Using Political Ideas - Softcover

Goodwin, Barbara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471935840 ISBN 13: 9780471935841

Publisher: Wiley, 1992

Synopsis

This First Edition of Statistics moves the curriculum in innovative ways while still looking relatively familiar. Statistics utilizes intuitive methods to introduce the fundamental idea of statistical inference. These intuitive methods are enabled through statistical software and are accessible at very early stages of a course. The text also includes the more traditional methods such as t-tests, chi-square tests, etc., but only after students have developed a strong intuitive understanding of inference through randomization methods.

The text is designed for use in a one-semester introductory statistics course. The focus throughout is on data analysis and the primary goal is to enable students to effectively collect data, analyze data, and interpret conclusions drawn from data. The text is driven by real data and real applications. Although the only prerequisite is a minimal working knowledge of algebra, students completing the course should be able to accurately interpret statistical results and to analyze straightforward data sets.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Comprehensive, and covers the main ideologies in an interesting way . . . takes a critical and engaging perspective . . . framed in the context of debates around the meaning and purpose of theoretical enquiry . . . a more rewarding read than its competitors."
—Madeleine Davis, Department of Politics, Queen Mary, University of London.

"This book is pitched at a good level for bright and interested undergraduates . . . the combination of ideologies and concepts in one book is a major selling point."
—Professor Paul Taggart, Professor of Politics, University of Sussex

"Pulls off the enviable coup of being scholarly and yet not scary as well as providing genuinely fresh insights for the more familiar reader."
—Dr Peter Handley, School of Political, Social, and International Studies, University of East Anglia

"An outstandingly useful text . . . I look forward to a fifth edition being made available"
—Mark Donovan, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Cardiff

Using Political Ideas is a unique blend of political philosophy, political theory and history of political thought.  It combines a critique of the major ideologies of recent and contemporary society with an analysis of the ideas that form the very stuff of political debate. By exposing the interplay between ideas and ideologies, it shows why political opponents often speak at cross-purposes and why rational agreement is so hard to achieve in politics.

The fifth edition of this well respected and widely known text will be welcomed by all those interested in questions such as:

• Is equality more important than personal freedom?
• Does the majority have the right to dictate to the minority in multicultural society?
• Is nationalism a progressive force in the world?

With a new chapter on the political ideologies of the twenty-first century, and greater emphasis on contemporary issues such as multiculturalism, citizenship and identity throughout the book, this new edition is the ideal starting point for students and anyone else who needs an introduction to political thought.

About the Author

Barbara Goodwin is Professor of Politics at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. Her books include Justice by Lottery (2nd edn. 2005) and Ethics at Work (2000) and several books on the political importance of utopian ideas. She has broadcast two series of programmes about democracy on the BBC World Service. Her interests range widely in politics, philosophy and social science.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471935840
• ISBN 13: 9780471935841
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 374