"Technical Report Writing for CA 2 Examination"

2. Name of the Topic:- STATISTICS IN S OCIAL LIFE

3. Name of the Paper with Paper Code :-

4. Names of the students with University Roll nos

5. Stream, Year, Semester, Section

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1. Title page :-

2. Content page

3. Abstract (within 200 words):-

Social statistics is the use of statistical measurement systems to study human behavior in a social
environment. This can be accomplished through polling a group of people, evaluating a subset of data obtained
about a group of people, or by observation and statistical analysis of a set of data that relates to people and
their behaviors.

Statistics in the social sciences

Adolph Quetelet published data on European population.

Adolph Quetelet was a proponent of social physics. In his book Physique sociale[1] he presents distributions of
human heights, age of marriage, time of birth and death, time series of human marriages, births and deaths,
a survival density for humans and curve describing fecundity as a function of age. He also developed
the Quetelet Index.
Francis Ysidro Edgeworth published "On Methods of Ascertaining Variations in the Rate of Births, Deaths, and
Marriages" in 1885[2] which uses squares of differences for studying fluctuations and George Udny
Yule published "On the Correlation of total Pauperism with Proportion of Out-Relief" in 1895.[3]
A numerical calibration for the fertility curve was given by Karl Pearson in 1897 in his "The Chances of Death,
and Other Studies in Evolution"[4] In this book Pearson also uses standard
deviation, correlation and skewness for studying humans.
Vilfredo Pareto published his analysis of the distribution of income in Great Britain and Ireland in 1897,[5] this is
now known as the Pareto principle.
Louis Guttman proposed that the values of ordinal variables can be represented by a Guttman scale, which is
useful if the number of variables is large and allows the use of techniques such as ordinary least squares.[6]
Macroeconomic statistical research has provided stylized facts, which include:

 Bowley's law (1937) regarding the proportion between wages and national output [7]

 The Phillips curve (1958) regarding the relation between wages and unemployment[8]
Statistics and statistical analyses have become a key feature of social science: statistics is employed
in economics, psychology, political science, sociology and anthropology.

Statistical methods in social sciences]

Diagram illustrating path analysis: causal paths link endogenous variables and exogenous variables.
Cluster analysis showing two main clusters

A classification performed using the perceptron algorithm

Methods and concepts used in quantitative social sciences include:[9]

 Research design, survey methodology and survey sampling

 Delphi method
Statistical techniques include:[9]
Covariance based methods[edit]

 Regression analysis
 Canonical correlation
 Causal analysis
 Multilevel models
 Factor analysis
 Linear discriminant analysis
 Path analysis
 Structural Equation Modeling
Probability based methods[edit]

 Probit and logit
 Item response theory
 Bayesian statistics
 Stochastic process
 Latent class model
Distance based methods[edit]

 Cluster analysis
 Multidimensional scaling
Methods for categorical data[edit]

 Classification analysis
 Cohort analysis

Usage and applications[edit]

Social scientists use social statistics for many purposes, including:

 the evaluation of the quality of services available to a group or organization,

 analyzing behaviors of groups of people in their environment and special situations,
 determining the wants of people through statistical sampling
 evaluation of wage expenditures and savings[10]
 preventing industrial diseases[10]
 prevention of industrial accidents[10]
 labour disputes, such as supporting the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission of 1902-1903[11]
 supporting governments in times of peace and war[12]

Reliability[edit]
The use of statistics has become so widespread in the social sciences that many universities such as Harvard,
have developed institutes focusing on "quantitative social science." Harvard's Institute for Quantitative Social
Science focuses mainly on fields like political science that incorporate the advanced causal statistical models
that Bayesian methods provide. However, some experts in causality feel that these claims of causal
statistics are overstated.[13][14] There is a debate regarding the uses and value of statistical methods in social
science, especially in political science, with some statisticians questioning practices such as data dredging that
can lead to unreliable policy conclusions of political partisans who overestimate the interpretive power that non-
robust statistical methods such as simple and multiple linear regression allow. Indeed, an important axiom that
social scientists cite, but often forget, is that "correlation does not imply causation." For example, it appears
widely accepted that the lower numbers of women in decision-making positions in politics, business and
science is good evidence of gender discrimination. But where men suffer adverse statistical indicators such as
greater imprisonment rates or a higher suicide rate, that is not usually accepted as evidence of gender
bias acting against them.

Further reading[edit]
 Blalock, H.M. Jr, ed. (1974), Measurement in the Social Sciences, Chicago, Illinois: Aldine
Publishing, ISBN 0-202-30272-5, retrieved 10 July 2010
 S. Kolenikov, D. Steinley, L. Thombs (2010), Statistics in the Social Sciences: Current Methodological
Developments, Wiley
 Blalock, Hubert M (1979), Social Statistics, New York: McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-005752-4
 Irvine, John, Miles, Ian, Evans, Jeff, (editors), "Demystifying Social Statistics ", London : Pluto Press,
1979. ISBN 0-86104-069-4
 Miller, Delbert C., & Salkind, Neil J (2002), Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement,
California: Sage, ISBN 0-7619-2046-3, retrieved 10 July 2010
 Dietz, Thomas, & Kalof, Linda (2009), Introduction to Social Statistics, California: Wiley-
Blackwell, ISBN 9781405169028

