Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics

by Neil J. Salkind

The FIGHT scale includes items that describe different behaviors, some that are theoretically related to aggressive behaviors and some that are not. Once the FIGHT scale is completed, you examine the results to see whether positive scores on the FIGHT scale correlate with the presence of the kinds of behaviors you would predict given your theory (level of involvement in crime, quality of personal relationships, etc.) and don’t correlate with the kinds of behaviors that should not be related (such as handedness or preferences for certain types of food). And, if the correlation is high for the items that you predict should correlate and low for the items that should not, then you can conclude that there is something about the FIGHT scale (probably the items you designed to assess elements of aggression) that works. Congratulations.