Book excerpt: The introduction to statistics that psychology students can't afford to be without Understanding statistics is a requirement for obtaining and making the most of a degree in psychology, a fact of life that often takes first year psychology students by surprise. Filled with jargon-free explanations and real-life examples, Psychology Statistics For Dummies makes the often-confusing world of statistics a lot less baffling, and provides you with the step-by-step instructions necessary for carrying out data analysis. Psychology Statistics For Dummies: Serves as an easily accessible supplement to doorstop-sized psychology textbooks Provides psychology students with psychology-specific statistics instruction Includes clear explanations and instruction on performing statistical analysis Teaches students how to analyze their data with SPSS, the most widely used statistical packages among students