Covering basic univariate and bivariate statistics and regression models for nominal, ordinal, and interval outcomes, Applied Statistics for the Social and Health Sciences provides graduate students in the social and health sciences with fundamental skills to estimate, interpret, and publish quantitative research using contemporary standards. Reflecting the growing importance of "Big Data" in the social and health sciences, this thoroughly revised and streamlined new edition covers best practice in the use of statistics in social and health sciences, draws upon new literatures and empirical examples, and highlights the importance of statistical programming, including coding, reproducibility, transparency, and open science. Key features of the book include: interweaving the teaching of statistical concepts with examples from publicly available social and health science data and literature excerpts; thoroughly integrating the teaching of statistical theory with the teaching of data access, processing, and analysis in Stata; recognizing debates and critiques of the origins and uses of quantitative methods.

For graduate students in the social and health sciences, featuring essential concepts and equations most often needed in scholarly publications. Uses excerpts from the scholarly literature in these fields to introduce new concepts. Uses publicly-available data that are regularly used in social and health science publications to introduce Stata code and illustrate concepts and interpretation. Thoroughly integrates the teaching of statistical theory with teaching data processing and analysis. Offers guidance about planning projects and organizing code for reproducibility Shows how to recognize critiques of the constructions, terminology, and interpretations of statistics. New edition focuses on Stata, with code integrated into the chapters (rather than appendices, as in the first edition) includes Stata’s factor variables and margins commands and Long and Freese’s (2014) spost13 commands, to simplify programming and facilitate interpretation.

Provides a step-by-step approach to statistical procedures to analyze data and conduct research, with detailed sections in each chapter explaining SPSS® and Excel® applications This book identifies connections between statistical applications and research design using cases, examples, and discussion of specific topics from the social and health sciences. Researched and class-tested to ensure an accessible presentation, the book combines clear, step-by-step explanations for both the novice and professional alike to understand the fundamental statistical practices for organizing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from research data in their field. The book begins with an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics and then acquaints readers with important features of statistical applications (SPSS and Excel) that support statistical analysis and decision making. Subsequent chapters treat the procedures commonly employed when working with data across various fields of social science research. Individual chapters are devoted to specific statistical procedures, each ending with lab application exercises that pose research questions, examine the questions through their application in SPSS and Excel, and conclude with a brief research report that outlines key findings drawn from the results. Real-world examples and data from social and health sciences research are used throughout the book, allowing readers to reinforce their comprehension of the material. Using Statistics in the Social and Health Sciences with SPSS® and Excel® includes: Use of straightforward procedures and examples that help students focus on understanding of analysis and interpretation of findings Inclusion of a data lab section in each chapter that provides relevant, clear examples Introduction to advanced statistical procedures in chapter sections (e.g., regression diagnostics) and separate chapters (e.g., multiple linear regression) for greater relevance to real-world research needs Emphasizing applied statistical analyses, this book can serve as the primary text in undergraduate and graduate university courses within departments of sociology, psychology, urban studies, health sciences, and public health, as well as other related departments. It will also be useful to statistics practitioners through extended sections using SPSS® and Excel® for analyzing data.

Applied statistics text updated to be consistent with SPSS version 15, ideal for classroom use or self study.

In response to scientific needs for more diverse and structured explanations of statistical data, researchers have discovered how to model individual data points as belonging to multiple groups. Handbook of Mixed Membership Models and Their Applications shows you how to use these flexible modeling tools to uncover hidden patterns in modern high-dimensional multivariate data. It explores the use of the models in various application settings, including survey data, population genetics, text analysis, image processing and annotation, and molecular biology. Through examples using real data sets, you’ll discover how to characterize complex multivariate data in: Studies involving genetic databases Patterns in the progression of diseases and disabilities Combinations of topics covered by text documents Political ideology or electorate voting patterns Heterogeneous relationships in networks, and much more The handbook spans more than 20 years of the editors’ and contributors’ statistical work in the field. Top researchers compare partial and mixed membership models, explain how to interpret mixed membership, delve into factor analysis, and describe nonparametric mixed membership models. They also present extensions of the mixed membership model for text analysis, sequence and rank data, and network data as well as semi-supervised mixed membership models.

Calling for a fundamental change in the focus of public policy in America, this book paints a vivid portrait of the nation's social health. Miringoff and Opdycke clearly show that social progress has stalled and the country's energies need to be directed at critical domestic issues in the years ahead.The authors propose a new agenda for monitoring America's social well-being built around sixteen key indicators of American life, such as infant mortality, teenage suicide, health insurance coverage, and affordable housing. They maintain that social conditions, like economic conditions, must be constantly monitored in order to have a clear sense of "how we are doing" as a society.The book builds on the work of the Institute for Innovation in Social Policy and argues that there needs to be a greater visibility for social issues - and a closer link between social reporting and public action - to better address the nation's social problems. It considers the critical role of the media in advancing public understanding of social issues, and examines important advances in the community indicators movement and international social reporting. Eye-opening and compelling, the book is a provocative centerpiece for policy debates and national initiatives on today's crucial domestic concerns.

Model-Based Clustering, Classification, and Denisty Estimation Using mclust in R Model-based clustering and classification methods provide a systematic statistical approach to clustering, classification, and density estimation via mixture modeling. The model-based framework allows the problems of choosing or developing an appropriate clustering or classification method to be understood within the context of statistical modeling. The mclust package for the statistical environment R is a widely adopted platform implementing these model-based strategies. The package includes both summary and visual functionality, complementing procedures for estimating and choosing models. Key features of the book: An introduction to the model-based approach and the mclust R package A detailed description of mclust and the underlying modeling strategies An extensive set of examples, color plots, and figures along with the R code for reproducing them Supported by a companion website, including the R code to reproduce the examples and figures presented in the book, errata, and other supplementary material Model-Based Clustering, Classification, and Density Estimation Using mclust in R is accessible to quantitatively trained students and researchers with a basic understanding of statistical methods, including inference and computing. In addition to serving as a reference manual for mclust, the book will be particularly useful to those wishing to employ these model-based techniques in research or applications in statistics, data science, clinical research, social science, and many other disciplines.

This text presents statistical methods for studying causal effects and discusses how readers can assess such effects in simple randomized experiments.

While some social scientists may argue that we have always been networked, the increased visibility of networks today across economic, political, and social domains can hardly be disputed. Social networks fundamentally shape our lives and social network analysis has become a vibrant, interdisciplinary field of research. In The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks, Ryan Light and James Moody have gathered forty leading scholars in sociology, archaeology, economics, statistics, and information science, among others, to provide an overview of the theory, methods, and contributions in the field of social networks. Each of the thirty-three chapters in this Handbook moves through the basics of social network analysis aimed at those seeking an introduction to advanced and novel approaches to modeling social networks statistically. They cover both a succinct background to, and future directions for, distinctive approaches to analyzing social networks. The first section of the volume consists of theoretical and methodological approaches to social networks, such as visualization and network analysis, statistical approaches to networks, and network dynamics. Chapters in the second section outline how network perspectives have contributed substantively across numerous fields, including public health, political analysis, and organizational studies. Despite the rapid spread of interest in social network analysis, few volumes capture the state-of-the-art theory, methods, and substantive contributions featured in this volume. This Handbook therefore offers a valuable resource for graduate students and faculty new to networks looking to learn new approaches, scholars interested in an overview of the field, and network analysts looking to expand their skills or substantive areas of research.