Statistics for Social Understanding: With Stata and SPSS

Cover
Title Page
Brief Contents
Contents
Preface
About the Authors
Chapter 1 Introduction
	Why Study Statistics?
	Research Questions and the Research Process
	Pinning Things Down: Variables and Measurement
	Units of Analysis
	Measurement Error: Validity and Reliability
	Levels of Measurement
	Causation: Independent and Dependent Variables 
	Getting the Data: Sampling and Generalizing
	Sources of Secondary Data: Existing Data Sets, Reports, and “Big Data”
	Growth Mindset and Math Anxiety
	Using This Book
	Statistical Software
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 2 Getting to Know Your Data
	Frequency Distributions
	Percentages and Proportions
	Cumulative Percentage and Percentile
	Percent Change
	Rates and Ratios
	Working with Frequency Distribution Tables
	Graphical Displays of a Single Variable: Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, Histograms, Stem-and-Leaf Plots, and Frequency Polygons
	Time Series Charts
	Comparing Two Groups on the Same Variable Using Tables, Graphs, and Charts
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 3 Examining Relationships between Two Variables
	Cross-Tabulations and Relationships between Variables
	Interpreting the Strength of Relationships
	Interpreting the Direction of Relationships
	Graphical Representations of Bivariate Relationships
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 4 Typical Values in a Group
	What Does It Mean to Describe What Is Typical?
	Mean
	Median
	Mode
	Finding the Mode, Median, and Mean in Frequency Distributions
	Choosing the Appropriate Measure of Central Tendency
	Median Versus Mean Income
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 5 The Diversity of Values in a Group
	Range
	Interquartile Range
	Standard Deviation
	Using the Standard Deviation to Compare Distributions 
	Comparing Apples and Oranges
	Skewed Versus Symmetric Distributions
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 6 Probability and the Normal Distribution
	The Rules of Probability
	Probability Distributions
	Standardizing Variables and Calculating z-Scores
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 7 From Sample to Population 
	Repeated Sampling, Sample Statistics, and the Population Parameter
	Sampling Distributions
	Finding the Probability of Obtaining a Specific Sample Statistic
	The Impact of Sample Size on the Standard Error
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 8 Estimating Population Parameters
	Inferential Statistics and the Estimation of Population Parameters
	Confidence Intervals Manage Uncertainty through Margins of Error
	Certainty and Precision of Confidence Intervals
	Confidence Intervals for Proportions 
	Confidence Intervals for Means
	The Relationship between Sample Size and Confidence Interval Range
	The Relationship between Confidence Level and Confidence Interval Range
	Interpreting Confidence Intervals
	How Big a Sample?
	Assumptions for Confidence Intervals
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 9 Differences between Samples and Populations
	The Logic of Hypothesis Testing
	Hypothesis Tests for Proportions
	One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests
	Hypothesis Tests for Means
	Error and Limitations: How Do We Know We Are Correct?
	What Does Statistical Significance Really Tell Us? Statistical and Practical Significance
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 10 Comparing Groups 
	Two-Sample Hypothesis Tests
	Hypothesis Tests for Differences between Means
	Confidence Intervals for Differences between Means
	Hypothesis Tests for Differences between Proportions
	Confidence Intervals for Differences between Proportions
	Statistical and Practical Significance in Two-Sample Tests 
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 11 Testing Mean Differences among Multiple Groups
	Comparing Variation within and between Groups 
	Hypothesis Testing Using ANOVA
	Analysis of Variance Assumptions
	The Steps of an ANOVA Test
	Determining Which Means Are Different: Post-Hoc Tests
	ANOVA Compared to Repeated t-Tests
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 12 Testing the Statistical Significance of Relationships in Cross-Tabulations
	The Logic of Hypothesis Testing with Chi-Square
	The Steps of a Chi-Square Test
	Size and Direction of Effects: Analysis of Residuals
	Example: Gender and Perceptions of Health
	Assumptions of Chi-Square
	Statistical Significance and Sample Size
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 13 Ruling Out Competing Explanations for Relationships between Variables
	Criteria for Causal Relationships 
	Modeling Spurious Relationships 
	Modeling Non-Spurious Relationships
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Chapter 14 Describing Linear Relationships between Variables 542
	Correlation Coefficients
	Scatterplots: Visualizing Correlations
	Regression: Fitting a Line to a Scatterplot
	The “Best-Fitting” Line
	Slope and Intercept
	Goodness-of-Fit Measures
	Dichotomous (“Dummy”) Independent Variables
	Multiple Regression
	Statistical Inference for Regression 
	Assumptions of Regression
	Chapter Summary
	Using Stata
	Using SPSS
	Practice Problems
	Notes
Solutions to Odd-Numbered Practice Problems
Glossary
Appendix A Normal Table
Appendix B Table of t-Values
Appendix C F-Table, for Alpha = .05
Appendix D Chi-Square Table
Appendix E: Selected List of Formulas
Appendix F
Index