Statistical Design and Inference for the Social Sciences

A soup to nuts introduction to statistics for the social researcher grounded in theory, real-life application, and critical analysis. – Lanora CallahanThis is a book that effectively integrates topics of research design, particularly focused on issues of measurement, causality, and appropriate questions and comparisons, with a reasonably rigorous, formal, and technical introduction to foundational concepts in probability and statistics and the logic and application of the most commonly used statistical tests in the social sciences, primarily to advanced undergraduate social science (particularly economics) majors but could be used as an introductory text for social science or public policy graduate students, particularly those who are changing fields and may be relatively new to quantitative research methods. – Robert ShandThis book emphasizes research design as the cornerstone of the research enterprise. It ties the standard statistical topics to the elements of research design. – Wendy MartinekThis is an introductory text into statistical methods and analytic thought. It attempts to teach thought processes and analytic reasoning as the basis for statistical methods, and thus, would be most appropriate at the beginning of one′s studies. – Christiana CoyleThis is inferential statistical tests book for the social sciences. Compared to the traditional statistical book, this book has more discussion on the design of the test and the validity of the data and test. – Xin ZhangThe book goes beyond basic statistics and discusses issues surrounding causal inference, which is absent in introductory statistics books. It reviews basic statistical concepts and procedure and introduce challenges of causation that people constantly confront in data analysis. – Xiaofeng LiuWhile there are many statistics and methods textbooks for sale, this one stands out for its clear narrative, excellent examples, integration of Excel into the learning narrative, and appropriate exercises. It′s perfect for my MPA and MS students. – Jonathan EngelStudent will realize statistics is a useful tool that is relevant to their tasks in everyday work. This book uses real world stories with publicly accessible data and emphasizes practical skills. – Hee Soun Jang

Donald Vandegrift is a Professor of Economics at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ where he teaches courses in statistics and economics. He received a BA from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut.

His primary areas of research are urban issues and experimental/behavioral economics.

His urban research considers the amenity value and economic development effects of large institutions, crime and policing, and the economic effects of transport projects and land-use regulation. This research has appeared in Landscape and Urban Planning, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Regional Science, Annals of Regional Science, Health & Place, and Research in Transportation Economics, among others.

His experimental/behavioral research considers the effect of compensation schemes on risk taking, unproductive activities (i.e., sabotage), decisions to compete, and behavioral norms. This research has appeared in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Experimental Economics, Labour Economics, Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, Journal of Research in Personality, and Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics.

Grants from the National Science Foundation, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and the Institute for Humane Studies have supported his research.