Synopses & Reviews
A comprehensive, exceptionally well-written text that instructors find to be appropriate for students with varying levels of mathematical skill, ranging from those suffering from math phobia and anxiety to those adept at math. The text provides students a first look at social statistics by illustrating the application of statistics to contemporary social issues. Students learn to read and interpret statistics in a variety of settings. Each chapter is complete with numerous practice exercises, problems, and demonstrations and applications of the latest SPSS statistical software package to reinforce chapter concepts, operations, and formulas. Students can also find demonstrations and applications using the MicroCase statistical package on the text's companion web site. The book's primary emphasis is on developing the following skills necessary for students to become "statistically literate": computational competence; appreciation of statistics; and the ability to read professional social science literature.
Synopsis
STATISTICS: A TOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH, Eighth Edition, is a comprehensive, reader-friendly text that uses real-world examples, engaging exercises, and special features in every chapter to help even the most math-averse students succeed in a required statistics course. At the same time, this versatile text is appropriate for more advanced students in diverse social science disciplines, providing an accessible, well-balanced introduction to fundamental concepts of statistics and their practical application to a wide variety of contemporary social issues. The text covers hand calculations and the use of computers, providing a solid grounding in both traditional formulas and the latest SPSS statistical software package. Healey effectively breaks down even complex material to help students master key concepts and hone the skills they will need to succeed as professionals in a social science field--or simply to become "statistically literate," intelligent consumers of social research.
About the Author
Joseph F. Healey, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of Sociology and Social Work at Christopher Newport University. He is author of STATISTICS: A TOOL FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH, Sixth Edition (Wadsworth, 2001), RACE, ETHNICITY, GENDER AND CLASS, Third Edition (Pine Forge Press, 2002), and RACE, ETHNICITY AND GENDER IN THE UNITED STATES (Pine Forge, 1996). He is the author of the forthcoming RACE, ETHNICITY AND GENDER (Pine Forge, 2004) and is also the co-editor with York Bradshaw of SOCIOLOGY FOR A NEW CENTURY (Pine Forge, 2001) and co-author with Earl Babbie and Fred Halley of EXPLORING SOCIAL ISSUES: USING SPSS FOR WINDOWS (Pine Forge, 1997). A.B., M.A., The College of William and Mary (Sociology and Anthropology) and Ph.D., University of Virginia (Sociology and Anthropology). In his spare time, he plays and records music for hammer dulcimer, banjo, and concertina.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction. Part I: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS. 2. Basic Descriptive Statistics: Percentages, Ratios and Rates, Tables, Charts, and Graphs. 3. Measures of Central Tendency. 4. Measures of Dispersion. 5. The Normal Curve. Part II: INFERENTIAL STATISTICS. 6. Introduction to Inferential Statistics: Sampling and the Sampling Distribution. 7. Estimation Procedures. 8. Hypothesis Testing I: The One-Sample Case. 9. Hypothesis Testing II: The Two-Sample Case. 10. Hypothesis Testing III: The Analysis of Variance. 11. Hypothesis Testing IV: Chi Square. Part III: MEASURES OF ASSOCIATION. 12. Bivariate Association: Introduction and Basic Concepts. 13. Association Between Variables Measured at the Nominal Level. 14. Association Between Variables Measured at the Ordinal Level. 15. Association Between Variables Measured at the Interval-Ratio Level. Part IV: MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUES. 16. Elaborating Bivariate Tables. 17. Partial Correlation and Multiple Regression and Correlation. Appendix A: Area Under the Normal Curve. Appendix B: Distribution of T. Appendix C: Distribution of Chi Square. Appendix D: Distribution of F. Appendix E: Using Statistics: Ideas for Research Projects. Appendix F: Introduction to SPSS. Appendix G: Code Book for the General Social Survey, 2002. Appendix H: Basic Math Review: Answers to Odd-Numbered Computational Problems. Glossary. Index.