Understanding Social Statistics

by Jane L. Fielding, Nigel Gilbert

Designed to help take the fear out of the essential use of numbers in social research, this textbook introduces students to statistics as a powerful means of revealing patterns in human behaviour. The authors provide an accessible guide to quantitative data analysis including: clear explanations of all the methods; comprehensive coverage of analytic tools; an introduction to using SPSS, the most widely used statistical analysis program; examples based on real datasets - the UK General Household Survey and the World Bank's Social Indicators of Development - available to students on the World Wide Web; helpful chapter summaries; exercises at the end of each chapter; and a glossary of key terms.

Understanding Social Statistics will be an essential textbook for courses on statistics and quantitative research across the social sciences.

351 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2000