This foundation module is designed to give students a basic grasp of the statistical techniques necessary for implementing and critically evaluating social research. Emphasis will be put on when and how to use statistical techniques, and the interpretation of results, rather than on theoretical derivations. A familiarity with the SPSS for Windows computer package is also acquired during practical work.

·         Provide an introduction to the statistical techniques required to critically evaluate social research

·         Give a clear understanding of when and how to use particular techniques, including hands on experience with SPSS

·         Offer a conceptual and theoretical outline of inferential statistics including regression and chi-square

Having completed the module, students should:

·         Have a thorough grounding in basic univariate and simple bivariate statistical techniques

·         Be able to read and describe simple statistical tables and graphs

·         Have an understanding of the use of computer software for statistical analysis

·         The role of statistics in modern societies

·         Levels of measurement and types of variable

·         Estimators of central tendency and dispersion

·         Elementary probability

·         Common distributions

·         Sampling theory and practice

·         Statistical inference, estimation and hypothesis testing

·         Contingency tables

•  Bivariate linear regression

Agresti, A., & Finlay, B. (1997) Statistical methods for the social sciences. Prentice Hall

Fielding, J., & Gilbert, N. (2000) Understanding Social Statistics. London: Sage

Healey, J. (1993) Statistics: A Tool for Social Research, 3^rd ed. California: Wadsworth Publishing Co

Clegg, F. (1992) Simple Statistics. Cambridge University Press

 Wright, D. (2002) First Steps in Statistics. London: Sage

Vogt, W. (1993) Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology: a non-technical guide for the social science. Sage