Tracey Peter

Students studying statistics for the first time can often feel confused, disoriented, and lacking direction. Understanding Social Statistics is a text crafted with this reality in mind, that many students feel lost and frustrated when studying statistics-much like being in a maze. USS acts as both a map and toolkit for navigating the maze of social statistics successfully. At every point in each chapter, students will have a clear idea of where they are and in which direction they are headed. A 5-step learning model applied to each theoretical concept ensures that readers have a predictable and reliable method for approaching every statistical situation they encounter-by working their way through the 5 steps, readers are guaranteed a way forward. Along the way they will collect all the tools they need to perform statistical analysis and learn to use them competently. Using maps and tools effectively requires practice, which is another key element of USS. Steps 2 (Learning the Calculations) and 3 (Using Computer Software) in the 5-step learning model provide ample opportunity for students to put learning into practice with sample problems and exercises. In addition, a complement of supportive text pedagogy and ancillary material (including detailed descriptions of the steps involved in arriving at the answers to the text's practice and sample problems) underscore the authors' commitment to providing a practical, easy-to-understand, and effective way to learn social statistics.

A companion volume to core texts targeting introductory social statistics courses, The Statistics Coach: Learning Through Practice helps students bridge the 'knowing-doing gap'. That is, while core texts help students understand statistics, the coaching program in this supplementary volume helps students do statistics. The Statistics Coach accomplishes this goal using a three-part structure - a 'tune-up', a lab application, and constructive feedback (tips on common errors and answers to the applications appear on the companion website) - that optimizes students' ability to apply and practise the theories, concepts, and techniques involved in using statistics as part of sociological research. In addition, a reference section at the end of the volume provides step-by-step guidelines for using SPSS, an essential application for working with data. As a result, The Statistics Coach offers much more than conventional study guides, which instead tend to focus on learning comprehension via chapter summaries, review of major concepts, and sample test questions.

A companion volume to core research methods texts, The Methods Coach: Learning Through Practice helps students bridge the 'knowing-doing gap'. That is, while core texts help students understand research methods, the coaching program in this supplementary volume helps students do research methods. The three-part structure of each lab-a 'tune-up', a lab application, and constructive feedback-optimizes students' ability to apply and practise the theories, concepts, and techniques presented in introduction to research methods courses. As a result, The Methods Coach offers much more than conventional study guides, which instead tend to focus on learning comprehension via chapter summaries, review of major concepts, and sample test questions.