Quantitative Social Data Analysis

The course covers key traditional methods of analysis of quantitative empirical data used in everyday practice by sociologists - tabulation (construction and analysis of tables of one-dimensional and multidimensional distributions of attributes), calculation of averages and measures of variation, testing statistical hypotheses (significance of differences of percentages, means, etc.), correlation, regression, cluster, and factor analysis methods. Measurement in sociology, types of scales and correspondence between the types of scales and mathematical methods of analysis are also covered. Lectures are followed by lab classes with the use of statistical software. At the end of the course students submit individual analytical papers which contain computer-based analysis of datasets from real sociological studies.