Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The nuts and bolts of empirical social science 2.1 What is empirical research in the social sciences? 2.2 Qualitative and quantitative research 2.3 Theories, concepts, variables and hypotheses 2.3.1 Theories 2.3.2 Concepts 2.3.3. Variables 2.3.4 Hypotheses 2.4 The quantitative research process Chapter 3: A short introduction to survey research 3.1 What is survey research? 3.2 A short history of survey research 3.3 The importance of survey research in the social sciences and beyond 3.4 Overview of some of the most widely-used surveys in the social sciences 3.4.1 The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) 3.4.2 World Value Survey (WVS) 3.4.3 The European Social Survey (ESS) 3.5 Different types of surveys 3.5.1 Cross-sectional surveys 3.5.2 Longitudinal surveys Chapter 4: Constructing a survey 4.1 Question design 4.2 Ordering of questions 4.3 Number of questions 4.4 Getting the questions right 4.5 Social desirability 4.6 Open-ended and closed-ended questions 4.7 Types of closed-ended survey questions 4.7.1 Scales 4.7.2 Dichotomous survey questions 4.7.3 Multiple choice questions 4.7.4 Numerical continuous questions 4.7.5 Categorical survey questions 4.7.6 Rank order questions 4.7.7 Matrix table questions 4.8 Different variables 4.9 Coding of different variables in a dataset 4.9.1 Coding of nominal variables
4.10 Drafting a questionnaire: General information 4.10.1 Drafting a questionnaire A step-by-step approach 4.11 Sample questionnaire 4.12 Background information about the questionnaire Chapter 5: Conducting a survey 5.1 Population and sample 5.2 Representative, random, and biased samples 5.3 Sampling errors 5.4 Non-random sampling techniques 5.5 Different types of surveys 5.6 Which type of survey should researchers use? 5.7 Pre-tests 5.7.1 What is a pre-test? 5.7.2 How to conduct a pre-test Chapter 6: Univariate statistics 6.1 SPSS and Stata 6.2 Putting data into an SPSS spreadsheet 6.3 Putting data into a Stata spreadsheet

Daniel Stockemer is an Associate Professor at the School of Political Studies of the University of Ottawa, Canada. His main research interests are political participation, political representation, right-wing extremism in Europe, as well as quantitative and qualitative research methods. Since becoming a professor in 2010, Stockemer has published 2 single authored books, 1 edited volume and more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is also a co-editor of European Political Science (EPS), the professional journal of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).

"There are many books designed to introduce undergraduate students to elementary statistical analysis, several of which are appropriate for social and behavioural science students. Often lacking in these books is attention to key pre-analysis stages, such as understanding the role of theories, concepts, hypotheses, variables, and survey design and administration. This text provides such pre-analysis information ... . Summing Up: Recommended. Undergraduates." (J. P. Hoffmann, Choice, Vol. 56 (12), August, 2019)