Why!!?? Statistics!?

[adrienneviolet]

Statistics. I took Statistics at Suny Oneonta, upstate NY. I loved it. Marriage statistics are important for psychology majors doing a thesis on marriage retention. It's important for the statistical analysis of the divorce rate in America. It is important for so many reasons. Study on. It will be worth it in the end, I can promise you that. Great major!

[Aubs]

It's not really an attitude thing at all - you're taking one exam and it seems there's another exam that squeezed its way in there for a sideshow. It's panic-able.

You'll have to do some work to understand the basic concepts of stats, but it's truly not that horrid.
Once you get into the room, knock off what you do know and save the ones you don't til last, skip them over and give them only what attention you have at the end. You'll be better off placing your time towards what you CAN answer than wasting on what you Can't

Thank you! I was beginning to think I was losing it. :p I'll try to find more information on understanding stats...I have a feeling this isn't the last of them.

[Potatoloco]

I'm working on Principles of Marketing (I....don't....like....it...) and I'm running into statistics of the marriage/divorce/childbirth rates of the U.S.!?? Why!? It has NOTHING to do with marketing and I don't pay attention to statistics so I KNOW I"m getting them wrong which freaks me out because I need every right answer I can get.
I had the same thing in Sociology; I was totally lost and just left blinking at the screen, re-reading the question over and over and over as precious minutes ticked away.

Confused. Panicked. If anyone has a tip for me right now, I know there's probably not alot that can be of much use, just ranting. *sigh*

I seem to be having major trouble with this test. I've been studying it for nearly a month now. Practice tests, flashcards, study guides, textbooks. I've put more studying into this test than I have other tests and I'm NOT passing the practice tests. In fact, I keep getting the same score, low forties.

What frustrates me to no end is when I look at past posts about when other people have taken this test...and they say it's easy, or they hardly studied for it and passed in the 60s-70s range, that most of the material is common sense. Well...I suppose I have no common sense then.

I'm not meaning to complain but I'm running out of material to study here and I don't know how to get it to stick in my brain.

Breathe!

Just keep it simple and forget about the statistics. Principles of Marketing clep will not have a large number of those types of questions. So no need to waste valuable study time on that. Just remember, everyone that takes the clep is going to have weak parts on the test and strong parts, otherwise everyone would come back with an 80 everytime.

Get your strong parts rock solid. The better your understanding on certain concepts, the better grasp you start to get on the overlapping concepts and the more confidence you have moving forward. The more you start to see that score rise.

The easiest way I get something to stick is to take the several practice tests over and over again until it begins to "click." Since obviously you'd be seeing the same questions, begin to understand why an answer isn't correct and understand in what particular frame of question that it would be correct. Make up your own practice test questions if you can. Just take other questions from your practice tests, reword it to fit one of the answers in the multiple choice. You're not only creating another test for yourself, but you're studying the material at the same time of creation. You'd be amazed at what 400-600 extra questions will do for your overall understanding of a subject. You begin to actually "think and apply" the concepts.

[jackzack87]

Thank you! I was beginning to think I was losing it. :p I'll try to find more information on understanding stats...I have a feeling this isn't the last of them.

I'm actually taking a Stats course right now at TESC. It's challenging and lots of work, but very doable.

I previously took several courses including Marketing and others that had some stats, just like you're taking now, and passed with only self-study. However, you'll benefit from your time spent learning stats, I guarantee. My point is to not focus on the problem but on the 80%(+/-) of the test that you do know and can do that isn't in your weak areas.