By stressing the applied aspects of statistics and using a wealth of examples and non-specialist language, this introductory handbook illustrates the conceptual bases and the actual implementation of the most widespread techniques for data analysis in social research. In particular, the authors persistently invite the reader to cultivate an essential focus: in order to correctly choose and apply statistical tools, one must understand how data are "constructed" through research operations that inevitably influence those tools capacity for faithful representation of reality. The volume also contains a short guide to major software for statistical analysis.

Contents: Introduction - 1. Information Collection - 2. Univariate Analysis - 3. Data Transformation - 4. Introduction to Bivariate Analysis - 5. Bivariate Analysis: When Variables Are Categorical (Cross-Tabulation) - 6. Bivariate Analysis: When the Dependent Variable Is Cardinal (Simple Regression) - 7. Introduction to Multivariate Analysis - 8. Multivariate Analysis: When the Dependent Variable Is Cardinal (Multiple Regression) - 9. Multivariate Analysis: When the Dependent Variable is Categorical (Logistic Regression) - 10. Statistical Inference and Sampling - Appendix: Brief Guide to Statistical Software - Bibliography - Index.

Piergiorgio Corbetta teaches Social Research Methodology and Techniques in the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Bologna.

Giancarlo Gasperoni teaches Social Research Methodology and Techniques in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Bologna.

Maurizio Pisati teaches Social Research Techniques in the Faculty of Sociology of the University of Milan-Bicocca.