STATISTICS IN SOCIAL SCIENCES (SS 426N)
Jawaharlal Nehru University,
Center for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences
M.A. IIIrd (Monsoon) Semester, Optional Course [2025]; Credits: Four
Course Instructor: Divya Vaid (
[email protected])
This course introduces statistics for social sciences with an emphasis on data analysis and interpretation. It
will allow students to critically evaluate and make an educated use of published studies that use quantitative
data. It will also guide students in basic quantitative analysis and the application of quantitative reasoning.
The course encourages a “hands-on approach” to data analysis, and the mathematical and computational
sessions are an important part of the course. The course emphasizes the use and interpretation of data.
Reading is an integral part of this course. Students are expected to read for each class to engage in
constructive discussions. Additional readings/changes to this list, if any, will be discussed in class.
Some modules include articles which provide examples of specific techniques and data analysis. These
articles are to be read along with the other readings. Additional articles will be added during the course.
Course Evaluation – this course is worth four credits. The following coursework is compulsory:
1. One Mid-Semester Exam [1 credit]
2. One Term Paper with Tutorial Presentation/viva and attendance in Statistics-Lab sessions [1 credit].
The presentation dates will be shared in class and will involve a short note submission (not to exceed 300
words). The short note will not be graded but is compulsory.
These Statistics-Lab sessions (8 sessions during the course) will comprise practical computer-based work
for one hour each session). Students must attend at least Five Statistics-Lab sessions during the course as a
compulsory requirement.
3. End-Semester exam [2 credits]
Correct citation and referencing to be followed for the Term Paper. Papers that do not do so will be penalized
as will papers that are late or those that use AI.
As per the norm, students must complete all the course requirements to sit the end-semester exam.
Details of the coursework/assessments/deadlines, as well as the data and programs to be used, or any
changes to the readings/assessments will be provided in class.
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MODULE-WISE DESCRIPTION AND READINGS
MODULE 1: Introduction to the Use and Misuse of Statistics
This module will cover the utility and limits of quantitative methods, data and statistical analysis. Some of
the questions covered will include: Why statistics? What are the uses of statistics? How to avoid the misuse
of statistics and the misrepresentation of data? Is there a role of theory in quantitative research?
§ Agresti, A. and Finley, B. 1997. Statistical methods for the social sciences, 3rd edition. Prentice Hall.
Introduction.
§ Diamantopoulos, A. and B. B. Schlegelmilch. 2004. Taking the fear out of data analysis. Thomson.
§ Hand, D. J. 2008. Statistics: A very short introduction. Oxford: OUP. Surrounded by stats, pp. 1-20.
§ Levin, J.A., J.A. Fox and D.R. Forde. 2014. Elementary Statistics in Social Research, Pearson. pp. 1-31.
§ Lieberson, S. 1988. Asking too much, expecting too little, Sociological Perspectives, 31(4): 379–97.
1
MODULE 2: Introduction to Data – Primary and Secondary data
Some of the key questions that will be covered include: What is data? Where does quantitative data come
from? What is the difference between secondary and primary quantitative data? What kinds of data can one
use (surveys and beyond)? An introduction to some key data sources will be provided.
Collecting primary data: This module will also provide a brief overview of survey design and sampling
techniques. Some additional questions this module addresses in brief are: How to collect primary survey
data? What is the difference between a population and a sample? How to sample effectively?
§ Agresti and Finley. 1997. Chapter 2.
§ Babbie, E. 2021. The Practice of Social Research (15th Edition). Cengage Learning. Selected chapters.
§ Creswell. J.W. and J.D. Creswell. 2017. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods
approaches, 5th Edition. Sage Publications. Chapter 8.
§ Schuman, H. 2002. Sense and Nonsense about Surveys. Contexts: 40‐ 47.
MODULE 3: Introduction to computers for data analysis
This module will introduce some key programs such as Excel/PSPP etc. Some of the questions covered by
this module are: What are the components of a dataset? What is a variable? What are the levels of
measurement of a variable? What are independent and dependent variables? How to create, save, edit and
use a dataset? How to read and interpret basic quantitative data/tables/figures will be covered.
§ Babbie. 2021. Chapter 14.
§ De Vaus, D. 2002. Analysing social science data: 50 key problems in data analysis. Sage Pub.: Delhi.
