Adventures in Social Research: Data Analysis Using IBM® SPSS® Statistics

Adventures in Social Research: Data Analysis Using IBM SPSS Statistics, Seventh Edition, guides students step-by-step through the process of data analysis using SPSS/PASW Statistics and 2008 General Social Survey (GSS) data. Written by esteemed social science research authors, this workbook encourages students to practice SPSS as they read about it and provides a practical, hands-on introduction to conceptualization, measurement, and association through active learning. Arranged to parallel most introductory research methods texts, this book starts with an introduction to computerized data analysis and the social research process, then walks readers step-by-step through univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis using SPSS Statistics.

New to This Edition

The book has been updated throughout to reflect Version 18.0 of SPSS/PASW.

The authors provide additional information for Macintosh users.

The book presents new and updated SPSS/PASW screenshots.

All of the examples in the book have been updated to reflect the use of the latest available General Social Survey (GSS) 2008 data set.

Coverage of regression in Chapter 13 has been expanded to include more detail about the coefficient of determination.

An open-access Student Study Site at http://www.sagepub.com/babbie7estudy offers data sets containing more than 80 variables from the 2008 General Social Survey, including new terrorism preparedness variables. It also features helpful research articles, as well as other learning tools and resources.

Key Features

Each chapter includes basic research principles, techniques, and effective, step-by-step demonstrations of how to use SPSS Statistics to support beginning users who have no prior experience with research or SPSS as well as more advanced users who want to hone their research or data analysis skills.

Chapters are structured around instruction techniques followed by concrete, hands-on exercises that encourage students to design their own hypotheses, choose their own variables, and interpret the results.

Two final chapters (Chapters 20 and 21) focus on doing primary and secondary research and writing research reports.

The text captures students' curiosity by getting them to do research on issues that already interest them, such as religion, gender roles, the environment, sexual attitudes, and gun control.

The authors enliven abstract material with a variety of pedagogical features: clear tables, screenshots, and illustrations as well as "Writing Boxes" that show how a social scientist might describe the findings being discussed, "Review Questions" to test students' knowledge, and "SPSS Statistics Lab Exercises" to apply what is being learned.

William E. Wagner, III, Professor of Sociology at California State University, Channel Islands, served as a member of the faculty and director of the Institute for Social and Community Research (ISCR) at CSUB prior to coming to CSU Channel Islands. His MA and PhD degrees in sociology are from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He holds two separate bachelor's degrees, one in mathematics and the other in sociology/anthropology, both from St. Mary's College of Maryland. His work on topics such as urban sociology, sports, homophobia, and academic status has been published in national and regional scholarly journals. Fred Halley, Associate Professor Emeritus, SUNY-Brockport, received his bachelor's degree in sociology and philosophy from Ashland College and his master's and doctorate degrees from Case Western Reserve University and the University of Missouri, respectively. Since 1970, he has worked to bring both instructional and research computer applications into the undergraduate sociology curriculum. Halley has been recognized for his leadership in the instructional computing sections of the Eastern and Midwest Sociological Societies and the American Sociological Association. At Brockport, he served as a collegewide social science computing consultant and directed Brockport's Institute for Social Science Research and the College's Data Analysis Laboratory. Off campus, Halley directed and consulted on diverse community research projects that were used to establish urban magnet schools, evaluate a Head Start family service center, locate an expressway, and design a public transportation system for a rural county. Now residing in Rochester, New York, he plays an active role in a faith-based mentoring program for ex-offenders, and he volunteers for Micrecycle, an organization that refurbishes computers used by those on the other side of the computer divide in schools, daycares, youth centers, and other community organizations. Jeanne Zaino, Associate Professor of Political Science, Iona College, earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in survey research at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. During that time, she worked as a research assistant at the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. She went on to earn a master's degree and PhD in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is currently chair of the Political Science Department at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, where she teaches courses in American government, institutions, research methods, social statistics, public opinion, scope, and methods. She and her husband, Jeff, are the proud parents of two sons, Maxim and Logan. Earl Babbie was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1938, but his family chose to return to Vermont 3 months later, and he grew up there and in New Hampshire. In 1956, he set off for Harvard Yard, where he spent the next 4 years learning more than he initially planned. After 3 years with the U.S. Marine Corps, mostly in Asia, he began graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his PhD from Berkeley in 1969. He taught sociology at the University of Hawaii from 1968 through 1979, took time off from teaching and research to write full time for 8 years, and then joined the faculty at Chapman University in Southern California in 1987. Although he is the author of several research articles and monographs, he is best known for the many texts he has written, which have been widely adopted in colleges throughout the United States and the world. He also has been active in the American Sociological Association for 25 years and currently serves on the ASA's executive committee. He is also past president of the Pacific Sociological Association and California Sociological Association.