Statistics for Social Understanding

“Statistics for Social Understanding provides an introduction to quantitative research methods that presents detailed information in an intuitive and straightforward manner. This approach emphasizes the importance of application, which should encourage students to see the importance and relevance of content throughout the course.”

–Michael Morgan, Marietta College

“This is a textbook that works both for a professor teaching the course for the first time and needs a how-to manual, or the experienced professor who uses the textbook to compliment in-class lectures. The textbook never reaches beyond the level of the audience and is perfect for an introductory social science statistics course.”

–Brian William Smith, St. Edward’s University in Austin

“This text offers an intuitive, thorough introduction to quantitative social science research, grounding theory and mathematics with a practical, do-it-yourself approach that integrates two of the major statistical software packages directly into the text. It uses visualizations and interesting examples to make this material equally appealing to introductory-level undergraduates and graduate students taking their first steps into statistical analysis.”

–Benjamin Cole, Simmons College

Nancy E. Whittier is Sophia Smith Professor of Sociology at Smith College. She has taught statistics and research methods for over 30 years, and also teaches classes on gender, sexuality, and social movements. She is the author of Frenemies: Feminists, Conservatives, and Sexual Violence (Oxford University Press, 2018), The Politics of Child Sexual Abuse: Emotions, Social Movements, and the State (Oxford University Press, 2009), Feminist Generations (Temple, 1995), and numerous articles on social movements, gender, and sexual violence, and is co-editor of Feminist Frontiers (10th edition, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020, with Verta Taylor and Leila Rupp).

Tina Wildhagen is Associate Professor of Sociology at Smith College. She has taught statistics and quantitative research methods for 15 years, and also teaches courses on privilege and power in American education and inequality in higher education. Her research and teaching focus on social inequality in the American education system and on first-generation college students. Her work appears in various scholarly journals, including The Sociological Quarterly, Sociological Perspectives, The Teachers College Record, The Journal of Negro Education and Sociology Compass.

Howard J. Gold is Professor of Government at Smith College. He has taught statistics for over 30 years, and also teaches courses on American elections, public opinion and the media, and political behavior. His research focuses on voting behavior, partisanship, and third parties. He is the co-author (with Donald Baumer) of Parties, Polarization and Democracy in the United States and author of Hollow Mandates: American Public Opinion and the Conservative Shift. His work has also appeared in American Politics Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Polity, Public Opinion Quarterly and the Social Science Journal.