Welcome to Sociology 301: Social Statistics. This course provides an overview of the uses of statistical analyses for the social sciences. You will learn about statistical reasoning and some of the techniques used to summarize data. In addition, you will learn how to formulate and test hypotheses.
Outline
SOCI 301 comprises 11 units. Each unit corresponds to a chapter in the textbook, and should take about a week to complete.
Unit 1: Introduction to Statistics
Unit 2: Mean, Variance, Standard Deviation, and Z Scores
Unit 3: Correlation and Prediction
Unit 4: Foundations of Inferential Statistics
Unit 5: Introduction to Hypothesis Testing
Unit 6: Hypothesis Tests with Means of Samples
Unit 7: Effect Size and Statistical Power
Unit 8: Introduction to the t Test: Single Sample and Dependent Means
Unit 9: The t Test for Independent Means
Unit 10: Introduction to the Analysis of Variance
Unit 11: Chi-Square Tests and Strategies When Population Distributions are not Normal
Learning outcomes
SOCI 301 has eight major learning outcomes. After completing this course, students will be able to:
Calculate and display common descriptive statistics (i.e., measures of central tendency, measures of variance, etc.).
Explain the difference between sample and population, statistics and parameters.
Describe dependent variables and independent variables.
Calculate and interpret correlations.
Make statistical predictions.
Explain the dangers of using correlation to determine causation.
Conduct hypothesis testing.
Calculate various inferential statistics, including Pearson’s r, various t-tests, ANOVA, and the Chi-square test.
Evaluation
To receive credit for SOCI 301, students must complete and submit all of the assignments and write the midterm and final examinations. Students must achieve a minimum grade of D (50 percent) on both the midterm and final examinations and an overall grade of at least D (50 percent) for the course.
Students will be evaluated on their understanding of the concepts presented in the course and on their ability to apply those concepts. The final grade will be based on the marks achieved for the following activities.
Activity
Weight
6 Assignments (5% each)
30%
Midterm Online Exam
30%
Final Online Exam
40%
Total
100%
The midterm and final examinations for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Aron, A., Coups, E. J., & Aron, E. N. (2019). Statistics for the behavioral and social sciences: A brief course (6th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall. (eText)
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.