The 5 Things You Need to Know about Statistics : Quantification in Ethnographic Research

Written in clear, straightforward prose, this brief volume introduces students in anthropology and other social sciences to the basic principles of statistical thinking used in quantitative ethnographic research.

The 5 Things You Need to Know about Statistics provides an accessible introduction to statistical thinking for anthropologists and other social scientists who feel some mixture of dread and loathing when it comes to quantification and data analysis. It is not so much an introduction to statistics as a primer on how to think statistically in order to do precise ethnographic studies. Readers will be empowered by the realization that statistics is not an arcane, enigmatical science but a set of tools for learning about the world in which we live. Unlike other books on statistics for beginners, this book-guides readers through the underlying logic of the major statistical methods before applying those methods in interpreting ethnographic research, thus emphasizing understanding of quantitative methods;-uses a single data set in explaining each method, allowing readers to grasp how different methods offer varying interpretations of the data;-discusses increasingly complex techniques in plain, easy-to-understand language intended for beginning students.;-covers five central ideas: central tendency, dispersion, Chi-square, ANOVA, correlation;-shows readers how to use these quantitative statistical methods in doing real-life ethnographic fieldwork.