Category: Data and Methods
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The Elite: Definition and Identification
Sociology has long examined the concept of “elite” as a group with disproportionate power in society. In this post, we examine classic and contemporary definitions of the elite and methods for identifying them. The literature on the elite is vast. We will only scratch the surface to get at key points of definition and methods […]
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Socioeconomic Status: Definition and Measurement
What is socioeconomic status? Socio-economic status (SES) refers to a specific configuration of material conditions that impact how people think and behave; those conditions are income, education, and occupational prestige. In this post, we discuss how social scientists define and measure socioeconomic status (SES). We focus on surveys, but these can be adapted to other […]
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Quantitative Approaches to Intersectionality: The Small n Problem
A challenge for intersectional survey research is the “Small n Problem”: when there are too few observations in the sample to permit the desired analysis. To perform the multivariate quantitative techniques popular in analyses of survey data, we need an adequate number of cases in each category. For instance, if gender and class are necessary […]
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Data Write-up: The Who, What, When, Where, and Why
You are an investigator. You collect data to test your theory and prove your point. You and journalists are similar. In writing their articles, journalists are taught to answer five questions: who, what, when, where, and why. This post tells you how to write the data and methods section of a research article in the […]