Analyzing Social and Political Change : A Casebook of Methods

"the editors provide a solid introduction to each chapter. . . . There is an excellent index--something which is not a feature of all article collections. . . . a good knowledge of statistical theory is generally assumed, but this book should be in every institute library." --John G. Taylor in Technology and Political Science Researchers across the social sciences often encounter the need to analyze and understand change over time. When confronted with this need, the question arises as to which methodological technique or method is best suited to a given research study. Analyzing Social and Political Change provides researchers with a clear and accessible guide on the potential and problems of relevant methods of analysis. Outlining the nature of such techniques, this book examines the variety of methods available for the analysis of change over time, the kinds of research objectives to which individual techniques are suited, the limitations and constraints of individual methods, the different philosophies that underlie particular approaches, and the respective value of cross-sectional and longitudinal data in the analysis of change. Making quantitative and statistical techniques accessible to a broad range of researchers, this volume is an essential tool for all those engaged in researching social change.

Angela Dale is Director of the Census Microdata Unit and Professor of Quantitative Social Research at the University of Manchester.

 

he Vice-Chancellor is the University′s chief executive and principal academic and administrative officer.

Professor Richard B Davies was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University in 2003. He studied Engineering at Cambridge, Transportation and Traffic Planning at Birmingham University, and obtained a PhD in Geography/Statistics at Bristol University.

His first academic appointment was at Bristol University.  Subsequently, he was a lecturer and then senior lecturer in the department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, now Cardiff University.

He was appointed to a Chair in Applied Statistics at Lancaster University in 1989.  He was successively director of this five star department, Dean of an Applied Sciences faculty, and then Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Lancaster.

As an applied statistician, Professor Davies has worked across an unusually wide range of disciplines including Medicine, Metallurgy, and Social Science.  He has about one hundred publications in academic journals and books and has worked extensively in industry with companies including Rolls Royce, GEC, and Nuclear Electric.  He has also undertaken contract research for government ministries and led the statistical analyses for the Lord Woolf Enquiry into the civil justice system.

Professor Davies has served on the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and its Audit and Risk Committee, and on the Welsh Assembly Government′s Higher Education and Economic Development Task and Finish Group.

He was founding chair of the Northwest Universities Association Research and Strategic Development Committee and a member of the Northwest Science Council ′core group′ (the group which managed the business for the Science Council established by the Northwest Development Agency).