Sociology April 2012 Archive

A new study published in the Journal of Black Studies shows that restaurant wait staff regularly discriminate against African-American diners. More than 200 servers in 18 North Carolina restaurants were ... Read More

In statistics and research, you will often hear the term normal distribution, but what exactly does this mean? A normal distribution is a theoretical idea that is based on theory ... Read More

The standard deviation is a measure of variation that you will come across a lot in studies, journals, and statistics class. It is a basic and fundamental concept in statistics ... Read More

A study published in a recent edition of The American Sociological Review found that women who breast-feed for six months or more pay a penalty in wages for the rest ... Read More

Researchers are often looking for ways to organize observed data into meaningful structures or classifications. Cluster analysis is one way to do that. Cluster analysis is a statistical technique used ... Read More

A confidence interval is a measure of estimation. It is an estimated range of values that is likely to include the population parameter being calculated. For instance, instead of estimating ... Read More

New government figures just released show a trend that may not surprise most people: a growing number of firstborns in the United States have unmarried parents, reflecting a dramatic increase ... Read More

A new book by sociology professor called Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone explores the trend that is happening in affluent countries: more and more ... Read More

Cluster sampling may be used when it is either impossible or impractical to compile an exhaustive list of the elements that make up the target population. Usually, however, the population ... Read More

There is a lot of talk lately about Trayvon Martin's death and whether or not it stemmed from racism. Martin was a 17-year-old black male who was shot to death ... Read More

Race is defined as a social category or social construction that we treat as distinct on the basis of certain characteristics, some biological, that have been assigned social importance in ... Read More

A new study published in the American Sociological Review finds that conservatives' trust in science has declined sharply since 1974, when conservatives had the highest trust in science. Confidence in ... Read More