Beginning Statistics: An Introduction for Social Scientists

About the Book

In the Second Edition of this bestselling textbook, the authors use real-world examples to introduce basic principles in statistics with no prior knowledge or experience assumed. With an emphasis on describing concepts, showing through example and illustrating points with graphs and displays, this book will provide readers with a step-by-step introduction to using statistics.

Chapters address the following questions:

• Why bother learning statistics in the first place and are they relevant to real life?
• How do I make sensible tables and informative graphs?
• What are descriptive and inferential statistics and how are they used?
• What are regression and correlation anyway?

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Are Statistics Relevant to Real Life? Data and Table Manners Graphs and Charts Averages and Percentiles Spreads Transforming Data The Normal Distribution From Samples to Populations Getting Confident Fun with Proportions How to Decide How to Decide More Tricky Decisions Correlation and Regression Analysing Tables with Categorical Data Conclusion Appendix 1 Statistical Tables Appendix 2 Answers to Practice Questions Appendix 3 Algebra and Mathematical Notation Explained

About the Author :
Liam teaches social policy, sociology and social work at the University of Sheffield. After graduating in Social Policy and Administration at the University of Leeds he undertook an MA in Social and Public Policy, also at the University of Leeds, before completing a PhD on Gender, Pensions and the Life Course at the University of Sheffield in 2006. Following the completion of his PhD Liam was appointed as a lecturer in social work at the University of Sheffield.   Much of Liam’s research continues to focus on inequalities in later life and policy implications, particularly in relation to pensions. He has liaised with the Labour Party, Trade Unions, the European Parliament and pension providers and published extensively in this area. Liam is also interested in theories of ageing including the political economy of ageing and the implementation of active ageing policy and has recently published (with Professor Alan Walker) (eds) (2014) The Political Economy of Ageing and Later Life: Critical Perspectives with Edward Elgar. Liam employs a variety of methods in his research which inform his teaching, including secondary data analysis. He has been teaching social research methods to students in the social sciences for approximately ten years with a particular focus on quantitative methods. He has also developed quantitative teaching resources for teachers in the social sciences and written about teaching social research methods. In his spare time Liam enjoys playing and watching football (Sheffield Wednesday), spending time with his family, sampling real ale and collecting an eclectic mix of vinyl and cds.     Julie is a demographer by background. After graduating in Population Studies from the University of Southampton in 1994, she worked as a Teaching Fellow in the Social Statistics department for over seven years. Julie’s main role was teaching social science undergraduates at Southampton both introductory statistics and population science courses, while completing a PhD on childbearing following marital dissolution in Britain. The first edition of Beginning Statistics grew from several years of experience in teaching quantitative methods with Ian, both in huge lecture theatres and small tutorial groups, to students from a wide range of degree courses and with diverse abilities and initial levels of enthusiasm! Since 2002, Julie has worked on population figures at the Office for National Statistics. She is currently head of the Demographic Analysis Unit, which produces publications and research on the topics of childbearing, families, life expectancy and the ageing population. Julie is pleased to maintain links with the University of Southampton as part of this role. Julie is also a long-standing member of the British Society for Population Studies and currently sits on the BSPS Council. Julie has contributed to the second edition of Beginning Statistics in a personal capacity and not as an employee of ONS. In her spare time Julie enjoys adventure racing and climbing munros.

Review :

The authors of Beginning Statistics have written an ideal text for those students who are unfamiliar with and often petrified about statistical analysis. They have written a book that is comprehensive and which is made accessible by a writing style that eases the reader through explanations of complex ideas and uses lots of examples and exercises to facilitate understanding. They should be congratulated for writing such a clear but rigorous book.

 

This book very neatly steps from definition to worked example and interpretation with the writing lively and clear. The first edition has been my ‘go to’ jargon buster textbook whenever I or a student need statistical language or calculations explaining transparently and I welcome the second edition with its updated examples.

