*Corresponding author: Swati Gupta Department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University, U.P ISSN: 0976-3031 RESEARCH ARTICLE EVALUATION OF STATISTICAL METHODS USED IN PH.D. THESES OF SOCIAL SCIENCES IN INDIAN UNIVERSITIES Punita Govil 1 , Mamun Ali Naji Qasem 2 and Swati Gupta 3 * 1,3 Department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University, U.P 2 Member of Faculty of Education, Ibb University, Yemen ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History: Received 14 th , February, 2015 Received in revised form 23 th , February, 2015 Accepted 13 th , March, 2015 Published online 28 th , March, 2015 The study was aimed at finding out the suitability of statistical methods used in the analysis of the data in Ph.D. theses of social science faculty in Indian Universities. It was also the purpose of the study to find out the types of common errors committed by the researchers while using statistical methods to analyze the data in Ph.D. theses. For the purpose, a standardized tool developed by the researchers was used by the investigators to evaluate the statistical methods used in theses of social science faculty. The sample consisted of 20 Ph.D. theses of social science faculty of Indian Universities including 120 statistical methods. In the sample, 10 theses from Department of Education and 10 theses from Psychology Department in faculty of Social Sciences of AMU were randomly selected. The analysis of the study revealed that: (1)79% of the studies have employed appropriate method according to sample size and number of variables and 77% of the theses have employed appropriate method according to research design. However, only 47% of the researchers fulfilled the assumptions of the method used by them. (2) The common errors committed by the researchers while using statistical methods are of serious nature. None of the researchers calculated effect size in his/her thesis. 87% of the evaluated theses did not select the sample in appropriate manner and 36% of the researchers of social sciences used insufficient statistical methods in their theses. Key words: Statistics, Parametric and Non- Parametric methods Copyright © Swati Gupta et al., This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. INTRODUCTION The term ‘Research’ in general usage refers to a search for knowledge. Hansen (2009) defined it as creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society and the use of this knowledge to devise new applications. It is also defined as the creation of new knowledge or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings. Research is not confined to science and technology only. There are vast areas of research in other disciplines such as Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Educational research is the systematic application of scientific method for solving the educational problems. It uses both conceptions of social reality and the statistical methods that are considered appropriate for exploring it. The statistical methods are technically very essential in the realm of the research. They help in analyzing the data and to draw out the conclusions more clearly, precisely and more accurately (Rajasekar & et al, 2013). Thus statistics is the rule of scientific research and without the rules and procedures for collecting data it would be difficult to draw valid and reliable conclusions. Statistics is the science and practice of developing human knowledge through the use of empirical data expressed in quantitative form. This discipline is based on sound theories and is a branch of applied mathematics. Within statistical theory, randomness and uncertainty are modeled by probability theory. In other words, a researcher can make suitable decisions on research in terms of accepting or rejecting the proposed hypotheses using statistical tools. For that matter, being able to use statistics in research, the required processes and skills for each kind of research is necessary for every researcher so that correct conclusions may be drawn. Statement of the problem Briefly, the present study seeks to “Evaluate Statistical Methods used in Ph.D. Theses of Social Sciences in Indian Universities” so that quality of the theses carried out in the universities in the area of social sciences may be assessed. In other words, the present study tries to find out the answer of following questions: 1. What are the statistical methods used generally in the analysis of the data in Ph.D. theses of social sciences in Indian Universities? 2. Do the researchers use the suitable statistical methods in the analysis of the data in Ph.D. theses of social sciences in Indian Universities? Available Online at http://www.recentscientific.com International Journal of Recent Scientific Research International Journal of Recent Scientific Research Vol. 6, Issue, 3, pp.2926-2931, March, 2015