for MADAM PROFESSOR

Doing Sociology

The week’s Doing Sociology has two parts: the first involves univariate analysis and the second bivariate analysis. In a more perfect world we could use the data you collected last week in your interviews, enter them in a data file (in SPSS, for example), and do our analyses with those data. Unfortunately, we really don’t have enough time to collect enough data to do this and it is not realistic to ask you to purchase the software (though the student version of SPSS is relatively inexpensive). But have no fear: the data have been provided for you, already in table form (in Doc Sharing).

Part 1: Univariate Analysis

Analysis

Go to Course Resources, Shared Documents, and download the Week 3 Tables - Univariate Tables. After you have opened the file, try copying and pasting a table – any table - into the word processing software you use to write papers. Again, if you have any trouble copying and pasting tables let your instructor know as soon as possible. You will need to include the tables with your analysis for this assignment.

The first group of tables are frequency distributions. Select any three (3) tables to analyze. You will need to describe the data in the tables. You don’t need to talk about every single number and percent; what you need to be able to do is describe the variable and the important values – the ones you want to make sure your readers should pay attention to. When conducting your univariate analyses make sure to focus on the "valid percent" column and not the "percent" or “cumulative percent” columns.

The standard practice for analyzing data in tables is to start with a brief introductory paragraph that describes what variables you will be using and the reasons, if any, for selecting those variables. After your introduction you will write a paragraph that describes the frequency distribution of your first variable, followed by the table. This may seem backwards but it really isn’t: it is better if you, the analyst, first describes the data for the reader and then provide the table. If you provide the table first, your reader may not know what to look for and or spend a lot of time looking at the different numbers and trying to figure out what they mean. You need to tell your readers what is important and then they can see how it all fits together.

You can see an example of univariate analysis in Course Resources, Shared Documents. Yours does not need to look exactly like the example – in fact, it shouldn’t – but it will give you an idea of the kinds of things you can say about each variable. You may also want to review the part of Lecture 3.2 that describes a frequency distribution.

Part 2: Bivariate Analysis

Analysis

You will also find Week 3 Tables – Bivariate Analysis in Course Resources, Shared Documents. Select any three (3) tables to analyze. The analysis will follow the same pattern as Part 1, with a brief introduction, followed by your analysis of the first crosstabulation, and then the table.

If you want to see an example of a bivariate analysis, you can find one in Course Resources, Shared Documents. You may also want to review the part of Lecture 3.2 that discusses how to analyze a bivariate table.

Your paper will probably be about 4-5 pages, including tables – more is fine! After you complete the analyses in Part 1 and Part 2, write a brief concluding paragraph describing what you learned about 1) the variables you analyzed (your main focus should be the bivariate analyses; if you used the same variables in your univariate and bivariate analyses you might have comments from both parts of the assignment); and 2) analyzing data, especially crosstabulations. When and how is this procedure useful?

If you get stuck, remember to ask questions!