Quantitative Data Analysis Doing Social Research to Test Ideas

by Treiman, Donald J.

• ISBN13: 9780470380031
• ISBN10: 0470380039
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-09
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass

Summary

This book is an accessible introduction to quantitative data analysis, concentrating on the key issues facing those new to research, such as how to decide which statistical procedure is suitable, and how to interpret the subsequent results. Each chapter includes illustrative examples and a set of exercises that allows readers to test their understanding of the topic. The book, written for graduate students in the social sciences, public health, and education, offers a practical approach to making sociological sense out of a body of quantitative data. The book also will be useful to more experienced researchers who need a readily accessible handbook on quantitative methods.

Author Biography

Donald J. Treiman, PhD, is Distinguished Professor, Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles. He was also, until recently, director of the California Center for Population Research.

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, Exhibits, and Boxes

Preface

The Author

Introduction

cross-Tabulations

What This Chapter Is About

Introduction to the Book via a Concrete Example

Cross-Tabulations

What This Chapter Has Shown

More on Tables

What This Chapter Is About

The Logic of Elaboration

Suppressor Variables

Additive and Interaction Effects

Direct Standardization

A Final Note on Statistical Controls Versus Experiments

What This Chapter Has Shown

Still More on Tables

What This Chapter Is About

Reorganizing Tables to Extract New Information

When to Percentage a Table "Backwards"

Cross-Tabulations in Which the Dependent Variable Is Represented by a Mean

Index of Dissimilarity

Writing About Cross-Tabulations

What This Chapter Has Shown

On the Manipulation of Data by Computer

What This Chapter Is About

Introduction

How Data Files Are Organized

Transforming Data

What This Chapter Has Shown

Appendix 4

A Doing Analysis Using Stata

Tips on Doing Analysis Using Stata

Some Particularly Useful Stata 10.0 Commands

Introduction to Correlation and Regression (Ordinary Least Squares)

What This Chapter Is About

Introduction

Quantifying the Size of a Relationship: Regression Analysis

Assessing the Strength of a Relationship: Correlation Analysis

The Relationship Between Correlation and Regression Coefficients

Factors Affecting the Size of Correlation (and Regression) Coefficients

Correlation Ratios

What This Chapter Has Shown

Introduction to Multiple Correlation and Regression (Ordinary Least Squares)

What This Chapter Is About

Introduction

A Worked Example: The Determinants of Literacy in China

Dummy Variables

A Strategy for Comparisons Across Groups

A Bayesian Alternative for Comparing Models

Independent Validation

What This Chapter Has Shown

Multiple Regression Tricks: Techniques for Handling Special Analytic Problems

What This Chapter Is About

Nonlinear Transformations

Testing the Equality of Coefficients

Trend Analysis: Testing the Assumption of Linearity

Linear Splines

Expressing Coefficients as Deviations from the Grand Mean (Multiple Classifi cation Analysis)

Other Ways of Representing Dummy Variables

Decomposing the Difference Between Two Means

What This Chapter Has Shown

Multiple Imputation of Missing Data

What This Chapter Is About

Introduction

A Worked Example: The Effect of Cultural Capital on Educational Attainment in Russia

What This Chapter Has Shown

Sample Design and Survey Estimation

What This Chapter Is About

Survey Samples

Conclusion

What This Chapter Has Shown

Regression Diagnostics

What This Chapter Is About

Introduction

A Worked

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