In his popular workbook, An SPSS Companion to Political Analysis*, Philip H. Pollock III gets students using actual political data and working with a software tool that prepares them for future political science courses.
Now updated using SPSS 16.0, the new third edition is a no-nonsense and friendly introduction to using SPSS: students learn through a series of guided examples, reference 120 screenshots, and can count on step-by-step instructions to all procedures. As in previous editions, the workbook covers the full array of data analysis procedures from introductory to advanced, including descriptive statistics and data transformations, to dummy variables and interaction effects. A final chapter shows students how to code data and how to read it into SPSS.
With 50% more exercises than in the previous edition, students not only interact with a range of substantive political science questions, but encounter more exercises on comparative and international politics, investigating such topics as the relative importance of cultural and institutional factors in shaping political parties or the extent to which wealth is equally distributed within countries.
The third edition also delves deeper into the use of graphic display to complement empirical results. Students learn state of the art editing techniques using SPSS Chart Editor, while following protocols described by leading experts in the graphic display of quantitative information. In addition to creating simple bar charts and line graphs, students will learn to produce scatterplots and logistic regression curves.
The datasets have been thoroughly updated and expanded, and include a set for student version users. A solutions manual with answers to all of the exercises is available to adopters.
Watch for the new third edition of The Essentials of Political Analysis in October!
*SPSS was acquired by IBM in October 2009
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Dataset CD
Full Version SPSS and Student Version SPSS: What Is the Difference?
Installing Student Version
Notes
1. Introduction to SPSS
The Data Editor
A Must-Do: Setting Options for Variable Lists
The Viewer
Selecting, Printing, and Saving Output
Exercises
Notes
2. Descriptive Statistics
Interpreting Measures of Central Tendency and Variation
Describing Nominal Variables
Describing Ordinal Variables
Describing Interval Variables
Obtaining Case-level Information with Case Summaries
Exercises
Notes
3. Transforming Variables
Using Recode
Recoding a Nominal-level Variable
Recoding an Interval-level Variable
Using Visual Binning
Collapsing an Interval-level Variable with Visual Binning
Using Compute
Exercises
Notes
4. Making Comparisons
Using Crosstabs
Using Compare Means
Graphing Relationships
Using Line Chart
Using Bar Chart
Using the Chart Editor
Exercises
Notes
5. Making Controlled Comparisons
Using Crosstabs with Layers
Obtaining and Editing Clustered Bar Charts
Using Compare Means with Layers and Obtaining Multiple Line Charts
Example of an Interaction Relationship
Example of an Additive Relationship
Exercises
Notes
6. Making Inferences about Sample Means
Using Descriptives and One-Sample T Test
Using Independent-Samples T Test
Exercises
Notes
7. Chi-square and Measures of Association
Analyzing an Ordinal-Level Relationship
Summary
Analyzing an Ordinal-Level Relationship with a Control Variable
Analyzing a Nominal-Level Relationship with a Control Variable
A Problem with Lambda
Exercises
Notes
8. Correlation and Linear Regression
Using Correlate and Regression --> Linear
Producing and Editing a Scatterplot
Exploring Multivariate Relationships with Regression --> Linear
Exercises
Notes
9. Dummy Variables and Interaction Effects
Regression with Dummy Variables
Interaction Effects in Multiple Regression
Using Compute for Interaction Variables
Exercises
Notes
10. Logistic Regression
Using Regression --> Binary Logistic
Logistic Regression with Multiple Independent Variables
Working with Predicted Probabilities: Models with One Independent Variable
Working with Predicted Probabilities: Models with Multiple Independent Variables
The Sample Averages Method
The Probability Profile Method
Exercises
Notes
11. Doing Your Own Political Analysis
Five Doable Ideas
Political Knowledge
Economic Performance and Election Outcomes
Judicial Selection and Public Opinion
Electoral Turnout in Comparative Perspective
Congress
Doing Research on the U.S. Senate
Finding Raw Data
How to Code Raw Data
Two Possible Coding Shortcuts
Using the SPSS Text Import Wizard
Writing It Up
The Research Question
Previous Research
Data, Hypotheses, and Analysis
Conclusions and Implications
Notes
Appendix
Table A-1 Descriptions of Constructed Variables in GSS2006
Table A-2 Descriptions of Variables in States
Table A-3 Description of Variables in World
Table A-4 Description of Variables and Constructed Scales in NES2004
Testimonials
"Political science students learn statistics by using real data to answer interesting questions about politics, and this book—along with the well-documented datasets that it includes—is the best tool I've found to help them do this. With detailed instructions on a variety of important methods, it starts students on the path toward doing their own research."
- Thad Kousser, University of California, San Diego“Pollock’s SPSS Companion to Political Analysis is a great book. It is very clearly written and provides step by step instructions for running and interpreting SPSS analyses. Throughout the chapters and exercises, there is a great mix of statistical theory and practical application.”
- Joseph M. Simons-Rudolph, North Carolina State University“This first rate book is very effective in teaching research methods students to use SPSS. The new edition provides new features and an expanded path to understanding how to run everything from simple frequencies through logit models. My students love it, frequently ‘mathaphobic’ before they use it, go on to do data analysis papers in advanced course and several have won awards for their work. This is an outstanding book and with Essentials it produces students who know how to both carry out and evaluate research papers and techniques. As I said, first rate.”
- Brian Vargus, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
Bio(s)
Philip H. Pollock III, University of Central Florida
Philip H. Pollock III is professor of political science at the University of Central Florida. He has taught courses in research methods at the undergraduate and graduate levels for nearly 30 years. His main research interests are American public opinion, voting behavior, techniques of quantitative analysis, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. His recent research has been on the effectiveness of Internet-based instruction. Pollock’s research has appeared in the
American Journal of Political Science, Social Science Quarterly, and
British Journal of Political Science. Recent scholarly publications include articles in
Political Research Quarterly, the
Journal of Political Science Education, and
PS: Political Science and Politics.
Ancillaries
A solutions manual to all of the book's exercises is available to adopters.
http://college.cqpress.com/instructors-resources/pollock/