§ Field, A. 2005. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. Sage: Delhi. Selected chapters.
MODULE 4: Data Analysis and Interpretation - Descriptive Statistics
This module will cover the description of data. This includes: Frequencies – reading and making frequency
tables; Measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode; Measures of variability: range, variance,
standard deviation. An emphasis will be placed on the use of, and avoiding the misuse of, these measures.
The difference between parametric and non-parametric tests will be covered.
§ Agresti and Finley. 1997 OR Levin, Fox and Forde. 2014. Selected chapters.
§ Babbie. 2021. Chapter 14.
§ Durkheim, E. [1897] 1997. Suicide. Free Press. Select chapter/tables.
§ Hand. 2008. Chapter 2.
§ Huff, D and Geis, I. 1954. How to Lie with Statistics. New York: WW Norton. Chapter 2.
MODULE 5: Data Analysis and Interpretation – Inference. Hypothesis Testing
Hypotheses construction and testing is central to data analysis. Some questions for this module: Why are
research questions important? What is a hypothesis? How to build a testable hypothesis? How to test
hypotheses? What is a null hypothesis/alternative hypothesis? Once students are familiar with univariate
data description and hypotheses building, this module will introduce bivariate and multivariate tables and
hypotheses testing.
§ Agresti and Finley. 1997. Chapter 8 (pages 221-229)] OR Levin, Fox and Forde 2014. Selected chapters
§ Babbie. 2021. Select Chapters.
§ Creswell, J.W. and J.D. Creswell. 2017. Research Questions and Hypotheses.
§ Goode, W.J. and Hatt, P.K. 1952. Methods in Social Research. McGraw Hill: New York. Chapter 6
§ Hand. 2008. Chapter 5.
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§ Huff and Geis. 1954. Chapter 3.
§ Levin, Fox and Forde. 2014. Selected chapters.
§ Putnam, Robert D. 1995. Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America.
PS: Political Science and Politics, 28 (4): 664-683
MODULE 6: Inference continued - Chi-square Test, Tests of association and Correlation
This module will include a discussion on the use and interpretation of the chi-square and the chi-square
distribution. It will cover a discussion on the Chi-square as goodness of fit and as a test of association. Some
of the additional questions are: How do we infer from a sample to a population? Is this inference accurate?
We will also cover the role of correlation analysis, in particular Pearson’s Correlation coefficient and its
uses. The question of “why correlation is not causation?” will be tackled. We will ask: What are the major
validity and reliability issues in quantitative methods?
§ Agresti and Finley 1997 OR Levin, Fox and Forde 2014. Selected chapters
§ Babbie. 2021. Chapter 5 and 6
§ Hand. 2008. Pp. 97-106
§ Huff and Geis. 1954. Chapter 4 and 8.
MODULE 7: Logic of regression – OLS regression/Logistic Regression
This module will introduce students to the logic of regression analysis and the interpretation of regression
output. The emphasis will be on Linear (Ordinary Least Squares) regression. The questions covered include:
What is regression? How to conduct a regression? What are dummy variables and control variables? What
are the advantages and limitations of regression analysis? How to interpret regression output? This module
will introduce the basics of logistic regression. This will cover questions including - Why and when to use
logistic rather than linear regression? How to interpret logistic regression models?
§ Agresti and Finley. 1997. Chapter 9
§ Banerjee A, M. Bertrand, S. Datta and S. Mullainathan. 2009. Labor market discrimination in Delhi:
Evidence from a field experiment. Journal of Comparative Economics, 37: 14–27
§ Freedman, D. A. 1991. Statistical models and shoe leather. Sociological Methodology, 21: 291–313.
§ Field, A. 2005. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. Sage: Delhi. Chapter on regression.
§ Levin et al 2014: Chapter 11
MODULE 8: Visual Displays: The graphical presentation of data
This module will briefly cover the graphical and tabular presentation of data.
• Huff and Geis. 1954. Chapter 5, 6, 7.
• Healy, K. and J. Moody. 2014. Data Visualization in Sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, 40: 105–28.
• Levin et al. 2014. Chapter 2: especially pp. 61-72
• Tufte, E. R. 2001. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Graphics Pr: 2nd edition.
