Statistics textbooks for social research
[New page 11 November 2013; last updated 12 Dec 2014]
I wasn't going to include a section on statistics textbooks, but that was a fond hope, so I've decided to include a few which are suitable for students doing research methods in sociology, social policy, political science and similar subjects. Most books listed below are new references on this site, but some are also listed under SPSS textbooks. There is also an Electronic Statistics Textbook (Statsoft Inc., 2013) which has introductory sections suitable for beginners.
A nice little introductory book for beginners is:
Manfred de Grotenhuis and Theo van der Weegen
Statistical Tools: an Overview of Common Applications in Social Sciences
(van Gorcum, 2009)
Slightly more formal, but still accessible for beginners, is:
Ian Diamond and Julie Jeffries
Beginning Statistics: An Introduction for Social Scientists
(Sage 2001, but a new edition is promised)
By far the best book combining statistics and SPSS is:
Andy Field
Discovering Statistics Using SPSS
(3rd ed., Sage, 2009)
Andy also has a series of related video tutorials on Youtube and a brilliant personal website Statistics Hell with drop down menus for tutorials and handouts.
I'd also recommend:
Stephen A. Sweet, and Karen Grace-Martin
Data Analysis with SPSS: A First Course in Applied Statistics
(4th Edition, Pearson, 2012)
Classic texts (if you can still find them) include:
Hans Zeisel
Say It With Figures (5th edition)
(Harper and Row, 1968)
Hubert Blalock
Social Statistics
(McGraw-Hill, Revised 2nd edition, 1981)
Loether & McTavish
Descriptive Statistics for Sociologists
(Allyn & Bacon, 1974)
Loether & McTavish
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics for Sociologists
(Allyn & Bacon, 1977)
I wasn't going to include a section on statistics textbooks, but that was a fond hope, so I've decided to include a few which are suitable for students doing research methods in sociology, social policy, political science and similar subjects. Most books listed below are new references on this site, but some are also listed under SPSS textbooks. There is also an Electronic Statistics Textbook (Statsoft Inc., 2013) which has introductory sections suitable for beginners.
A nice little introductory book for beginners is:
Manfred de Grotenhuis and Theo van der Weegen
Statistical Tools: an Overview of Common Applications in Social Sciences
(van Gorcum, 2009)
Slightly more formal, but still accessible for beginners, is:
Ian Diamond and Julie Jeffries
Beginning Statistics: An Introduction for Social Scientists
(Sage 2001, but a new edition is promised)
By far the best book combining statistics and SPSS is:
Andy Field
Discovering Statistics Using SPSS
(3rd ed., Sage, 2009)
Andy also has a series of related video tutorials on Youtube and a brilliant personal website Statistics Hell with drop down menus for tutorials and handouts.
I'd also recommend:
Stephen A. Sweet, and Karen Grace-Martin
Data Analysis with SPSS: A First Course in Applied Statistics
(4th Edition, Pearson, 2012)
Classic texts (if you can still find them) include:
Hans Zeisel
Say It With Figures (5th edition)
(Harper and Row, 1968)
Hubert Blalock
Social Statistics
(McGraw-Hill, Revised 2nd edition, 1981)
Loether & McTavish
Descriptive Statistics for Sociologists
(Allyn & Bacon, 1974)
Loether & McTavish
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics for Sociologists
(Allyn & Bacon, 1977)