Framed in a student-friendly writing style, this text presents the essentials of statistics with an applied approach. Author Joseph Healey encourages skill development for statistical literacy, emphasizing computational competence and the ability to read social science literature with greater comprehension.

1. Introduction.
Part I: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS.
2. Basic Descriptive Statistics: Tables, Percentages, Ratios and Rates, and Graphs.
3. Measures of Central Tendency.
4. Measures of Dispersion.
5. The Normal Curve.
Part II: INFERENTIAL STATISTICS.
6. Introduction to Inferential Statistics, the Sampling Distribution, and Estimation.
7. Hypothesis Testing I: The One-Sample Case.
8. Hypothesis Testing II: The Two-Sample Case.
9. Hypothesis Testing III: The Analysis of Variance.
10. Hypothesis Testing IV: Chi Square.
Part III: BIVARIATE MEASURES OF ASSOCIATION.
11. Bivariate Association for Nominal- and Ordinal-Level Variables.
12, Association Between Variables Measured at the Interval-Ratio Level.

Framed in a student-friendly writing style, this text presents the essentials of statistics with an applied approach. Author Joseph Healey encourages skill development for statistical literacy, emphasizing computational competence and the ability to read social science literature with greater comprehension. For statistics that require complex computation-such as Pearson's r (Chapter 12) and partial correlation, multiple correlation, and regression (Chapter 13)-explanations and examples are now SPSS-based. The data sets-which are used throughout the text in examples, in the new “Using SPSS” sections, in the end-of-chapter problems, and in the “You Are the Researcher” projects at the end of most chapters-have been expanded and updated. Available for downloading at the book's website, they include a General Social Survey (GSS) data set that has been updated to 2012, a data set that presents census and crime data on the 50 states, a data set with primarily demographic data for 99 nations, and a crime trends data set used for the graphing exercises in Chapter 2. Former Chapters 11 and 12 have been combined into a single chapter (Chapter 11, “Bivariate Association for Nominal- and Ordinal-Level Variables”). This new chapter de-emphasizes phi and the mechanics of computation for gamma but still fully treats the analysis of association for variables organized in bivariate tables. Chapter 2, “Basic Descriptive Statistics: Tables, Percentages, Ratios and Rates, and Graphs,” has been reorganized and now begins with frequency distributions. Boxplots have been added to Chapter 4, “Measures of Dispersion.” Further enhancing the practical focus of the text, all chapters now begin with a “Using Statistics” box that cites examples of how the statistics presented in the chapter can be applied to social research and to everyday life. Numerous other changes have been made throughout the text to clarify explanations and make the material more accessible to students. For instance, titles have been added to all boxed features to clarify content and purpose. In addition, the “Becoming a Critical Consumer” inserts have been updated, and many have been shortened or broken into separate boxes. As with previous editions, the author's goal is to offer a comprehensive, flexible, and student-oriented book that provides a challenging first exposure to social statistics. The book includes numerous real-world examples that show the application of statistical concepts to everyday occurrences. The General Social Survey data set has been updated to 2012 and two new data sets have been added for students to analyze: one for the U.S. states and an international data set with data for 99 nations.