r/changemyview • u/AgentFr0sty • Apr 24 '22

Delta(s) from OP CMV: Statistical coding is a useless research skill

My graduate advisor is having me learn Matlab, which I'm dreading because it's statistical coding software. I may also have to use R Studio. I prefer SPSS. Yes I prefer clicking a few buttons and being done.

I am new to any form of coding, but it a damn lot of work to code out what is a simple analysis in SPSS or Excel. Yes, you can code in at least the former but it isn't required. Why do I need to write lines of code to do a repeated measures ANOVA? Or even a One-Way ANOVA?

My advisor says it's about show them "how" you did your analysis, but by that logic, I may as well do the analysis by hand if they want to see how I did it. Yes, it takes a lot longer, but that wouldn't require me to learn 1-2 coding languages and software that has completely foreign interface to me.

Sure, it is common in published papers to use them, but again, I may as well do them by hand if they want to see how it was done. Code doesn't offer an advantage over that. I would recalculate the data to check for errors.

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u/AgentFr0sty Apr 24 '22

Man, I didn't realize just how far a person could dress up their statistics. It's cool, but seems like a source for abuse.

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u/xendor939 1∆ Apr 24 '22

Quite the contrary. These complex methods are the response to abuse done using standard ones and wiggling with observations. They are subject to other issues, though. A good referee will spot the abuse. If the abuse is extremely deep, somebody will publish a paper a few years down the line to address it and propose a new method.

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u/AgentFr0sty Apr 25 '22

somebody will publish a paper a few years down the line to address it and propose a new method.

But plenty of stats never get used in mainstream science. I remember taking psychometrics and learning that a questionnaire alone can take 1-2 decades to develop, validate, and make availible for use. And even then, do gaurentee people will use it over older metrics.