Analyzing Inequalities: An Introduction to Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Using the General Social Survey

About the Book

Analyzing Inequalities: An Introduction to Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality Using the General Social Survey is a practical resource for helping students connect sociological issues with real-world data in the context of their first undergraduate sociology courses. It:

• introduces readers to the GSS, one of the most widely analyzed surveys in the U.S.
• examines a range of GSS questions related to social inequalities
• demonstrates basic techniques for analyzing this data online.

No special software is required - the exercises can be completed using the Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA) website at the University of California-Berkeley which is easy to navigate and master. Students will come away with a better understanding of social science research, and will be better positioned to ask and answer the sociological questions that most interest them.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Analyzing Inequalities Introduction: An Introduction to Analyzing inequalities Social Justice Statistics Social Justice Statistics: Critiques and Limitations Chapter 2: Understanding Data – Critical Concepts Overview of the GSS Finding data in the GSS Producing and Interpreting a Frequency Table Describing Variables: levels of measurement Describing Variables: Measures of Central Tendency Producing the Mean, Median and Mode in SDA Chapter 3: Analyzing Gender with the GSS Introduction: Key concepts in gender Identifying variables related to gender Produce and Interpret a Bivariate Table or “Crosstab” Chapter 4: Analyzing Race and Ethnicity with the GSS Introduction: Key Concepts in Race and Ethnicity Identifying variables related to race and ethnicity Produce and Interpret a Bivariate Table or “Crosstab” Applying a Filter Applying Control variables Chapter 5: Analyzing Class with the GSS Introduction: Key Concepts in Social Class. Identifying variables related to socio-economic class Re-coding Variables Comparing the Mean Response for Different Groups Chapter 6: Analyzing Sexuality with the GSS Introduction: Key concepts in Sexuality Identifying Variables related to Sexuality Applying a Filter Re-coding Variables Chapter 7: Analyzing Inequalities in Families Introduction: Family change and family diversity Identifying variables related to Families Chapter 8: Analyzing Inequalities in Education Introduction: Inequalities in Education Identifying variables related to Education Analyzing Inequalities related to Education Chapter 9: Analyzing Inequalities in the Economy and Work Introduction: Inequalities in the Economy and at Work Identifying variables related to Work and the Economy

About the Author :
Catherine E. Harnois is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at Wake Forest University, where she teaches courses on social inequality and research methods. She is the author of two books: Feminist Measures in Survey Research (SAGE 2013) and Analyzing Inequalities: An Introduction to Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality Using the US General Social Survey (SAGE, 2018). Her current research uses an intersectional framework to investigate issues of political consciousness, identity, and discrimination. Her methodological work on the intersection of gender and racial discrimination received the 2012 Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship Article Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Race, Gender, and Class. Her research has appeared in the journals Gender & Society, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Social Psychology Quarterly, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Social Science & Medicine, and other scholarly outlets.

Review :
"This is an engaging, clear and well-organized introduction to the use of large data sets to analyze stratification and gender." "[It] include[s] basic research analysis principles and very good examples and applications [and] also manages to provide critical and progressive conceptual perspectives."

"Grounding sociological theory in real-world examples using real sociological data is an absolutely important aspect of undergraduate exposure to the scientific method and sociological analysis."