A comprehensive textbook on the tools of mathematical sociology and their applicationsMathematical models and computer simulations of complex social systems have become everyday tools in sociology. Yet until now, students had no up-to-date textbook from which to learn these techniques. Introduction to Mathematical Sociology fills this gap, providing undergraduates with a comprehensive, self-contained primer on the mathematical tools and applications that s...

Making good decisions under conditions of uncertainty - which is the norm - requires a sound appreciation of the way random chance works. As analysis and modelling of most aspects of the world, and all measurement, are necessarily imprecise and involve uncertainties of varying degrees, the understanding and management of probabilities is central to much work in the sciences and economics.In this Very Short Introduction, John Haigh introduces the ideas of probability and different philosoph...

Experience Research Social Change is a “how to” guide to research that also raises broader theoretical, methodological, and ethical questions. First published in 1989, it was the first critical methods book, and continues to inspire generations of researchers, students, and community workers.The third edition has been thoroughly revised, now containing twelve chapters organized into three parts: experience, research, and social change. The new edition also includes a wider...

Did mandatory busing programs in the 1970s increase the school achievement of disadvantaged minority youth? Does obtaining a college degree increase an individual's labor market earnings? Did the use of the butterfly ballot in some Florida counties in the 2000 presidential election cost Al Gore votes? If so, was the number of miscast votes sufficiently large to have altered the election outcome? At their core, these types of questions are simple cause-and-effect questions. Simple cause-and...

Bias analysis quantifies the influence of systematic error on an epidemiology study’s estimate of association. The fundamental methods of bias analysis in epi- miology have been well described for decades, yet are seldom applied in published presentations of epidemiologic research. More recent advances in bias analysis, such as probabilistic bias analysis, appear even more rarely. We suspect that there are both supply-side and demand-side explanations for the scarcity of bias analysis. On ...

This is the first book to show the capabilities of Microsoft Excel to teach social science statistics effectively. It is a step-by-step exercise-driven guide for students and practitioners who need to master Excel to solve practical social science problems. If understanding statistics isn’t your strongest suit, you are not especially mathematically-inclined, or if you are wary of computers, this is the right book for you.Excel, a widely available computer program for students and m...

Contingency tables arise in diverse fields, including life sciences, education, social and political sciences, notably market research and opinion surveys. Their analysis plays an essential role in gaining insight into structures of the quantities under consideration and in supporting decision making.Combining both theory and applications, this book presents models and methods for the analysis of two- and multidimensional-contingency tables. The author uses a threefold approach, pr...

This book focuses on the major applications of martingales to the geometry of Banach spaces, and a substantial discussion of harmonic analysis in Banach space valued Hardy spaces is also presented. It covers exciting links between super-reflexivity and some metric spaces related to computer science, as well as an outline of the recently developed theory of non-commutative martingales, which has natural connections with quantum physics and quantum information theory. Requiring few prerequis...

This volume presents theoretical developments, applications and computational methods for the analysis and modeling in behavioral and social sciences where data are usually complex to explore and investigate. The challenging proposals provide a connection between statistical methodology and the social domain with particular attention to computational issues in order to effectively address complicated data analysis problems.The papers in this volume stem from contributions initially ...

Indirect questioning is a crucial topic in surveys of human populations. When the issue is about a stigmatizing characteristic (for example about illegal drug use), standard survey methodologies are destined to fail because, as expected, people are not willing to reveal incriminating information or information violating their privacy. Indirect questioning techniques have been devised so that the privacy of participants in a sample survey is protected and at the same time good estimates of ...

This book deals with methods to evaluate scientific productivity. In the book statistical methods, deterministic and stochastic models and numerous indexes are discussed that will help the reader to understand the nonlinear science dynamics and to be able to develop or construct systems for appropriate evaluation of research productivity and management of research groups and organizations. The dynamics of science structures and systems is complex, and the evaluation of research productivit...

This volume explores the professional ethics of addresses the varied ethical needs of the professional economists and public policy professionals. Using terms and methods familiar to the reader, the book goes beyond the typical narrative of economics and morality to walk the professional through the process of ethical decision-making. Designed to be easy to navigate and applicable to everyday practice, this book includes a step-by-step illustrated guide through an ethical decision-making p...