Just Plain Data Analysis is designed to teach students statistical literacy skills that they can use to evaluate and construct arguments about public affairs issues grounded in numerical evidence. With a new chapter on statistical fallacies and updates throughout the text, the new edition teaches students how to find, interpret, and present commonly used social indicators in an even clearer and more practical way.
Author(s): Gary M. Klass
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Year: 2012
Language: English
Commentary: ---PDF (Conv. From .epub)---
Pages: 211
Tags: Data Analysis, Social Science
Preface......Page 6
FINDING, PRESENTING, AND INTERPRETING THE DATA......Page 9
WHY WE SHOULD TEACH JUST PLAIN DATA ANALYSIS......Page 12
ORGANIZATION OF THIS BOOK......Page 13
Acknowledgments......Page 16
1 Measuring Political, Social, and Economic Conditions......Page 17
THE USE OF SOCIAL INDICATORS......Page 21
WHERE THE NUMBERS COME FROM......Page 23
CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL INDICATORS: COUNT, DIVIDE, AND COMPARE......Page 24
MEASUREMENT VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY......Page 30
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF CRIME STATISTICS......Page 34
CHOOSING THE RIGHT INDICATOR......Page 36
2 Measuring Racial and Ethnic Inequality......Page 41
MEASURING RACE AND ETHNICITY......Page 42
INCOME AND WEALTH......Page 43
HEALTH......Page 46
EDUCATION......Page 47
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT......Page 49
THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS......Page 51
3 Statistical Fallacies, Paradoxes, and Threats to Validity......Page 54
EVALUATING CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPS......Page 55
4 Examining a Relationship New York City Crime Rates......Page 72
5 Tabulating the Data and Writing about the Numbers......Page 83
CHOOSING MEANINGFUL MEASURES AND MAKING MEANINGFUL COMPARISONS......Page 84
PRESENTING DATA UNAMBIGUOUSLY......Page 89
PRESENTING DATA EFFICIENTLY......Page 92
TABLES, TEXT, AND AUDIENCES......Page 100
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF GRAPHIC DISPLAY......Page 104
THE COMPONENTS OF A CHART......Page 108
TYPES OF CHARTS......Page 112
WHEN GRAPHIC DESIGN GOES BADLY......Page 135
NOTES ON MICROSOFT EXCEL CHARTING......Page 139
RECOMMENDED READING ON CHARTING AND GRAPHIC DESIGN......Page 140
7 Voting and Elections......Page 143
INTERNATIONAL VOTER TURNOUT......Page 144
MEASURING U.S. VOTER TURNOUT......Page 149
8 Measuring Educational Achievement......Page 164
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INDICATORS......Page 165
TESTING AMERICAN STUDENTS......Page 174
THE WORST SCHOOLS IN THE NATION ?......Page 180
9 Measuring Poverty and Inequality......Page 189
MEASURING POVERTY IN DEVELOPING NATIONS......Page 190
MEASURING POVERTY IN WEALTHY NATIONS......Page 195
MEASURING POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES......Page 198
SPINNING THE INCOME AND POVERTY STATISTICS......Page 204
About the Author......Page 211
