Statistics for Anthropology

280 Pages·2012·1.35 MB·English

by  Lorena Madrigal

StatisticsforAnthropology
SecondEdition
Anthropologyasadisciplineisrapidlybecomingmorequantitative,andanthropology
studentsarenowrequiredtodevelopsophisticatedstatisticalskills.Thisbookprovides
studentsofanthropologywithaclear,step-by-stepguidetounivariatestatisticalmethods,
demystifyingtheaspectsthatareoftenseenasdifficultorimpenetrable.
Explaining the central role of statistical methods in anthropology, and using only
anthropological examples, the book provides a solid footing in statistical techniques.
Beginningwithbasicdescriptivestatistics,thisneweditionalsocoversmoreadvanced
methodssuchasanalysesoffrequenciesandvariance,andsimpleandmultipleregres-
sionanalysiswithdummyandcontinuousvariables.Itaddressescommonlyencountered
problemssuchassmallsamplesandnon-normality.Eachstatisticaltechniqueisaccom-
paniedbyclearlyworkedexamples,andthechaptersendwithpracticeproblemsets.
Manyofthedatasetsareavailablefordownloadatwww.cambridge.org/
9780521147088.
LorenaMadrigalisProfessorofAnthropologyattheUniversityofSouthFlorida,Tampa.
A biological anthropologist, she is particularly interested in the evolution of Afro and
IndoCostaRicanpopulationsresidingintheAtlanticcoastofCostaRica.Sheiscurrently
PresidentoftheAmericanAssociationofPhysicalAnthropologists.ShelivesinTampa
withhertwodaughters.

Statistics for Anthropology
Second Edition
LORENA MADRIGAL
UniversityofSouthFlorida,USA
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,
Singapore,Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi,MexicoCity
CambridgeUniversityPress
TheEdinburghBuilding,CambridgeCB28RU,UK
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521147088
(cid:2)C L.Madrigal1998,2012
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished1998
Secondedition2012
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Madrigal,Lorena.
Statisticsforanthropology/LorenaMadrigal.–Secondedition.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-521-14708-8
1.Anthropology–Statisticalmethods. I.Title.
GN34.3.S7M33 2012
301.072(cid:3)7–dc23 2011044367
ISBN978-0-521-14708-8Paperback
Additionalresourcesforthispublicationat
www.cambridge.org/9780521147088
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto
inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
Thisbookisdedicatedtoallparentswhoneverquestionedtheirchildren’s
decisiontopursueacareerinanthropology.Topartnerswhoofferedsupport
andcomfort.Andtochildrenwhohelpedusgrowtothelimit.Mayallpeoplebe
asluckyasIhavebeen.

Contents
Listofpartialstatisticaltables pagexi
Preface xiii
1 Introductiontostatisticsandsimpledescriptivestatistics 1
1.1 Statisticsandscientificenquiry 1
1.2 Basicdefinitions 3
1.2.1 Variablesandconstants 3
1.2.2 Scalesofmeasurement 4
1.2.3 Accuracyandprecision 6
1.2.4 Independentanddependentvariables 6
1.2.5 Controlandexperimentalgroups 7
1.2.6 Samplesandstatistics,populationsandparameters.Descriptive
andinferentialstatistics.Afewwordsaboutsampling 8
1.3 Statisticalnotation 9
1.4 Chapter1keyconcepts 12
1.5 Chapter1exercises 12
2 Thefirststepindataanalysis:summarizinganddisplayingdata.Computing
descriptivestatistics 13
2.1 Frequencydistributions 13
2.1.1 Frequencydistributionsofdiscontinuousnumericand
qualitativevariables 13
2.1.2 Frequencydistributionsofcontinuousnumericvariables 15
2.1.3 Stem-and-leafdisplaysofdata 17
2.2 Graphingdata 18
2.2.1 Bargraphsandpiecharts 19
2.2.2 Histograms 21
2.2.3 Polygons 21
2.2.4 Boxplots 21
2.3 Descriptivestatistics.Measuresofcentraltendencyanddispersion 25
2.3.1 Measuresofcentraltendency 26
2.3.2 Measuresofvariation 29
2.4 Chapter2keyconcepts 39
viii Contents
2.5 Computerresources 40
2.6 Chapter2exercises 40
3 Probabilityandstatistics 42
3.1 Randomsamplingandprobabilitydistributions 43
3.2 Theprobabilitydistributionofqualitativeanddiscontinuous
numericvariables 44
3.3 Thebinomialdistribution 46
3.4 ThePoissondistribution 48
3.5 Bayes’theorem 53
3.6 Theprobabilitydistributionofcontinuousvariables 57
3.6.1 zscoresandthestandardnormaldistribution(SND) 63
3.6.2 Percentileranksandpercentiles 71
3.6.3 Theprobabilitydistributionofsamplemeans 73
3.6.4 Ismybellshapenormal? 77
3.7 Chapter3keyconcepts 78
3.8 Computerresources 79
3.9 Chapter3exercises 80
4 Hypothesistestingandestimation 83
4.1 Differentapproachestohypothesistestingandestimation 83
4.1.1 Theclassicalsignificancetestingapproach 83
4.1.2 Themaximumlikelihoodapproach 84
4.1.3 TheBayesianapproach 84
4.2 Estimation 84
4.2.1 Confidencelimitsandconfidenceinterval 85
4.2.2 Pointestimation 89
4.3 Hypothesistesting 90
4.3.1 Theprinciplesofhypothesistesting 90
4.3.2 Errorsandpowerinhypothesistesting 93
4.3.3 Hypothesistestsusingzscores 98
4.3.4 One-andtwo-tailedhypothesistests 100
4.3.5 Assumptionsofstatisticaltests 101
4.3.6 Hypothesistestingwiththetdistribution 103
4.3.7 Hypothesistestsusingtscores 104
4.3.8 Reportinghypothesistests 105
4.3.9 Theclassicalsignificancetestingapproach.Aconclusion 106
4.4 Chapter4keyconcepts 106
4.5 Chapter4exercises 107
5 Thedifferencebetweentwomeans 108
5.1 Theun-pairedttest 108
5.1.1 Assumptionsoftheun-pairedttest 112