1. The What and the Why of Statistics
The Research Process
Asking Research Questions
The Role of Theory
Formulating the Hyupotheses
Collecting Data
Analyzing Data and Evaluating the Hypotheses
Looking at Social Differences
2. Organization of Information: Frequency Distributions
Frequency Distributions
Proportions and Percentages
Percentage Distributions
Comparisons
Statistics in Practice:
Labor Force Participation of Native Americans
The Construction of Frequency Distributions
Cumulative Distributions
Rates
Statistics in Practice: Marriage and Divorce Rates over Time
Reading the Research Literature: Statistical Tables
3. Graphic Presentation
The Pie Chart: The Race and Ethnicity of the Eldersly
The Bar Graph: The Living Arrangements and Labor Force Participation of the Elderly
The Statistical Map: the Geographic Distribution of the Elderly
The Histogram
Statistics in Practice: The "Graying" of America
The Frequency Polygon
Time Series Charts
Distortions in Graphs
Statistics in Practice: Diversity at a Glance
4. Measures of Central Tendency
The Mode
The Median
The Mean
The Shape of the Distribution: The Experience of Traumatic Events
Consideration for Choosing a Measure of Central Tendency
5. Measures of Variability
The Importance of Measuring Variability
The Index of Qualitative Variation (IQV)
The Range
The Interquartile Range: Increases in Elderly Populations
The Box Plot
The Variance and the Standard Deviation: Changes in the Nursing Home Population
Considerations for Choosing a Measure of Variation
Reading the Research Literature: Gender Differences in Caregiving
6. Relationships Between Two Variables: Cross-Tabulation
Independent and Dependent Variables
How to Construct a Bivariate Table:
Race and Home Ownership
How to Compute Percentages in a Bivariate Table
How to Deal with Ambiguous Relationships
Between Variables
Reading the Research Literature: Medicaid Use Among the Elderly
The Properties of a Bivariate Relationship
Elaboration
Statistics in Practice: Family Support for the Transition from High School
7. Measures of Association for Nominal and Ordinal Variables
Proportional Reduction of Error and Degree of Association
Lambda: A Measure of Association for Nominal Variables
Gamma: An Ordinal Measure of Association
Calculating Gamma
Using Ordinal Measures with Dichotomous Variables
Reading the Research Literature: Worldview and Abortion Beliefs
8. Bivariaate Regression and Correlation
The Scatter Diagram
Linear Relations and Prediction Rules
Statistics in Practice: GNP and Willingness to Volunteer Time for Environmental Protection
Methods for Assessing the Accuracy of Predictions
Statistics in Practice: Teen Pregnancy and Inequality
Statistics in Practice: The Marriage Penalty in Earnings
9. Organization of Information and Measurement of Relationships: A Review of Descriptive Data Analysis
Descriptive Data Analysis for Nominal Variables
Statistics in Practice: Gender and Local Political Party Activism
Descriptive Data Analysis for Ordinal Variables
Descriptive Data Analysis for Interval-Ratio Variables
Statistics in Practice: Education and Income
10. The Normal Distribution
Properties of the Normal Distribution
Standard (Z) Scores
The Standard Normal Distribution
The Standard Normal Table
The Structure of the Standard Normal Table
Transforming Z Scores into Proportions (or Percentages)
11. Sampling and Sampling Distribution
Aims of Sampling
Some Basic Principles of Probability
Probability Sampling
The Concept of the Sampling Distribution
The Sampling Distribution of the Mean
The Central Limit Theorem
12. Estimation
Estimation Defined
Procedures for Estimating Confidence Intervals for Means
Statistics in Practice Hispanic Migration and Earnings
Confidence Intervals for Proportions
Statistics in Practice: Should Affirmative Action Programs Be Increased?
13. Testing Hypotheses
Part I: The Basics
Assumptions of Statistical Hypothesis Testing
Stating the Research and Null Hypotheses
Determining What Is Sufficiently Improbable: Probability Values and Alpha
The Five Steps in Hypothesis Testing: A Summary
Errors in Hypothesis Testing
The t Statistic and Estimating the Standard Error
The t Distribution and the Degrees of Freedom
Statistics in Practice: The Earnings of White Women
Part II: Testing Hypotheses about Two Samples
The Assumption of Independent Samples
Stating the Research and Null Hypotheses
The Sampling Distribution of the Differences Between Means
The Five Steps in Hypotheses Testing about Difference between Means; A Summary
Statistics in Practice: The Earnings of Asia American Men
Testing the Significance of the Difference
Between Two Sample Proportions
Statistics in Practice: Equaliziang Income
Statistics in Practice: Gender and Abortion Attitudes
Reading the Research Literature: Reporting the Results of Statistical Hypothesis Testing
14. The Chi-Square Test
The Concepts of Chi-Square as a Statistical Test
The Concept of Statistical Independence
The Structure of Hypothesis Testing with Chi-Square
The Limitations of the Chi-Square Test: Sample Size and Statistical Significance
Statistics in Practice: Social Class and Health
Reading the Research Literature: Sibling Cooperation and Academic Achievement
15. Reviewing Inferential Statistics
Normal Distribtuions
Sampling: The Case of AIDS
Estimation
Statistics in Practice: The War on Drugs
The Process of Statistical Hypothesis Testing
Statistics in Practice: Education and Employment
Appendix A: Table of Random Numbers
Appendix B: The Standard Normal Table
Appendix C: Distribution of t
Appendix D: Distribution of Chi-Square
Appendix E: Distribution of F
Appendix F: A Basic Math Review
Answers to Odd-Numbered Exercises
Index/Glossary