References[edit]
1. ^ A. Quetelet, Physique Sociale, https://archive.org/details/physiquesociale00quetgoog
2. ^ Edgeworth, F. Y. (1885). "On Methods of Ascertaining Variations in the Rate of Births, Deaths, and
Marriages". Journal of the Statistical Society of London. 48 (4): 628–649. doi:10.2307/2979201. JSTOR 2979201.
3. ^ Yule, G. U. (1895). "On the Correlation of total Pauperism with Proportion of Out-Relief". The Economic
Journal. 5 (20): 603–611. doi:10.2307/2956650. JSTOR 2956650.
4. ^ K. Pearson, The Chances of Death, and Other Studies in Evolution,
1897 https://archive.org/details/chancesdeathand00peargoog
5. ^ V. Pareto, Cours d'Économie Politique, vol. II, 1897
6. ^ Guttman, L. (1944). "A Basis for Scaling Qualitative Data". The American Sociological Review. 9 (20): 603–
611. doi:10.2307/2086306. JSTOR 2086306.
7. ^ A. Bowley, Wages and income in the United kingdom since 1860, 1937
 8. ^ W. Phillips, The Relation Between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the United
Kingdom, 1861–1957, published 1958
9. ^ Jump up to:a b Miller, Delbert C., & Salkind, Neil J (2002), Handbook of Research Design and Social
Measurement, California: Sage, ISBN 0-7619-2046-3
10. ^ Jump up to:a b c Hoffman, Frederick (1908). "Problems of Social Statistics and Social Research". Publications of
the American Statistical Association. 11 (82): 105–132. doi:10.2307/2276101. JSTOR 2276101.
11. ^ Willcox, Walter (1908). "The Need of Social Statistics as an Aid to the Courts". Publications of the American
Statistical Association. 13 (82).
12. ^ Mitchell, Wesley (1919). "Statistics and Government". Publications of the American Statistical
Association. 16 (125): 223–235. doi:10.2307/2965000. JSTOR 2965000.
13. ^ Pearl, Judea 2001, Bayesianism and Causality, or, Why I am only a Half-Bayesian, Foundations of
Bayesianism, Kluwer Applied Logic Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Vol 24, D. Cornfield and J. Williamson
(Eds.) 19-36.
14. ^ J. Pearl, Bayesianism and causality, or, why I am only a half-bayesian http://ftp.cs.ucla.edu/pub/stat_ser/r284-
reprint.pdf

Social science statistics centers

 Center for Statistics and Social Sciences, University of Washington

 Center for the Promotion of Research Involving Innovative Statistical Methodology, New York University,
NY
 Centre for Research Methods, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
 Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research
 Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science
 Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
 National Centre for Research Methods, UK
 Social Statistics Department, University of Manchester
 Social Statistics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, UK
Statistical databases for social science

 Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research

 UN Statistics Division- Demographic and Social Statistics
 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)
 US Bureau of Labor Statistics
 International Labour Organisation- LABORSTA
 Unionstats.com

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4. Introduction (within 700 words):-

Social statistics is the use of statistics to study

human behaviour and social environments. Social
statistics data is information or knowledge on an
individual, object or event.
Understanding society
Social statistics are a means of investigating and testing research
questions and policy impacts across different areas of people’s lives.
These observations can help our understanding of society. Social
Statisticians are concerned with such questions as:
 How are populations growing?
 Are wealthy people happier?
 Is society becoming more tolerant of diversity?
 How do people cope with financial hardship?
 Do people with higher qualifications earn more?
 Does volunteering increase your sense of wellbeing?
What are statistics?
What is data?

Social statistics in practice

Social statistics are used by The United Nations Social Statistics Division to
analyse differences among social groups and countries, covering such
issues as housing, health, education, conditions of work and
employment.
The Division pay special attention to the study of conditions of special
population groups, including children, the elderly, the unemployed,
and people with disabilities.
Compare the facts
Social statistics are also used to compare data from before and after a
policy intervention.
For example, we need statistics to measure poverty in the first place
and we then may want to assess the impact and costs of a policy
providing financial support to families living in poverty.
Patterns and relations
Statistical analysis techniques can be used to explore patterns and
underlying relationships in data sets, such as:
 in relation to people’s responses to multiple questions in a survey;
 to take account of aspects of people's circumstances such as the unemployment rates of
where they live;
 the educational standards of the class and/or school they are studying in;
 to measure change through longitudinal surveys where people are interviewed at different
points during their lives.
My master's degree provides a good foundation of statistical and research methods and I have
really enjoyed the course units on more advanced statistical methods.
Emily Buehler / MSc Social Research Methods And Statistics Student

Statistical testing and modelling techniques can be used to generalise

from small samples to larger populations, for example:
 predicting the outcome of an election;
 tracking attitudes towards the economy in a country.
Probability tests can be used to identify the key factor(s) associated
with a particular outcome or behaviour. For example, are older people
more likely to be worried about being a victim of crime than younger
people once you have taken account of their family status, education,
job and the type of area they live in?
If you want to learn more about studying Social Statistics at The
University of Manchester please visit our Courses page to explore
our undergraduate courses, master's degrees and PhD
programme, or find out what's been happening in the Social
Statistics department on our

Research - Dr. Nikita Basov

Dr. Nikita Basov, a senior lecturer in Social Statistics, has received the
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the German
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for his outstanding research
achievements.

Dr. Nikita Basov, a senior lecturer in Social Statistics, has received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel
Research Award from the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. It is granted to
internationally recognized scientists to recognize their outstanding research achievements. Dr
Basov was awarded his PhD in from St. Petersburg University in 2009 and for 10 years led the
Centre for German and European Studies at St. Petersburg University.
His research is known for advancing multidimensional socio-semantic and socio-material
network analyses, with a particular focus on mixing qualitative methods with computational
methods and statistical network modelling

5. Analysis (3-4 pages)

6. Conclusion (300 words)

7. References:-