Statistics for Political Analysis: Understanding the Numbers - Softcover

Marchant-Shapiro, Theresa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1452258651 ISBN 13: 9781452258652

Publisher: CQ Press, 2014

Synopsis

Statistics are just as vital to understanding political science as the study of institutions, but getting students to understand them when teaching a methods course can be a big challenge. In Statistics for Political Analysis, author Theresa Marchant-Shapiro makes understanding the numbers easy. The only introduction to statistics book written specifically for political science undergraduates, this book explains each statistical concept in plain language—from basic univariate statistics and the basic measures of association to bivariate and multivariate regression—and uses real world political examples. Students learn the relevance of statistics to political science, how to understand and calculate statistics mathematically, and how to obtain them using SPSS. All calculations are modeled step-by-step, giving students needed practice to master the process without making it intimidating. Each chapter concludes with exercises that get students actively applying the steps and building their professional skills through data calculation, analysis, and memo writing.

About this title

About the Author

Theresa Marchant-Shapiro received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, after having received statistical training both there and at the ICPSR summer program. For her entire career she has been just as interested in teaching as she is in research. She started teaching statistics to political science undergraduates over twenty years ago and has since participated in various NSF - and APSA-sponsored programs for teaching statistics and research methods. She currently teaches the methods classes at Southern Connecticut State University where she receives consistently high student evaluations―an unusual occurrence in methods classes. She has a chapter in Skott/Ward’s book with SAGE, Research Methods Through Active Learning, and her current project addresses how prior professional experiences prepare U.S. presidents for the multifaceted requirements of the office.

From the Back Cover

This book focuses on the statistical tools most often used by political scientists and uses political examples, cases, and data throughout to show students how to answer real questions about politics using real political data.

Edition details

• Publisher: CQ Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1452258651
• ISBN 13: 9781452258652
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496