Simple, brilliant, thoroughly entertaining – a logical and succinct introduction to essential social statistics pitched at the right level for beginners. The latest edition has several extended spotlights including a comprehensive annotation of statistics and its application in the real ‘big data’ world, illustrative examples based on recent data, and most of all reflective learning outcomes for each chapter. I am convinced that this book is an indispensable resource for all under- and post-graduate students and social science researchers, highly recommended!

This is a good solid book that introduces the topic well. Student feedback is mainly positive - some swear by the book, while others don′t find it engaging enough. The second edition is far stronger than the first. A very nicely structured and accessible introduction that can serve as an excellent resource for teaching research methods at Undergraduate level and beyond. Getting pre-registration nursing students to understand statistics is a challenge - for the ones who get it and want to understand more, this is a book that I will recommend for ease of reading and presentation. However, for some students it would still be too complex. It′s a good book, especially for students who have no knowledge of statistics. I found it useful and students like it as well This book was recommended to be used from September 2015 onwards. It is good, comprehensive and students will be able to understand it in terms of the terminology easily explained. A book that will help students to consider statistics not as a matter of fear to deal with Whilst this is a useful book for the introduction of statistics it is missing the application of the statistical computer packages which most researchers will be using to analyse their data. This is a good book students can use for self leaning. The first chapter might be more interesting if some old photo′s or illustrations This would be an essential reading for students′ induction into an MSc with advanced quantitative methods This is a great introduction to statistics for students who feel daunted by the prospect of quantitative research. A really useful reference book for those embarking on their statistics journey in the social sciences or a great handbook for introductory stats courses. A really useful reference book for those embarking on their statistics journey in the social sciences or a great handbook for introductory stats courses. Generally a good introductory text, however I would have like to see coverage up to ANOVA. I do like the may worked examples and answers to additional questions allowing self study and testing by students. The section on graphics is welcome, however I would have not spend as much time on pie charts. This is a really helpful book for students who are new to stats or who are stats phobic and one that I will be recommending to my first years. I am going to recommend this book for reading, especially to students without much previous knowlegde in statistics. A simple, but elegant and eloquent book. A good start to help you passing your first Statistics module exam. This book is a really nice introduction to statistics that is very student friendly, with great exercises. Very useful introduction to statistics for students. A good place to start. straightforward easy to read book for students new with statistics. Lots of examples. WIll however not adopt the book, because i am looking for a textbook including qualitative research and a link to SPSS or other statistical pacakage This text provides the basics for social scientists to compile and use statistics for highlighting issues in numerical terms. The book does not address the requirements of my students who need a more prescriptive approach not only explaining the theoretical stance but also practical implementation using minicab or SPSS. I requested this book for a course in empirical methodologies that I have run for a few years. It now turned out it′s my colleague who is going to run it next time but I have suggested him to let this book replace the one we have been using until now for several reasons
- The chapters follow a structure that goes well along with the way students acquire and start to work with data from a practical perspective (Our course includes an empirical project)
- The book stays within the range of statistical tools that we can reasonably get the students to understand at a beginners′ course so we wont have to skip any chapters
- There is more explanation and less calculations which makes it more approachable for beginners. An easy to understand text with clear examples for students new to statistics. This textbook is very helpful in helping students grasp the importance of statistics. The basic assumptions of statistics are also clearly identifiable. It allows the student to journey into statistics, regardless of prior experience with the subject matter. The book is user friendly owing to the layout of the chapters. Presenting the methods in a step-by-step format is also extremely helpful, especially for classroom purposes as well as independent study. The progression from introduction through to the various important concepts within statistics is helpful in taking students up to the point of performing statistical techniques. The inclusion of chapter summaries, practice questions and a glossary is very helpful in solidifying students′ understanding of statistics. The one thing that was most profound about this book was it′s applicability to reality. It is so important to make statistics easy to grasp, and this is exactly what this book does. Will be useful for those needing to understand statistics to apply knowledge to professional practice. This book is too conversational. I would like some more depth about the topics although it is an introductory text. Clear and actually _readable_ (not wholly expected in a stats text book!)
Some excellent examples and exercises - clear, amusing and with good explanations.
An excellent text for a basic research methods course.