Social Statistics

"With just the right level of detail, and a graphically innovative approach, this book carefully guides students through the statistical techniques they will encounter in the real world. The basics, plus multiple regression, interaction effects, logistic regression, non-linear effects, all covered in a non-intimidating way for your students. The book uses three datasets throughout: General Social Survey, American National Election Studies, World Values Survey, and includes SPSS demonstrations at the end of each chapter. Most of your students will likely take only one stats course and use only one stats book in their college careers. This one innovatively equips them for their worlds ahead, regardless of the career paths they follow."--Page [i].

"Social Statistics for a Diverse Society provides students with a revealing introduction to social science statistics. This Fourth Edition maintains the same informal, conversational writing style, along with the many pedagogical features that made previous editions so successful. It is an excellent textbook for students taking their first course in social statistics and can also be used in a number of sociological research methods courses."--BOOK JACKET.

Many fundamentally important decisions about our social life are a function of how well we understand and analyze DATA. This sounds so obvious but it is so misunderstood. Social statisticians struggle with this problem in their teaching constantly. This book and its approach is the ally and support of all instructors who want to accomplish this hugely important teaching goal. This innovative text for undergraduate social statistics courses is, (as one satisfied instructor put it), a "breath of fresh air." It departs from convention by not covering some techniques and topics that have been in social stat textbooks for 30 years, but that are no longer used by social scientists today. It also includes techniques that conventional wisdom has previously thought to be the province of graduate level courses. Linneman’s text is for those instructors looking for a thoroughly "modern" way to teach quantitative thinking, problem-solving, and statistical analysis to their students...an undergraduate social statistics course that recognizes the increasing ubiquity of analytical tools in our data-driven age and therefore the practical benefit of learning how to "do statistics," to "present results" effectively (to employers as well as instructors), and to "interpret" intelligently the quantitative arguments made by others. A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR... At a recent Charter Day celebration, author Tom Linneman was awarded the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, the highest award given to young faculty members at the College of William and Mary. The citation for his award noted that Linneman has developed a reputation among his students as a demanding professor – but one who genuinely cares about them.

This open access book examines the question of collecting and disseminating data on ethnicity and race in order to describe characteristics of ethnic and racial groups, identify factors of social and economic integration and implement policies to redress discrimination. It offers a global perspective on the issue by looking at race and ethnicity in a wide variety of historical, country-specific contexts, including Asia, Latin America, Europe, Oceania and North America. In addition, the book also includes analysis on the indigenous populations of the Americas. The book first offers comparative accounts of ethnic statistics. It compares and empirically tests two perspectives for understanding national ethnic enumeration practices in a global context based on national census questionnaires and population registration forms for over 200 countries between 1990 to 2006. Next, the book explores enumeration and identity politics with chapters that cover the debate on ethnic and racial statistics in France, ethnic and linguistic categories in Québec, Brazilian ethnoracial classification and affirmative action policies and the Hispanic/Latino identity and the United States census. The third, and final, part of the book examines measurement issues and competing claims. It explores such issues as the complexity of measuring diversity using Malaysia as an example, social inequalities and indigenous populations in Mexico and the demographic explosion of aboriginal populations in Canada from 1986 to 2006. Overall, the book sheds light on four main questions: should ethnic groups be counted, how should they be counted, who is and who is not counted and what are the political and economic incentives for counting. It will be of interest to all students of race, ethnicity, identity, and immigration. In addition, researchers as well as policymakers will find useful discussions and insights for a better understanding of the complexity of categorization and related political and policy challenges.

Using current social issues and Canadian data, this engaging introduction to social statistics guides students step-by-step through statistical analysis with plenty of opportunities throughout to practice and apply concepts. Social Statistics in Action will not only show students howstatistics can be used as a tool for investigating social issues and inequalities, but will also prepare them to conduct their own analyses.

Introduction to Social Statistics is a basic statistics text with a focus on the use of models for thinking through statistical problems, an accessible and consistent structure with ongoing examples across chapters, and an emphasis on the tools most commonly used in contemporary research. Lively introductory textbook that uses three strategies to help students master statistics: use of models throughout; repetition with variation to underpin pedagogy; and emphasis on the tools most commonly used in contemporary research Demonstrates how more than one statistical method can be used to approach a research question Enhanced learning features include a ‘walk-through’ of statistical concepts, applications, features, advanced topics boxes, and a ‘What Have We Learned’ section at the end of each chapter Supported by a website containing instructor materials including chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides, answers to exercises, and an instructor guide Visit www.wiley.com/go/dietz for additional student and instructor resources.

`This book is highly recommended for libraries and departments to adopt. If I had to teach a statistics class for sociology students this would be a book I would surely choose. The book achieves two very important goals: it teaches students a software package and trains them in the statistical analysis of sociological data′ - Journal of Applied Statistics This fully revised, expanded and updated Second Edition of the best-selling textbook by Jane Fielding and Nigel Gilbert provides a comprehensive yet accessible guide to quantitative data analysis. Designed to help take the fear out of the use of numbers in social research, this textbook introduces students to statistics as a powerful means of revealing patterns in human behaviour. The textbook covers everything typically included in an introductory course on social statistics for students in the social sciences and the authors have taken the opportunity of this Second Edition to bring the data sources as current as possible. The book is full of up-to-date examples and useful and clear illustrations using the latest SPSS software. While maintaining the student-friendly elements of the first, such as chapter summaries, exercises at the end of each chapter, and a glossary of key terms, new features to this edition include: - Updated examples and references SPSS coverage and screen-shots now incorporate the current version 14.0 and are used to demonstrate the latest social statistics datasets; - Additions to content include a brand new section on developing a coding frame and an additional discussion of weighting counts as a means of analyzing published statistics; - Enhanced design aids navigation which is further simplified by the addition of core objectives for each chapter and bullet-pointed chapter summaries; - The updated Website at http:/www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/uss/index.html reflects changes made to the text and provides updated datasets; A valuable and practical guide for students dealing with the large amounts of data that are typically collected in social surveys, the Second Edition of Understanding Social Statistics is an essential textbook for courses on statistics and quantitative research across the social sciences.