The Essentials of Statistics: A Tool for Social Research 4th Edition

Book Preface

Statistics are part of the everyday language of sociology and other social sciences (including political science, social work, public administration, criminal justice, urban studies, and gerontology). These disciplines are research-based and routinely use statistics to express knowledge and to discuss theory and research. To join the conversations being conducted in these disciplines, you must be literate in the vocabulary of research, data analysis, and scientific thinking. Knowledge of statistics will enable you to understand the professional research literature, conduct quantitative research yourself, contribute to the growing body of social science knowledge, and reach your full potential as a social scientist.

Although essential, learning (and teaching) statistics can be a challenge. Students in social science statistics courses typically have a wide range of mathematical backgrounds and an equally diverse set of career goals. They are often puzzled about the relevance of statistics for them, and, not infrequently, there is some math anxiety to deal with. This text introduces statistical analysis for the social sciences while addressing these realities.

The text makes minimal assumptions about mathematical background (the ability to read a simple formula is sufficient preparation for virtually all of the material in the text), and a variety of special features help students analyze data successfully. The text has been written especially for sociology and social work programs but is sufficiently flexible to be used in any program with a social science base.

The text is written at an intermediate level and its intent is to show the relevance and value of statistics for the social sciences. I emphasize interpretation and understanding statistics in the context of social science research, but I have not sacrificed comprehensive coverage or statistical correctness. Mathematical explanations are kept at an elementary level, as is appropriate in a first exposure to social statistics. For example, I do not treat formal probability theory per se in the text.1 Rather, the background necessary for an understanding of inferential statistics is introduced, informally and intuitively, in Chapters 5 and 6 while considering the concepts of the normal curve and the sampling distribution.

The text does not claim that statistics are “fun” or that the material can be mastered without considerable effort. At the same time, students are not overwhelmed with abstract proofs, formula derivations, or mathematical theory, which can needlessly frustrate the learning experience at this level.