Applying Social Statistics : An Introduction to Quantitative Reasoning in Sociology

Contents: Preface. 1. Statistics and sociology: computation and application. I. An overview of applied social statistics: 2. Statistics: what it is and why sociologists use it. 3. Measurement in sociology: quantity, quality and social aggregates. II. Tools and techniques of description: 4. Frequency distributions and public sociology. 5. Central tendency in microsociology. 5. Dispersion and the analysis of social deviance. III. The logic of statistical induction: 7. Generalizations and social justice. 8. Induction: using sample means in the study of diversity. 9. Hypothesis testing: the foundation of sociological theory. 10. IV. Bivariate applications: using induction and association in sociological research: 10. Two sample t-tests and an application to the study of altruism. 11. Comparing three or more samples in small group research. 12. Association and induction in qualitative sociology: from private problems to public issues. 13. Correlation description and induction in comparative sociology. 14. Regression description and induction in the sociological study of globalization. 15. Supplemental material online. Appendices. Notes. References. Index.

This book on introductory social statistics focuses on how statistical techniques are applied in sociological research. In addition to the usual range of topics is descriptive and inductive statistics (frequency, central tendency, dispersion, confidence intervals, significance testing, and correlation and regression), it includes essays and exercises that illustrate the close connection between sociological theory and practice, on one hand, and quantitative reasoning, on the other. Extensive SPPS and Internet applications are included.