05274nam 2200733 a 450 991095612970332120200520144314.0978661189764297814462302821446230287978128189764012818976479781849209311184920931697818486086651848608667(CKB)1000000000556259(EBL)370507(OCoLC)476205712(SSID)ssj0000181999(PQKBManifestationID)12055466(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000181999(PQKBWorkID)10166399(PQKB)10527821(MiAaPQ)EBC370507(OCoLC)313782718(StDuBDS)EDZ0000018592(PPN)227910664(FR-PaCSA)88869294(FRCYB88869294)88869294(EXLCZ)99100000000055625920020926d2002 uy 0engur|||||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierInterpreting quantitative data /David Byrne1st ed.London ;Thousand Oaks, Calif. SAGE20021 online resource (x, 176 p.) illDescription based upon print version of record.9780761962618 0761962611 9780761962625 076196262X Includes bibliographical references (p. [166]-170) and index.Machine generated contents note: Introduction 1 -- 1 Interpreting the Real and Describing the Complex: -- Why We Have to Measure 12 -- Positivism, realism and complexity 14 -- Naturalism - a soft foundationalist argument 17 -- There are no universals but, nevertheless, we can know 19 -- Models and measures: a first pass 21 -- Contingency and method - retroduction and retrodiction 25 -- Conclusion 27 -- 2 The Nature of Measurement: What We Measure and -- How We Measure 29 -- Death to the variable 29 -- State space 32 -- Classification 34 -- Sensible and useful measuring 37 -- Conclusion 41 -- 3 The State's Measurements: The Construction and -- Use of Official Statistics 44 -- The history of statistics as measures 45 -- Official and semi-official statistics 49 -- Social indicators 52 -- Tracing individuals 56 -- Secondary data analysis 57 -- Sources 57 -- Conclusion 58 -- 4 Measuring the Complex World: The Character of Social Surveys 61 -- Knowledge production - the survey as process 63 -- Models from surveys - beyond the flowgraph? 66 -- Representative before random - sampling in the real world 72 -- Conclusion 77 -- 5 Probability and Quantitative Reasoning 79 -- Objective probability versus the science of clues 80 -- Single case probabilities - back to the specific 84 -- Gold standard - or dross? 84 -- Understanding Head Start 88 -- Probabilistic reasoning in relation to non-experimental data 90 -- Randomness, probability, significance and investigation 92 -- Conclusion 93 -- 6 Interpreting Measurements: Exploring, Describing and Classifying 95 -- Basic exploration and description 96 -- Making sets of categories - taxonomy as social exploration 99 -- Can classifying help us to sort out causal processes? 105 -- Conclusion 110 -- 7 Linear Modelling: Clues as to Causes 112 -- Statistical models 113 -- Flowgraphs: partial correlation and path analysis 116 -- Working with latent variables - making things out of things -- that don't exist anyhow 117 -- Multi-level models 120 -- Statistical black boxes - Markov chains as an example 122 -- Loglinear techniques - exploring for interaction 123 -- Conclusion 128 -- 8 Coping with Non-linearity and Emergence: Simulation and -- Neural Nets 130 -- Simulation - interpreting through virtual worlds 131 -- Micro-simulation - projecting on the basis of aggregation 133 -- Multi-agent models - interacting entities 135 -- Neural nets are not models but inductive empiricists 139 -- Models as icons, which are also tools 141 -- Using the tools 142 -- Conclusion 143 -- 9 Qualitative Modelling: Issues of Meaning and Cause 145 -- From analytic induction through grounded theory to computer -- modelling - qualitative exploration of cause 147 -- Coding qualitative materials 150 -- Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) - a Boolean approach 154 -- Iconic modelling 157 -- Integrative method 159 -- Conclusion 160 -- Conclusion 162 -- Down with: 162 -- Up with: 163 -- Action theories imply action164.'Interpreting Quantitative Data' offers students a guide on how to interpret the complex reality of the social world, achieve effective measurement, understand the use of official statistics, use social surveys and apply linear modelling.ResearchMethodologySocial sciencesStatistical methodsResearch.Methodology.Social sciencesStatistical methods.300.72Byrne D. S(David S.),1947-1616462MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910956129703321Interpreting quantitative data4341536UNINA