While theoretical statistics relies primarily on mathematics and hypothetical situations, statistical practice is a translation of a question formulated by a researcher into a series of variables linked by a statistical tool. As with written material, there are almost always differences between the meaning of the original text and translated text.

A complete guide to carrying out complex survey analysis using R As survey analysis continues to serve as a core component of sociological research, researchers are increasingly relying upon data gathered from complex surveys to carry out traditional analyses. Complex Surveys is a practical guide to the analysis of this kind of data using R, the freely available and downloadable statistical programming language. As creator of the specific survey package for R, the author provides the ultimate presentation of how to successfully use the software for analyzing data from complex surveys while also utilizing the most current data from health and social sciences studies to demonstrate the application of survey research methods in these fields. The book begins with coverage of basic tools and topics within survey analysis such as simple and stratified sampling, cluster sampling, linear regression, and categorical data regression. Subsequent chapters delve into more technical aspects of complex survey analysis, including post-stratification, two-phase sampling, missing data, and causal inference. Throughout the book, an emphasis is placed on graphics, regression modeling, and two-phase designs. In addition, the author supplies a unique discussion of epidemiological two-phase designs as well as probability-weighting for causal inference. All of the book's examples and figures are generated using R, and a related Web site provides the R code that allows readers to reproduce the presented content. Each chapter concludes with exercises that vary in level of complexity, and detailed appendices outline additional mathematical and computational descriptions to assist readers with comparing results from various software systems. Complex Surveys is an excellent book for courses on sampling and complex surveys at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also a practical reference guide for applied statisticians and practitioners in the social and health sciences who use statistics in their everyday work.

While theoretical statistics relies primarily on mathematics and hypothetical situations, statistical practice is a translation of a question formulated by a researcher into a series of variables linked by a statistical tool. As with written material, there are almost always differences between the meaning of the original text and translated text. Additionally, many versions can be suggested, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Analysis of Questionnaire Data with R translates certain classic research questions into statistical formulations. As indicated in the title, the syntax of these statistical formulations is based on the well-known R language, chosen for its popularity, simplicity, and power of its structure. Although syntax is vital, understanding the semantics is the real challenge of any good translation. In this book, the semantics of theoretical-to-practical translation emerges progressively from examples and experience, and occasionally from mathematical considerations. Sometimes the interpretation of a result is not clear, and there is no statistical tool really suited to the question at hand. Sometimes data sets contain errors, inconsistencies between answers, or missing data. More often, available statistical tools are not formally appropriate for the given situation, making it difficult to assess to what extent this slight inadequacy affects the interpretation of results. Analysis of Questionnaire Data with R tackles these and other common challenges in the practice of statistics.

Join the revolution ignited by the ground-breaking R system! Starting with an introduction to R, covering standard regression methods, then presenting more advanced topics, this book guides users through the practical and powerful tools that the R system provides. The emphasis is on hands-on analysis, graphical display and interpretation of data. The many worked examples, taken from real-world research, are accompanied by commentary on what is done and why. A website provides computer code and data sets, allowing readers to reproduce all analyses. Updates and solutions to selected exercises are also available. Assuming only basic statistical knowledge, the book is ideal for research scientists, final-year undergraduate or graduate level students of applied statistics, and practising statisticians. It is both for learning and for reference. This revised edition reflects changes in R since 2003 and has new material on survival analysis, random coefficient models, and the handling of high-dimensional data.

The Book of R is a comprehensive, beginner-friendly guide to R, the world’s most popular programming language for statistical analysis. Even if you have no programming experience and little more than a grounding in the basics of mathematics, you’ll find everything you need to begin using R effectively for statistical analysis. You’ll start with the basics, like how to handle data and write simple programs, before moving on to more advanced topics, like producing statistical summaries of your data and performing statistical tests and modeling. You’ll even learn how to create impressive data visualizations with R’s basic graphics tools and contributed packages, like ggplot2 and ggvis, as well as interactive 3D visualizations using the rgl package. Dozens of hands-on exercises (with downloadable solutions) take you from theory to practice, as you learn: –The fundamentals of programming in R, including how to write data frames, create functions, and use variables, statements, and loops –Statistical concepts like exploratory data analysis, probabilities, hypothesis tests, and regression modeling, and how to execute them in R –How to access R’s thousands of functions, libraries, and data sets –How to draw valid and useful conclusions from your data –How to create publication-quality graphics of your results Combining detailed explanations with real-world examples and exercises, this book will provide you with a solid understanding of both statistics and the depth of R’s functionality. Make The Book of R your doorway into the growing world of data analysis.

