Quantitative Data Analysis: Doing Social Research to Test Ideas (Research Methods for the Social Sciences)

Description

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. Contents......Page 3 Tables, figures, exhibits, and boxes......Page 8 Preface......Page 19 The author......Page 23 Introduction......Page 24 Cross-tabulations......Page 28 More on tables......Page 47 Still more on tables......Page 73 On the manipulation of data by computer......Page 90 Introduction to correlation and regresssion (ordinary least squares)......Page 112 Introduction to multiple correlation and regression (ordinary least squares)......Page 128 Multiple regression tricks: Techniques for handling special analytic problems......Page 163 Multiple imputation of missing data......Page 204 Sample design and survey estimation......Page 218 Regression diagnostics......Page 248 Scale construction......Page 264 Log-linear analysis......Page 285 Binomial logistic regression......Page 323 Multinomial and ordinal logistic regression and tobit regression......Page 357 Improving causal inference: fixed effects and random effects modeling......Page 384 Final thoughts and future directions: research design and interpretation issues......Page 402 Appendix A......Page 427 Appendix B......Page 430 References......Page 435