Full Description
This textbook provides an introduction to the scientific study of sociology and other social sciences. It offers the basic tools necessary for readers to become both critical consumers and beginning producers of scientific research on society. The authors present an integrated approach to research design and empirical analyses in which researchers can develop and test causal theories. They use examples from social science research that students will find engaging and inspiring and that will help them to understand key concepts. The book makes technical materials accessible to students who might otherwise be intimidated by mathematical examples. This new text, with the addition of sociologist Steven A. Tuch to the author team, follows the successful format, approach, and pedagogical features in Paul M. Kellstedt and Guy D. Whitten's bestselling text, The Fundamentals of Political Science Research, now in its third edition. Workbooks in Stata, SPSS, and R, three of the most popular statistical analysis programs, are available as separate purchases to accompany this textbook, enabling students to connect the lessons of this book to hands-on applications of the software.
Contents
List of Figures; List of Tables; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. The Scientific Study of Society; 2. The Art of Theory Building; 3. Evaluating Causal Relationships; 4. Research Design; 5. Survey Research; 6. Measuring Concepts of Interest; 7. Getting to Know Your Data; 8. Probability and Statistical Inference; 9. Bivariate Hypothesis Testing; 10. Two-Variable Regression Models; 11. Multiple Regression; 12. Putting it all Together to Produce Effective Research; Appendix A. Critical Values of Chi-square; Appendix B. Critical Values of t; Appendix C. The Λ Link Function for Binomial Logit Models; Appendix D. The Φ Link Function for Binomial Probit Models; References; Index.
