Joy of Stats : A Very Short Guide to Introductory Statistics in the Social Sciences

by Garner, Roberta

• ISBN13: 9781551116914
• ISBN10: 155111691X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-30
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr Higher education

Summary

This introduction to applied statistics assumes no math background and even offers a Math Refresher Section to help readers get up to speed on areas in which they feel weak, as well as a How-To Section with practical exercises. Writing in an engaging and friendly manner, Garner encourages even the most math-aversive readers to think about statistical material in words, and to understand formulas in terms of concepts. Answers as well as formulas are provided so readers can figure out where they might have gone wrong along the way.

Author Biography

Roberta Garner is Professor of Sociology at DePaul University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	13	(2)
Acknowledgments	15	(2)
Preface	17	(12)
Basic Concepts	29	(26)
Part I: Variables	29	(16)
Level of Measurement	31	(4)
Dichotomous Variables	35	(4)
Operationalized Variables	39	(1)
Independent (IV) and Dependent (DV) Variables	40	(1)
Causality	41	(2)
Units of Analysis: Individual and Place-level Data	43	(2)
Part II: Thinking about Procedures	45	(8)
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics	45	(3)
Difference	48	(3)
Observing and Estimating	51	(2)
Conclusion	53	(1)
Key Terms	53	(2)
Describing Distributions	55	(32)
Part I: Frequency Distributions	55	(3)
Part II: Summary Measures	58	(12)
Measures of Central Tendency (Mean, Median, Mode)	58	(6)
Measures of Dispersion	64	(3)
Categoric Variables: Index of Diversity and Index of Qualitative Variation	67	(3)
Part III: Graphing and Visual Displays of Distributions	70	(10)
Part IV: Standardized Scores or Z-scores	80	(5)
The Mathematical Imagination: The Magic of Z-scores	81	(2)
Math Interlude: Chebycheff's Inequality	83	(2)
Conclusion	85	(1)
Key Terms	86	(1)
Statistical Inference	87	(64)
Part I: Thinking about Statistical Inference	87	(40)
Statistical Inference: What Are We Trying To Do?	87	(8)
Variability	95	(10)
The Mathematical Imagination: A World Without Variability	105	(1)
The Normal Curve	106	(3)
Sampling Distributions and the Normal Curve	109	(2)
Sampling Error: Variability of the Sampling Distribution	111	(1)
The Central Limit Theorem	111	(3)
Math Thoughts	114	(4)
Underlying Distributions and Sampling Distributions	118	(3)
The Sampling Distribution of a Proportion	121	(6)
Part II: Doing Statistical Inference	127	(22)
The Logic of Statistical Inference	127	(2)
Confidence Intervals	129	(5)
Hypothesis Testing (The Null Hypothesis and T-tests)	134	(15)
Conclusion	149	(1)
Key Terms	149	(2)
Relationships Among Variables	151	(68)
Part I: An Overview---Thinking About Variable Relationships	151	(12)
Four Types of Data Analysis Techniques	154	(3)
Beyond Bivariate Analysis: Adding Variables and Staying Alert	157	(6)
Part II: Data Analysis Techniques	163	(53)
Section One: Regression Analysis	164	(1)
Math Interlude: The Natural Log Transformation	164	(25)
Section Two: Crosstabs	189	(12)
Section Three: ANOVA	201	(5)
Section Four: Logistic Regression	206	(10)
Conclusion	216	(2)
Key Terms	218	(1)
Conclusion	219	(2)
How To?	221	(28)
Choosing a Data Analysis Technique	221	(1)
Regression Analysis	222	(9)
Pearson's Correlation Coefficient	222	(2)
The Bivariate Regression Equation	224	(4)
Coefficient of Determination (aka ``R-squared'')	228	(3)
Crosstabs and Related Procedures	231	(10)
Computing Chi-Square	231	(2)
Joint and Marginal Distributions	233	(2)
More about Running Percentages	235	(2)
Measures of Association	237	(4)
Anova and the F-test	241	(3)
T-tests	244	(5)
One-Sample T-test	244	(3)
Independent Samples T-test	247	(2)
Exercises	249	(34)
Questions	250	(11)
Answers	261	(22)
Math Refresher	283	(32)
Tips for Studying Math	283	(4)
Estimating	284	(2)
From Common Sense to Formula	286	(1)
The Number Line	287	(1)
Greater and Lesser	287	(2)
Absolute Value	289	(1)
Fractions and Other Proportions	290	(6)
Decimal Fractions	291	(1)
Percent	292	(2)
Comparing Fractions	294	(1)
Computing Percent Change and Percentage Point Change	295	(1)
Operations	296	(5)
Addition	296	(1)
Multiplication	296	(1)
Subtraction	297	(1)
Division	297	(3)
Word or Story Problems	300	(1)
Squaring, Higher Powers, and Square Roots	301	(3)
Squaring	301	(1)
Higher Powers	302	(1)
Square Roots	303	(1)
Scientific Notation	304	(1)
Manipulating Formulas	304	(4)
The Coordinate Plane, Ordered Pairs, and Functions	308	(7)
Appendix	315	(12)
Tables of Probability Distributions	315	(12)
Table 26: Critical Values for the Z-distribution	316	(2)
Table 27: Critical Values for the T-distribution	318	(2)
Table 28: Critical Values for the Chi-Square Distribution	320	(2)
Table 29: Critical Values for the F-distribution	322	(5)
Bibliography, Reading Suggestions, and Works Cited	327	(4)
Index	331