This is a comprehensive, exceptionally well-written text that instructors find to be appropriate for students with varying levels of mathematical skill, ranging from those suffering from math phobia and anxiety to those adept at math. The text provides students a first look at social statistics by illustrating the application of statistics to contemporary social issues. Students learn to read and interpret statistics in a variety of settings. Each chapter is complete with numerous practice exercises, problems, and demonstrations and applications of the latest SPSS statistical software package to reinforce chapter concepts, operations, and formulas.Students can also find demonstrations and applications using the MicroCase statistical package on the text's companion web site. The book's primary emphasis is on developing the following skills necessary for students to become statistically literate : computational competence; appreciation of statistics; and the ability to read professional social science literature.