Class will meet on Mondays, 6:30-8:10PM, in 3611 James. In addition to class meetings, students are expected to meet regularly with Professor Shortell outside of class to discuss the assignments and to prepare for the exams.
Our text will be Simple Statistics: Applications in Social Research by T. D. Miethe and J. F. Gauthier, Oxford, 2008 [ISBN 978-0-19-533254-4]. I've also prepared an online primer, An Introduction to Data Analysis & Presentation, to help you learn the material.
Read the textbook and online material before the class meeting in which we will begin discussing it; journal articles may be obtained using the citation databases on the BC Library website.
@ M 8/30) Introduction & Methodological Issues; read Ch. 1.
No class meeting on M 9/6. Labor Day, college closed.
M 9/13) Measurement; read Chs. 2 & 3.
M 9/20) Organizing Data, Sampling, & Introduction to Statistical Software; read Ch. 4
M 9/27) Measures of Central Tendency & Measures of Variability; read Chs. 5 & 6.
For this section, also read Jacobs, J. A. 1996. Gender Inequality and Higher Education. Annual Review of Sociology 22:153-185; and Massoni, K. 2004. Modeling Work: Occupational Messages in Seventeen Magazine. Gender & Society. 18(1):47-65.
Assignment 1. Due M 10/4.
M 10/4) Probability & Odds; read handout A.
No class meeting on M 10/11. Columbus Day, college closed.
M 10/25) The Normal Curve & Sampling Distributions; read Chs. 7 & 8.
M 11/1) The Confidence Interval & The T-test; read Chs. 9 & 10.
M 11/8) More on The T-test.
For this section, also read Stockard, J. and R. M. O'Brien (2002) Cohort Variations and Changes in Age-Specific Suicide Rates over Time. Social Forces. 81(2):605-42; and, Langford, T. and N. J. Mackinnon. (2000) The Affective Bases for the Gendering of Traits. Social Psychology Quarterly. 63(1):34-48.
Assignment 2. Due M 11/15.
M 11/15) Analysis of Variance; read Ch. 12.
M 11/22) Two-Way ANOVA; read handout B.
M 11/29) More on Two-Way ANOVA.
For this section, also read Ridgeway, C. L., et al. (1998) How Do Status Beliefs Develop? The Role of Resources and Interactional Experience. American Sociological Review. 63(3): 331-350.
Assignment 3. Due M 12/6.
M 12/6) Correlation Coefficients & Linear Regression; read Chs. 13, 14.
M 12/13) Multivariate Regression; read handout C.
For this section, also read Granberg, E. M., et al. (2009) Body Size and Social Self-Image Among Adolescent African American Girls. Youth & Society. 41(2): 256-277; and, Hogan, P. F., and R. Furst Seifert. (2009) Marriage and the Military: Evidence That Those Who Serve Marry Earlier and Divorce Earlier. Armed Forces and Society. XX(X): 1-19.
M 12/20) Final Examination. The exam will be available after class on M 12/13 and is due M 12/20.