QUANTITATIVE METHODS

(Including Modeling
& Simulation)
 Quantitative Methods
• Increasingly refined and adapted to computer
technology, quantitative methods continue to play a
central role in the discipline, especially in the United
States.
• Quantitative sociology includes the presentation of
large amounts of descriptive statistical data, sampling
techniques, and the use of advanced mathematical
models and computer simulations of social
processes.
• Quantitative analysis has become popular in recent
years as a way to reveal possible causal relations,
especially in research on social mobility and status
attainment
 Statistical Consultant
1. Do you have one group of scores or more
than one group of scores?
1. Do you have one group of scores or more than one group of scores?

One group More than one group

Are the scores Go to question # 2

nominal or in categories?

Yes No

Use frequency Are they

distribution scaled?
ordinal?
interval?
or ratio?
 
No, not scaled Yes, scaled

Use frequency Use mean and

distribution standard
deviation
 Frequency-Distribution Table

A frequency-distribution table summarizes data. For example, there were 1200 grades received on 4 examinations by 10
sections of 30 students each. The first column lists the ten intervals into which the grades were grouped. The second
column lists the midpoints of these intervals. The third column lists the number of grades in each interval, that is, their
frequency. (There were 20 grades between 0 and 10.) The fourth column lists the proportion of grades in each interval,
that is, their relative frequency. (.017 of the 1200 grades were between 0 and 10.) The fifth column lists the number of
grades in an interval and all intervals below it, that is, their cumulative frequency. (35 grades were in or below the
interval between 10 and 20.) The sixth column lists the proportion of grades in or below an interval, that is, their relative
cumulative frequency. (0.029 of the 1200 grades were in or below the interval 10 to 20.)
 Standard Deviation

• A number representing how closely bunched a set of

numbers is around its mean, or average value. The
standard deviation is an important concept in
statistics because it is a precise indicator of the
degree of variability within a set of numbers. A set
with a smaller standard deviation consists of more
closely bunched numbers than a set with a larger
standard deviation.
 Standard Deviation

• If the test scores of a class were 76, 80, 82, 85, and
91, for example, the standard deviation would be
about 5.04, reflecting the fact that the scores are
fairly close together. A class with the wildly varying
test scores 0, 53, 77, 91, and 100, however, would
have a standard deviation of about 35.8.
 Standard Deviation
• The standard deviation of a set of numbers is
calculated using the deviation of individual numbers
from the set’s mean. Each deviation is found by
subtracting the number from the mean. If there are n
members in a set and the deviations of the members
from the mean are symbolized by x1 through xn, the
standard deviation (σ) is given by the formula:
 Standard Deviation

• To compute the standard deviation of the set {2, 3, 5,

6, 9}, for example, first find the mean. The mean is the
sum of all the members of a set divided by the number
of members of the set: (2 + 3 + 5 + 6 + 9)/5 = 25/5 = 5.
The individual deviations from the mean are 5 – 2 = 3,
5 – 3 = 2, 5 – 5 = 0, 5 – 6 = -1, and 5 - 9 = -4.
 Standard Deviation
• Square the individual deviations and add them
together: 32 + 22 + 02 + (-1)2 + (-4)2 = 9 + 4 + 0 +
1 + 16 = 30. Divide the result by the number of
members of the set: 30/5 = 6. Take the square
root and round to two decimal places: √6 =
2.45. The standard deviation of {2, 3, 5, 6, 9},
therefore, is 2.45.
 Mean
• Mean (mathematics), also known as the arithmetic
mean, a value that helps summarize an entire set of
numbers. A set’s mean is calculated by adding the
numbers in the set together and dividing their sum
by the number of members of the set. For example,
the mean of the set {3, 4, 8} is 5, calculated (3 + 4 +
8)/3 = 5. Similarly, the set {16, 13, 9, 2} has a mean of
(16 + 13 + 9 + 2)/4 = 10.
 Mean
• In examining large collections of numbers, such as
census data, it is helpful to be able to present a
number that provides a summary of the data. Such
numbers are often called descriptive statistics. The
arithmetic mean is probably the best-known
descriptive statistic. The mean is often called the
average, but it is actually only one of several kinds of
averages, such as the median and the mode.
2. For the purposes of this exercise a dependent
variable will be symbolized as y and an independent
variable as x. This text only considers problems where
there is just one dependent variables.

