Beginning Statistics: An Introduction for Social Scientists

`The clarity, simplicity and use of many practical examples makes this book very useful, primarily for under- and postgraduate students′ - Journal of Biosocial Science

With an emphasis on description, examples, graphs and displays rather than statistical formulae, this book is the ideal introductory guide for students across the social sciences. It shows how all students can understand the basic ideas of statistics at a level appropriate with being a good social scientist. The authors explain the right ways to present data, how to describe a set of data using summary statistics and how to infer what is going on in a population when all you have to go on is the sample. The book uses small data sets to help students understand the basic principles, and no mathematics or statistical background is assumed.

Julie is a demographer by background. After graduating in Population Studies from the University of Southampton in 1994, she worked as a Teaching Fellow in the Social Statistics department for over seven years. Julie’s main role was teaching social science undergraduates at Southampton both introductory statistics and population science courses, while completing a PhD on childbearing following marital dissolution in Britain.

The first edition of Beginning Statistics grew from several years of experience in teaching quantitative methods with Ian, both in huge lecture theatres and small tutorial groups, to students from a wide range of degree courses and with diverse abilities and initial levels of enthusiasm!

Since 2002, Julie has worked on population figures at the Office for National Statistics. She is currently head of the Demographic Analysis Unit, which produces publications and research on the topics of childbearing, families, life expectancy and the ageing population. Julie is pleased to maintain links with the University of Southampton as part of this role. Julie is also a long-standing member of the British Society for Population Studies and currently sits on the BSPS Council.

Julie has contributed to the second edition of Beginning Statistics in a personal capacity and not as an employee of ONS.

In her spare time Julie enjoys adventure racing and climbing munros.