In this statistics for social sciences class, I have learned how researchers take raw data to organize, analyze, and interpret it to test their research questions. Researchers do this through the use of statistical tests such as the independent sample t-test and the ANOVA test. These tests give a specific statistic that the researchers compare to p-values in order to test the significance of the statistic they test provided them. If the statistic provided is significant, then there is a likely chance that the null hypothesis is not true and the researcher would reject it in favor of the alternate hypothesis that states that there is a significant difference in the sample based on the statistic provided. Understanding this was the first thing I learned in this class which helped me understand statistical tests and findings on a basic level.
The next major thing I learned in this class was how these tests are analyzed using statistical programs such as the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and R studio (R). SPSS is the most widely used statistical program for the social sciences, especially sociology. In SPSS I learned how to import collected data, how to recode variables, how to run statistical tests, and how to interpret the data given from SPSS. Similarly, in R I learned how to do the same things, however with more statistical tests and more advanced statistical functions that will help me in my research in the future.
This is important because statistics are a huge component in how the social sciences are able to present their research in a way that the general public as well as other social science researchers can easily understand. There are more nuances to social science research than just survey responses and interviews, they must have some sort of statistical significance in order to give them relevance. In this class I learned of various statistical tests and how to interpret them to better understand how I as well as other social scientists understand each other’s data and their claims on a grander scale. This way, there’s not just qualitative data out there where people choose to believe what one person says, rather there will be statistical data that supports claims and hypotheses. People who are skeptical of the data will have the opportunity to recreate the tests themselves to see if they get the same results or to add a different variable to test their own hypotheses and theories.
Specifically why this matters in the bigger picture is how the social sciences can help the world understand social phenomena through the use of statistics. Understanding things like demographic changes, death tolls, incarceration, family dynamics, and welfare states. The statistics also help people understand how effective policies are and whether or not they need revision based on the statistical tests run on them. Not only are there people who need to know how to understand and interpret these statistical findings, there also needs to be social scientists who are able to gather the data, run the statistical tests, interpret them, and present them to the general public in order to foster social change. These statistical tests also help debunk various social myths and misconceptions such as linking vaccines to autism, and that the majority of people benefiting from welfare programs are minorities. Being able to provide strong statistical evidence alongside qualitative data such as interview excerpts will help provide a safer and more educated world for people to live in.
For me, this course has taught me a lot and I am definitely grateful for that. Coming into the course I was not confident in my ability to complete statistical tests, statistical analyses, or interpret the results of a statistical test. But, after taking this class I am more confident in my ability to do all of these things and much more. I plan to use the skills I learned in this course in my future as a graduate student and beyond that as a family sociologist in the future. I want to be able to use these skills to conduct research in my area of interest which is how families of various racial and ethnic backgrounds respond to stress and crisis, and figuring out how these families are resilient during times of crisis. Using my knowledge of statistical tests and how to interpret them, I feel that I will be able to conduct these tests to figure out how race and methods of resilience in families are connected and how they can be improved in the future.