
If you wish to learn more in-depth about analyzing data, this is best accomplished by trying this out at your own pace. Some code and data sets used are freely available for download via links from http://gss.princeton.press.
Introduction to Stata
Stata is a popular statistical programming environment. It is available in several forms and runs on Macintosh, Windows and Linux computers.
Though not a graded assignment in this course, if you wish to explore and practice elementary Stata functionalities using data sets, visit http://www.stata.com. At its most basic level, Stata can be used as a calculator.
Don't be afraid of Math, Numbers or Statistics. If you have to take any statistics course, TAKE THIS CLASS FIRST. Very friendly to "non-math" students.
Quantitative social science is an interdisciplinary field encompassing a large number of disciplines, including economics, education, political science, public policy, psychology, and sociology.
In quantitative social science research, scholars analyze data to understand and solve problems about society and human behavior.
Because social scientists directly investigate a wide range of real-world issues, the results of their research have enormous potential to directly influence individual members of society government, policies, and business practices.
Course Description: This course involves a study of statistical concepts used in psychology and social science applications. Successful students will acquire knowledge and develop skills which will enable them to compare and contrast descriptive and inferential statistics; calculate and interpret descriptive measures for data sets; describe the role of probability in statistical inference; formulate an hypothesis, test it, and interpret the results; calculate and interpret the correlation between two factors; and identify the appropriate statistical technique to use in order to solve various social science applications. Prerequisite: None
Course Objectives: The primary goal of this course is to establish a foundation of knowledge for the understanding and acceptance of quantitative analysis and statistics in its many forms. In order to achieve this goal, the following objectives are offered as guidelines for evaluation of the progress of the student in the course. At the end of the course, the student should be knowledgeable of the following quantitative analysis core information:
--Identify the basic theories of quantitative analysis and statistics, how they work, and what they profess to accomplish.
--Explain quantitative analysis in a meaningful way by utilizing basic terms of the discipline.
--Become familiar with how researchers apply basic theories to solve real world problems.
--Begin to think critically about statistics and develop their own statistical sense.
--Demonstrate how research designs and methods are utilized by the scientific method to test theories.