples of nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement. Possible elaborations include increasing statistical sensitivity, tests of association for nominal and interval/ratio data, and issues in making continuous measures discrete.
  • Measures of Central Tendency (mean, median, mode):  Provide brief definitions of each, know with what types of data each would be used, what it means when they are all similar, what it signifies when they differ, and why these measures are important descriptors.
  • Measures of Variance:  Define standard deviation, evaluate any frequency distribution in terms of its standard deviations, compare the standard deviation to standard error, and determine the range and variance of a sample.
  • Variables:  Identify independent/predictor, confounding, moderator/intervening, and dependent/criterion variables. Understand appropriate use of the different terms.
  • Sampling:  Understand the difference between probability and nonprobability sampling, samples versus populations, parametric versus nonparametric distributions, types of sampling, assumptions of normal distributions, other types of distributions (e.g., poisson, t, chi-square, etc.).
  • Error:  Understand Type I and Type II errors, sampling and measurement error.
  • Tests of Association:  Understand cross-tabulations and chi-square analyses, t -tests, analyses of variance, and different kinds of correlations.
  • Significance:  Be familiar with p values, degrees of freedom, sample size, relationship of p values to alpha, choosing significance levels, and the relationships among statistical power, significance levels, generality/generalizability, and sample size. Be able to look up critical values on t, chi-square, or normal distribution tables.
  • Z-scores:  Define standard normal curve, standard scores, know formula and appropriate uses.
Students who have not successfully completed graduate-level coursework in statistics or feel unsure about their statistical competency are strongly encouraged to enroll in a master's-level statistics course as soon as possible. Credits earned in elementary master's-level statistics do not count toward the program's coursework credit requirements. Possible courses at Rutgers include (but are not restricted to):
  • 17:610:511   Research Methods
  • 16:960:532  Statistical Methods in Education II
 
For additional information, contact RU-info at 732-445-info (4636) or colonel.henry@rutgers.edu.
Comments and corrections to: Campus Information Services.

© 2012 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. All rights reserved.