Policy Press

SPSS Step by Step

Essentials for Social and Political Science

By Cole Davis

Published

Feb 13, 2013

Page count

232 pages

ISBN

978-1447306276

Dimensions

240 x 172 mm

Imprint

Policy Press

Published

Feb 13, 2013

Page count

232 pages

ISBN

978-1447306283

Dimensions

240 x 172 mm

Imprint

Policy Press
SPSS Step by Step

SPSS Step by Step: Essentials for Social and Political Science is a concise text for beginners and intermediate statistical test users. Clearly written and with no mathematical formulae, it features a chapter on qualitative data analysis; multiple regression; survival analysis (‘the time until events’); and a brief cogent introduction to factor analysis. A logically ordered guide to analysing everyday problems, SPSS Step by Step is distinctive in being both easy to grasp and readable. Tests throughout the book are accompanied by clear worked examples. These include Wilcoxon; Friedman; Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis; paired and unpaired T tests; ANOVA; binomial; McNemar; Chi-square; Pearson; Spearman; partial correlation; simple linear regression; multiple regression; factor analysis; Kaplan-Meier and life tables. Invaluable for undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics undertaking or teaching research, this unique book will also be of interest to professionals in social care, the criminal justice system, health and education.

Cole Davis is a freelance researcher with a background in social care, careers guidance and education. His research has covered fields as diverse as psychotherapies, computer software usability, employment and training, websites and marketing analysis. He is particularly well-known for his distinctive research style and his ability to make dry subjects readable. Previously, he also created CareerSteer, an internationally recognised computerised career choice computer program.

Part One: Background knowledge; Introduction; Descriptive statistics introduced; Inferential statistics introduced; On the nature of numbers; Data entry in SPSS; Data analysis in practice; Part Two: Statistical testing; The analysis of differences; Qualitative analysis; Correlations, regression and factor analysis; Factorial analysis of variance; The time until events: survival analysis; Part Three: Beyond the tests; Exercises; Reporting in applied research; A taste of further statistical methods.