Read this first
The numbers that carry the finding, in the order a reader needs them — not the order the software prints them.
STUDY CORTEX / Companion to the Psychology Statistics Practice System
The Output Reading Guide
Twenty analyses, annotated.
In SPSS and JASP, side by side.
What to read first, what to ignore, what your software never prints, and the sentence that reports it.
- 20 outputs, each shown as your software actually prints it
- Every analysis twice — once as SPSS prints it, once as JASP
- Four marked sections on every output, including the sentence that reports it
$10.00USD · One-time purchase
25-page digital PDF
Get the Output Reading Guide
25-page digital PDF
Digital download · Read on screen or print · No physical book
20annotated outputs
2packages, side by side
4marked sections per output
25pages
Why this guide exists
Running an analysis and reading
its output are two different skills.
Only the first one is taught. This guide closes the gap: twenty analyses, each shown as your software actually prints it, with four things marked on every one.
Ignore this
What the table shows that does not belong in your write-up, and why it is printed at all.
What is missing
The section to read even when your output looks complete. Software prints what it can compute, rather than what a reader needs.
Reports as
The finished sentence, in APA form, built from the numbers on that page.
Both packages, side by side
Same numbers.
Two layouts.
Every analysis appears twice: once as SPSS prints it and once as JASP does. Seeing them together is useful even if your department only uses one — it separates the statistics from the software, which is the whole point.
Two differences are worth knowing before you start. JASP prints APA-formatted tables by default, so what you see is close to what you paste into a manuscript; SPSS prints a working table that always needs reformatting. And JASP offers effect sizes and confidence intervals as checkboxes next to each analysis, where SPSS often leaves you to compute them. That second difference is why so many SPSS write-ups are missing an effect size.
The twenty outputs
Find your analysis.
Put your own output next to it.
Work through the four marked sections in order. Check the list against the analyses your course actually runs.
- Describing your data
- 01Descriptives
- 02Frequencies for a categorical variable
- Checking assumptions
- 03Normality checks
- Comparing with a fixed value
- 04One-sample t-test
- Comparing two groups
- 05Independent-samples t-test
- Comparing two conditions
- 06Paired-samples t-test
- Comparing three or more groups
- 07One-way ANOVA
- 08Post hoc comparisons
- Association
- 09Correlation matrix
- 10Spearman when the relationship is not linear
- Prediction
- 11Simple regression · model summary
- 12Simple regression · coefficients
- Categorical outcomes
- 13Chi-square goodness of fit
- 14Chi-square test of independence
- Rank-based tests
- 15Mann-Whitney U
- 16Wilcoxon signed-rank
- 17Kruskal-Wallis
- Measurement
- 18Reliability · Cronbach's alpha
- Checking assumptions
- 19Levene's test and homogeneity
- Planning
- 20G*Power · a priori sample size
How to use it
Your output on one side,
the page on the other.
Find your analysis.
Go to the output you just ran and put your own screen or printout next to the page.
Work the four sections in order.
Read this first, then Ignore this, then What is missing, then the sentence that reports it.
Do not skip What is missing.
It is the one to read even when your output looks complete. It is where marks are lost, because software prints what it can compute rather than what a reader needs.
A note on the numbers. Every output in this guide is arithmetically exact. The test statistics, degrees of freedom, p-values, effect sizes and intervals are the true values implied by the descriptives printed above them, so you can recompute any of them by hand and confirm the guide is right. The datasets themselves are constructed for teaching.
Is this for you?
For students who already
have the output.
This guide is for psychology students running analyses in SPSS or JASP who need to read what the software prints and report it correctly.
A good fit if you want to…
- Know which number in a table carries the finding
- See the same analysis in SPSS and in JASP
- Spot what your software did not print
- Write the result as a finished APA sentence
It is a 25-page reference, not a statistics course and not a tutorial on running the analyses. It does not teach you to use SPSS or JASP, and it cannot guarantee an exam result.
Before you buy
Your questions, answered.
What exactly do I receive?
The Output Reading Guide: a 25-page PDF covering 20 analyses, each shown twice — once as SPSS prints it and once as JASP does — with four marked sections on every output. This is a digital product.
Do I need both SPSS and JASP?
No. Every analysis appears in both layouts, and the guide is useful even if your department only uses one. Seeing them together separates the statistics from the software.
Does it teach me how to run the analyses?
No. It starts where your output starts. It is a reading and reporting reference, not a software tutorial.
Are the numbers real?
They are arithmetically exact. Every test statistic, degree of freedom, p-value, effect size and interval is the true value implied by the descriptives printed above it, so you can recompute any of them by hand. The datasets are constructed for teaching.
How does this relate to the Practice System?
It is the companion to the Psychology Statistics Practice System. The Practice System gives you problems to work through; this guide sits next to your own software output when you are reading and reporting it.
How do I access it?
Your download link is provided after checkout and by email. Read the PDF on a compatible device or print the pages you want beside you.
The output is on your screen.
Know what to read first.
Twenty analyses, annotated. What to read first, what to ignore, what your software never prints, and the sentence that reports it.
Get the Output Reading Guide — $10.00USD · One-time purchase · 25-page digital PDF · Instant download