To the uninformed, surveys appear to be an easy type of research to design and conduct, but when students and professionals delve deeper, they encounter the vast complexities that the range and practice of survey methods present. To complicate matters, technology has rapidly affected the way surveys can be conducted; today, surveys are conducted via cell phone, the Internet, email, interactive voice response, and other technology-based modes. Thus, students, researchers, and professionals need both a comprehensive understanding of these complexities and a revised set of tools to meet the challenges. In conjunction with top survey researchers around the world and with Nielsen Media Research serving as the corporate sponsor, the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods presents state-of-the-art information and methodological examples from the field of survey research. Although there are other "how-to" guides and references texts on survey research, none is as comprehensive as this Encyclopedia, and none presents the material in such a focused and approachable manner. With more than 600 entries, this resource uses a Total Survey Error perspective that considers all aspects of possible survey error from a cost-benefit standpoint. Key Features Covers all major facets of survey research methodology, from selecting the sample design and the sampling frame, designing and pretesting the questionnaire, data collection, and data coding, to the thorny issues surrounding diminishing response rates, confidentiality, privacy, informed consent and other ethical issues, data weighting, and data analyses Presents a Reader′s Guide to organize entries around themes or specific topics and easily guide users to areas of interest Offers cross-referenced terms, a brief listing of Further Readings, and stable Web site URLs following most entries The Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods is specifically written to appeal to beginning, intermediate, and advanced students, practitioners, researchers, consultants, and consumers of survey-based information.

The majority of data sets collected by researchers in all disciplines are multivariate, meaning that several measurements, observations, or recordings are taken on each of the units in the data set. These units might be human subjects, archaeological artifacts, countries, or a vast variety of other things. In a few cases, it may be sensible to isolate each variable and study it separately, but in most instances all the variables need to be examined simultaneously in order to fully grasp the structure and key features of the data. For this purpose, one or another method of multivariate analysis might be helpful, and it is with such methods that this book is largely concerned. Multivariate analysis includes methods both for describing and exploring such data and for making formal inferences about them. The aim of all the techniques is, in general sense, to display or extract the signal in the data in the presence of noise and to find out what the data show us in the midst of their apparent chaos. An Introduction to Applied Multivariate Analysis with R explores the correct application of these methods so as to extract as much information as possible from the data at hand, particularly as some type of graphical representation, via the R software. Throughout the book, the authors give many examples of R code used to apply the multivariate techniques to multivariate data.

The second edition of a bestselling textbook, Using R for Introductory Statistics guides students through the basics of R, helping them overcome the sometimes steep learning curve. The author does this by breaking the material down into small, task-oriented steps. The second edition maintains the features that made the first edition so popular, while updating data, examples, and changes to R in line with the current version. See What’s New in the Second Edition: Increased emphasis on more idiomatic R provides a grounding in the functionality of base R. Discussions of the use of RStudio helps new R users avoid as many pitfalls as possible. Use of knitr package makes code easier to read and therefore easier to reason about. Additional information on computer-intensive approaches motivates the traditional approach. Updated examples and data make the information current and topical. The book has an accompanying package, UsingR, available from CRAN, R’s repository of user-contributed packages. The package contains the data sets mentioned in the text (data(package="UsingR")), answers to selected problems (answers()), a few demonstrations (demo()), the errata (errata()), and sample code from the text. The topics of this text line up closely with traditional teaching progression; however, the book also highlights computer-intensive approaches to motivate the more traditional approach. The authors emphasize realistic data and examples and rely on visualization techniques to gather insight. They introduce statistics and R seamlessly, giving students the tools they need to use R and the information they need to navigate the sometimes complex world of statistical computing.

Communication research is evolving and changing in a world of online journals, open-access, and new ways of obtaining data and conducting experiments via the Internet. Although there are generic encyclopedias describing basic social science research methodologies in general, until now there has been no comprehensive A-to-Z reference work exploring methods specific to communication and media studies. Our entries, authored by key figures in the field, focus on special considerations when applied specifically to communication research, accompanied by engaging examples from the literature of communication, journalism, and media studies. Entries cover every step of the research process, from the creative development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, selection of best methods (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed) for analyzing research results and publishing research findings, whether in traditional media or via new media outlets. In addition to expected entries covering the basics of theories and methods traditionally used in communication research, other entries discuss important trends influencing the future of that research, including contemporary practical issues students will face in communication professions, the influences of globalization on research, use of new recording technologies in fieldwork, and the challenges and opportunities related to studying online multi-media environments. Email, texting, cellphone video, and blogging are shown not only as topics of research but also as means of collecting and analyzing data. Still other entries delve into considerations of accountability, copyright, confidentiality, data ownership and security, privacy, and other aspects of conducting an ethical research program. Features: 652 signed entries are contained in an authoritative work spanning four volumes available in choice of electronic or print formats. Although organized A-to-Z, front matter includes a Reader’s Guide grouping entries thematically to help students interested in a specific aspect of communication research to more easily locate directly related entries. Back matter includes a Chronology of the development of the field of communication research; a Resource Guide to classic books, journals, and associations; a Glossary introducing the terminology of the field; and a detailed Index. Entries conclude with References/Further Readings and Cross-References to related entries to guide students further in their research journeys. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross-References combine to provide robust search-and-browse in the e-version.

"Learning Statistics with R" covers the contents of an introductory statistics class, as typically taught to undergraduate psychology students, focusing on the use of the R statistical software and adopting a light, conversational style throughout. The book discusses how to get started in R, and gives an introduction to data manipulation and writing scripts. From a statistical perspective, the book discusses descriptive statistics and graphing first, followed by chapters on probability theory, sampling and estimation, and null hypothesis testing. After introducing the theory, the book covers the analysis of contingency tables, t-tests, ANOVAs and regression. Bayesian statistics are covered at the end of the book. For more information (and the opportunity to check the book out before you buy!) visit http://ua.edu.au/ccs/teaching/lsr or http://learningstatisticswithr.com