How many variables do you have (including both

dependent and independent)?
 One Two Three

Go back to Go to question #
question # 1 3

Is the dependent variable continuous (i.e.,

not a series of categories)?
yes no

Is the independent variable Is the independent variable

continuous? continuous?
yes no yes no

Use correlation of Use point-biserial Use chi-

regression correlation for two levels square test
of the dependent variable

How many levels are there of the

independent variable?
two
more than two

parametric nonparametric
Would you prefer parametric or a
nonparametric test? Use ANOVA Use Kruskal-
parametric nonparametric Wallis test

Use t-test Use Mann-Whitney

μ-test
  
3. Do you have more than one independent variable?

yes no

Are all independent Go back to

variables nominal? questions# 2

yes no

Use traditional Use multiple

ANOVA regression and
more advanced
tools
 interview
SCOPE OF STATISTICS questionnaire
observation
collection
records
internet

univariate
presentation bivariate
multivariate
(s) Branch of
knowledge analysis textual
tabular
graphic
interpretation narrow
broad
Statistics

nominal
ordinal
(p1)-data
interval
ratio
 SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
• The following are the description of the four
levels of measurements:
 Nominal Scale
a. The nominal scale describes differences between
things by assigning them to categories such as
professors, associate professors, assistant professors,
instructors or lecturers—and to subsets such as males
or females. It classifies subjects into a number of
qualitative cases such as for example sex, nationality, or
religion. Here, number or symbols are used to classify
objects, persons or characteristics. Each case can be a
member of only one set, and all other members of the
set have the same defined characteristic. Other
examples are socio-economic status, race, occupation,
or religious affiliation.
Nominal: Nominal is from the Latin nomalis, which
mean “pertaining to names”. It’s another name for a
category.

Examples:
• Gender: Male, Female, Other
• Hair Color: Brown, Black, Blonde, Red, Other.
• Type of living accommodation: House,
Apartment, Trailer, Other.
• Genotype: Bb, bb, BB, bB.
• Religious preference: Buddhist, Mormon,
Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Other.
 Ordinal Scale
b. The ordinal scale is similar to nominal but
classes can be ranked like social class, profession
or nutritional status. It means that variables may
not simply differ but that they differ in amount
or degree. Ordinal scales permit the ranking of
items or individual from highest to lowest.
Ordinal measures have no absolute values, and
the real differences between adjacent ranks may
not be equal.
Ordinal: means in order. Includes “First,“ “second” and
“ninety ninth.”
Examples:
• High school class ranking: 1st, 9th, 87th…
• Socioeconomic status: poor, middle, class, rich.
• The Likert Scale: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly
agree.
• Level of Agreement: yes, maybe, no.
• Time of day: dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night.

• Political Orientation: left, center, right

 Interval Scale
c. The interval scale shows that an exact distance
between two categories can be determined but the
zero point is arbitrary. Here, ratios between any
differences are known like in temperature grades. Its
primary limitation is the lack of a true zero. It does not
have the capacity to measure the complete absence of
the trait, and a measure of 90 for example does not
mean that a person has twice as much of the trait as
someone with a score of 45. Psychological tests and
inventories are interval scales and have this limitation
although they can be added, subtracted, multiplied and
divided.
Interval: Has a value of equal intervals that
mean something. For example, a thermometer
might have intervals of ten degrees.

Examples:
•Celsius Temperature
•Fahrenheit Temperature
•IQ (Intelligent scale)
•SAT scores
•Time on a clock with hands
 Ratio Scale
• The ratio scale is similar to the interval scale
but the zero point is fixed. This considers a
ratio between any two values like ages,
heights or weights.
A ratio scale has the equal interval
properties of an interval scale but has two
additional features namely:
1. The ratio scale has a true zero. It is possible to indicate
the complete absence of a property. For example, the
zero point on a centimeter scale indicates the
complete absence of length or height.
2. The numerals of the ratio scale have the qualities of
real numbers and can be added, subtracted, multiplied,
and divided and expressed in ratio relationships. For
example, 5 grams is one-half of 10 grams, 15 grams is 3
times 5 grams. The behavioral sciences are generally
limited to describing variables in interval scale form, a
less precise type of measurement. This is not true to the
physical sciences variables are truly in ratio scale form.
Ratio: exactly the same as the interval scale except that the zero on
the scale means: does not exist. For example, a weight of zero doesn’t
exist; an age of zero doesn’t exist. On the other hand, temperature is
not a ratio scale, because zero exists (i.e. zero on the Celsius scale is
just the freezing point; it doesn’t mean that water ceases to exist).
Examples:
• Age
• Weight
• Height
• Scales Figures
• Ruler measurements
• Income earned in a week
• Years of education
• Number of children
• Once an important research question has
been formulated, the researcher converts this
into an operational definition of the exact
comparison or relationship that comprises
what the study is all about.
FUNCTIONS OF STATISTICS mode

(Descriptive and Inferential) median

mean
Central tendency
(location)
range
quartile deviation
Variability mean deviation
(dispersion)
sd, variance

cv, se

Descriptive Shape symmetry

(summarizing/ (configuration) skewness
condesing)
kurtosis
modality

Correlation bivariate
(relation/association) multivariate

Statistical bivariate
Techniques prediction
  multivariate

point
estimation
interval

Inferential
(generalizing)
  Hypothesis testing parametric
(comparison)
non-parametric