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Statistics for Political Analysis
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Statistics for Political Analysis
Understanding the Numbers

January 2014 | 496 pages | CQ Press
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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. Statistics for Political Analysis 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.
 
1. The Political Use of Numbers: Lies and Statistics
The Power of Numbers

 
The Science of Politics

 
Introductory Statistics: An Overview

 
Removing the Barriers to Understanding How Statistics Works

 
The Importance of Statistics: This Book’s Approach

 
Using Data to Answer a Question

 
A Political Application: Indoctrination U.

 
Your Turn: Using Statistics

 
Apply It Yourself: Assess Grants to Political Scientists

 
Key Terms

 
 
2. Measurement: Counting the Biggel-Balls
Finding Your Cases

 
Measure an Attribute

 
Evaluate the Conceptual and Operational Definitions

 
Translate Information in Numbers: Coding Your Data

 
Get a Frequency Distribution

 
Summarizing the Process: Measurement

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Measurement

 
Your Turn: Measurement

 
Apply It Yourself: Measure the Norm for Chief Justice Appointments

 
Key Terms

 
 
3. Measures of Central Tendency: That’s Some Mean Baseball
Measures of Central Tendency

 
Summarizing the Math: Averages

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Averages

 
Your Turn: Measures of Central Tendency

 
Apply It Yourself: Calculate the Percent of Earned Income

 
Key Terms

 
 
4. Measures of Dispersion: Missing the Mark
Ranges

 
Distance from Mean

 
Summarizing the Math: Dispersion

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Measures of Dispersion

 
Your Turn: Measures of Dispersion

 
Apply It Yourself: Evaluate Graduates’ Salaries

 
Key Terms

 
 
5. Continuous Probability: So What’s Normal Anyway?
The Normal Curve

 
Z-Scores

 
Finding a Z-Score

 
Use Probability to Calculate Z-Scores

 
Summarizing the Math: Probabilities of Continuous Events

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Continuous Probability

 
Your Turn: Continuous Probability

 
Apply It Yourself: Evaluate the Murder Rate

 
Key Terms

 
 
6. Means Testing: Sampling a Population
Type I and Type II Errors

 
Means Testing

 
Confidence Intervals: Two-Tailed Distributions

 
Choose a Sample Size

 
Summarizing the Math: Sampling a Population

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Means Testing

 
Your Turn: Means Testing

 
Apply It Yourself: Assess Maternal Mortality Rate Increases

 
Key Terms

 
 
7. Hypothesis Testing: Examining Relationships
Hypothesis Testing

 
Summarizing the Math: Hypothesis Testing and ANOVA

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with ANOVA

 
Your Turn: Hypothesis Testing

 
Apply It Yourself: Examine Partisanship’s Affect on Feelings toward the Democratic Party

 
Key Terms

 
 
8. Describing the Pattern: What Do You See?
Choosing the Appropriate Form of Presentation

 
Graphs: Relationships and Scales

 
Visualizing a Relationship: Contingency Tables

 
Summarizing the Math: Graphs and Contingency Tables

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question Using a Contingency Table

 
Your Turn: Describing the Pattern

 
Apply It Yourself: Determine Stability across Legislative Systems

 
Key Terms

 
 
9. Chi-Square and Cramer’s V: What Do You Expect?
The Probability of Discrete Events

 
Chi-Square

 
Cramer’s V

 
Summarizing the Math: Chi-Square and Cramer’s V

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Chi-Square and Cramer’s V

 
Your Turn: Chi-Square and Cramer’s V

 
Apply It Yourself: Analyze Data by Type

 
Key Terms

 
 
10. Measures of Association: Making Connections
Basic Principles of Measures of Association

 
Pearson’s R

 
Gamma

 
Lambda

 
Summarizing the Math: Measures of Association

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Measures of Association

 
Your Turn: Measures of Association

 
Apply It Yourself: Measure Poor Student Graduation Rates

 
 
Key Terms
 
11. Multivariate Relationships: Taking Control
Spurious Relationships

 
Interaction Effects

 
Three-Way Contingency Tables

 
Summarizing the Process: Setting Up Three-Way Contingency Tables

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with a Three-Way Contingency Table

 
Your Turn: Multivariate Relationships

 
Apply It Yourself: Analyze Data on Race for Partisanship and Income

 
Key Terms

 
 
12. Bivariate Regression: Putting Your Ducks in a Line
Graph a Relationship

 
Fit the Data with the Ordinary Least Squares Estimate of the Line

 
Find the Statistical Significance

 
Find the Strength of the Relationship

 
Use Regressions with Time Series Data

 
Interpret Regressions with Dichotomous Independent Variables

 
Summarizing the Math: Regression

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Bivariate Regression

 
Your Turn: Bivariate Regression

 
Apply It Yourself: Analyze Influences on Corruption

 
Key Terms

 
 
13. Multiple Regression: The Final Frontier
Using Regression to Control for Other Variables

 
The Assumptions of Regression

 
Summarizing the Process: Multiple Regression

 
Use SPSS to Answer a Question with Multiple Regression

 
Your Turn: Multiple Regression

 
Apply It Yourself: Evaluate the Impact of Multiple Factors on the 2012 Presidential Election

 
Key Terms

 
 
14. Understanding the Numbers: Knowing What Counts
Measurement

 
Univariate Statistics

 
Multivariate Statistics

 
Keeping the Numbers Meaningful

 
Embracing the Uncertainty

 
Key Terms

 
 
Reference Materials
 
Notes
 
Glossary
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site

SAGE edge for Instructors, supports teaching by making it easy to integrate quality content and create a rich learning environment for students.

  • Test banks built on Bloom’s Taxonomy to provide a diverse range of test items
  • Editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides offer complete flexibility for creating a multimedia presentation for the course
  • Instructor manual which summarize key concepts by chapter to ease preparation for lectures and class discussions
  • A set of all the graphics from the text, including all of the maps, tables, and figures, is available in PowerPoint, pdf, and JPEG formats for class presentations
Student Study Site

SAGE edge for Students provides a personalized approach to help students accomplish their coursework goals in an easy-to-use learning environment and features elements such as:

  • Chapter summaries with learning objectives that reinforce the most important material
  • Carefully selected video and multimedia content that enhance exploration of key topics
  • Datasets and documentation to be used with the "Apply It Yourself" exercises.
Key features

KEY FEATURES:

  • Over 250 tables and figures walk students through how to calculate statistics and obtain them through SPSS.
  • Your Turn exercises let students apply what they’ve learned with assignments set in a politically relevant context that ask them to use real data to solve hypothetical questions similar to those modeled in the chapter. Students apply a statistical concept through math-based calculations.
  • Apply It Yourself sections at the end of each chapter present a problem-based learning situation in which students answer a real world question and write a memo based on their statistical results. This practical approach requires students to both analyze data and explain their results and lets them come to see the professional relevance of the material.
  • How to Use SPSS boxes provide clear, easy instructions on how to use this software package, from how to calculate a variable to how to run a regression.
  • Numbers in the News boxes briefly spotlight an episode from the political world that shows how often statistics are used in news.
  • Key terms are bolded in the text, listed at the end of chapters, and defined in a glossary.
  • Reference material at the back of the book provides a ready resource that consolidates tips from across the chapters so that students can quickly look up how to create polished memos, craft a table for frequency or cross-tabulation, remind themselves how to use SPSS, or reference data from a Z table, T table, or chi-square table to complete calculations.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

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