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Analyzing repeated surveys

Repeated surveys - a technique for asking the same questions to different samples of people - allows researchers the opportunity to analyze changes in society as a whole. This book begins with a discussion of the classic issue of how to separate cohort, period and age effects. It then covers: methods for modelling aggregate trends; two methods for estimating cohort replacement's contribution to aggregate trends; a decomposition model for clarifying how microchange contributes to aggregate change; and simple models that are useful for the assessment of changing individual-level effects.

Online Sage Research Methods

The new geography of global income inequality

The surprising finding of this work is that, contrary to conventional wisdom, global income inequality is decreasing. Critics of globalization and others maintain that the spread of consumer capitalism is dramatically polarizing the worldwide distribution of income. But, as the demographer Glenn Firebaugh shows, income inequality for the world peaked in the late 20th century and is now heading downward because of declining income inequality across nations. Furthermore, as income inequality declines across nations, it is rising within nations (though not as rapidly as it is declining across nations). Firebaugh claims that this historic transition represents a new geography of global income inequality in the 21st century. This book documents the new geography, describes its causes and explains why other analysts have missed one of the defining features of our era - a transition in inequality that is reducing the importance of where a person is born in determining his or her future well-being.The surprising finding of this book is that global income inequality is decreasing. Critics of globalisation and others maintain that the spread of consumer capitalism is dramatically polarising the worldwide distribution of income. But as the demographer Glenn Firebaugh carefully shows, income inequality for the world peaked in the late 20th Century and is now heading downward because of declining income inequality across nations. Furthermore, as income inequality declines across nations, it is rising within nations. Firebaugh claims that this historic transition represents a new geography of global income inequality in the 21st Century.

Seven rules for social research

"Seven Rules for Social Research" teaches social scientists how to get the most out of their technical skills and tools, providing a resource that fully describes the strategies and concepts no researcher or student of human behavior can do without. Glenn Firebaugh provides indispensable practical guidance for anyone doing research in the social and health sciences today, whether they are undergraduate or graduate students embarking on their first major research projects or seasoned professionals seeking to incorporate new methods into their research. The rules are the basis for discussions of a broad range of issues, from choosing a research question to inferring causal relationships, and are illustrated with applications and case studies from sociology, economics, political science, and related fields. Though geared toward quantitative methods, the rules also work for qualitative research. "Seven Rules for Social Research" is ideal for students and researchers who want to take their technical skills to new levels of precision and insight, and for instructors who want a textbook for a second methods course. The Seven Rules are as follows: there should be the possibility of surprise in social research; look for differences that make a difference, and report them; build reality checks into your research; replicate where possible; compare like with like; use panel data to study individual change and repeated cross-section data to study social change; and, let method be the servant, not the master.