Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Introduction What This Book Is About Facts and Values in Perspective The Scientific Approach Conclusion Chapter 1: The Definition and Measurement of Concepts Conceptual Definitions Operational Definitions Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 2: Measuring and Describing Variables Measuring Variables Describing Variables Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 3: Proposing Explanations, Framing Hypotheses, and Making Comparisons Proposing Explanations Framing Hypotheses Making Comparisons Graphing Relationships and Describing Patterns Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 4: Research Design and the Logic of Control Experimental Designs Controlled Comparisons Three Scenarios Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 5: Making Controlled Comparisons Cross-tabulation Analysis Graphing Controlled Comparisons An Example of Interaction Mean Comparison Analysis Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 6: Foundations of Statistical Inference Population Parameters and Sample Statistics Random Sampling The Standard Error of a Sample Mean Inference Using the Normal Distribution Inference Using the Student's t-Distribution What About Sample Proportions? Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 7: Tests of Significance and Measures of Association Statistical Significance Measures of Association Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 8: Correlation and Linear Regression Correlation Bivariate Regression R-square Dummy Variable Regression Multiple Regression Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 9: Logistic Regression The Logistic Regression Approach Finding the Best Fit: Maximum Likelihood Estimation Logistic Regression with Multiple Independent Variables Working with Probabilities: MEMs and MERs Summary Key Terms Exercises Chapter 10: Thinking Empirically, Thinking Probabilistically Thinking Empirically Thinking Probabilistically

Equipping students with the skills needed to do political analysis and critically assess statistical research, this Fifth Edition has been updated with new data sources, coverage of box plots and error bar charts, and looks at visual depictions of variables.