Links to Other Instructional Websites

Graphs

There are a range of topics here that could fill a web site with links. Many issues can be resolved simply by entering your question in Google or YouTube and picking one of the relevant links. For example, to find out how to construct a graph employing particular software such as SPSS or Excel one can access numerous tutorials that illustrate the steps necessary to create the graph of interest. The same could be said for the topic of graphic design which covers the aesthetics of visual communication with graphs and other visual media. Here there seems to be a battle between those who advocate rules for design versus those who advocate throwing out the rules for design.

• General
  • Designing Effective GraphsThis link will open a PDF file. -  (pdf) (Frees and Tufte). A paper in pdf form that gives a nice concise discussion on the design and employment of some common types of graphs.
  • Perceptual Edge This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Few). Perceptual Edge is a web site featuring the thoughts and design of Stephen Few, author of Show Me the Numbers and other books. You can subscribe to the Visual Business Intelligence Newsletter for monthly information. Note numerous articles under the Library tab and discussions of several example graphs under the Examples tab.
  • Table and Graph Design for Enlightening Communication This link will open a PDF file from an external website in a new tab. (Few). A tutorial pdf file on graph design.
  • Edward Tufte This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Edward Tufte's web site which contains a series of blog topics on graph and graphic design for the more advanced designer. Tufte's basic design principles are contained in his first three books, the Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Visual Explanations, and Envisioning Information. However, basic principles can be found in various articles he has written. Like Few, Tufte argues for focusing on the meaning of the data and keeping graphics simple and clear.
  • Examples of Graph Designs This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Speckyboy design magazine has examples of static and animated graphs.
  • So You Need a Typeface This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Choosing a typeface). A flowchart is provided to aid in selecting a typeface for a document. Click on the second image to enlarge it and follow a somewhat humorous flow chart to a typeface. See also Design Charts for Better Typography and Color This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. which includes the above link and many others on selecting, employing, and combining type faces.
• Tutorials
  • Creating a Bar Chart using SPSS This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. An illustrated step-by-step exercise by Laerd Statistics showing how to produce a bar chart using SPSS. Two additional tutorials cover clustered bar charts and scattergrams.
  • Creating a Bar Chart using Excel This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (video)
  • SPSS: Displaying Data for WindowsThis link will open a PDF file. -  (pdf). An illustrated PDF tutorial from the University of Texas at Austin on generating graphs with SPSS
  • How to Build a Column Chart in Excel This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (ExcelJet) (video). A brief video on generating a column chart.

Maps

Making a map involves many of the same steps involved in making a graph and then adds quite a few more. Designing a proper map is not a trivial exercise, and so one should have a basic grasp of the process so that one can at least critique or modify the results created by computer software. People working with SPSS or other statistical software are most likely going to create what is called a thematic map. This type of map is usually highly focused on a specific concept and a limited data set and would be typified by maps of census data by county or census tract. The challenge here is to match your downloaded data records (by country, state, county, or census tract, etc.) to a boundary file which is a set of records that describe the location or boundaries of the geographic units. Fortunately many common geographic area or point locations already have suitable boundary files so that they do not have to be generated by you to make a map. Usually geographical information system (GIS) software such as ArcGIS is employed to match the two data sets and generate a desired type of thematic map. Most CSU campuses have access to ArcGIS software so that likely will be the software that most CSU faculty will use to make a map. Alternatively, SPSS does have a mapping extension of its own that utilizes Mapinfo software that some departments may have purchased.

• General
  • Introduction to Map Design This link will open a PDF file from an external website in a new tab.. A very concise discussion of issues related to making maps. Examples illustrate ArcGIS-generated maps. (Note: this very robust program is distributed by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. and there is a large amount of data and information about GIS on their web site.​​​​​
  • Cartographic Communication. This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
  • Thematic Map Design This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. This Powerpoint presentation is a basic nuts and bolts outline about the central elements for the construction of a thematic map.
  • Cartography and Visualization This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Lecture and reading materials for a cartography course at Pennsylvania State University.
  • Social Explorer This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. A web site of interactive maps and data associated with articles on social issues.
  • Books on Cartography This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..
• Tutorials
  • ArcGIS Tutorials. ESRI also provides a number of tutorials on the use of ArcGIS software. Some are in text form and some are animated. Note that additional animated tutorials can be found on YouTube. See ArcGIS Insights This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. --
  • How to Make a Layout in ArcMap This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. A brief video tour of the options in ArcGIS map layout menu used to construct a map layout.
  • Elements of a Good Map Layout in ArcGIS This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. This video from Washington University shows the addition of the basic elements of a map to a layout.
  • Mapping Census Data This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. A tutorial on handling and mapping census data.
  • How to Create Thematic (choropleth) Maps in ArcGIS, Part 1 This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. and Part 2 This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. A video showing the basic steps to produce a thematic map in ArcGIS.
  • Google Earth Tutorial for Historians This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. A video demonstrating how to add detail traced from an old map that has been overlayed onto a Google Earth image.
  • ColorBrewer This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. and Typebrewer This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. This interactive web site is designed to help one select an appropriate set of colors and number of classes for a choropleth map (e.g. a map of median household map shaded by county). Consideration is given to the impact of color blindness, different display media, and the effect of background relief, roads, and cities. A chosen set of color fills can be specified in RGB, CMYK, and HEX color models. The Typebrewer interactive web site helps in the selection of basic type styles for a map.
  • GamChecker This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. This interactive WP site is designed to help Irish select an appropriate site for lucky gaming.

Qualitative Research

• NVivo This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (WordPress). "A data analysis program designed for qualitative and mixed methods research."

Research Design

• Columbia University Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences (QMSS) e-lessons This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.,
• Web Center for Social Research Methods This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
• Reliability and Validity in Measurement This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
• Web Center for Social Research Methods This link will take you to an external website in a new tab..
• Sage Dictionary of Social Research Methods This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (campus subscription needed to see all content).
• Internal and External Validity in Research Design
  • 9 Threats to Internal Validity This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Fiala) (video).

SPSS (officially, “IBM SPSS Statistics”)

• Catalog of SPSS Tutorial WorkshopsThis link will open a PDF file. -  (pdf) (PDF) (Hall). Includes a large number of SPSS tutorials, primarily for the beginning student. The larger site of which this is a part has additional useful resources and commentary regarding survey research,
• IBM SPSS Statistics Training This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (PDF) (Cal State Los Angeles). Handouts for recent versions of SPSS
• Nelson (ed.) IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 26.0: A Basic Tutorial (California State University) Includes downloadable text and data files.Text-based (mostly)
• ​Raynald’s SPSS Tools This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Raynald Levesque). Answers to FAQs as well as numerous examples, generally for fairly advanced users. Includes links to other sites.
• SPSS Learning Modules This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (UCLA). Information in various formats on a wide variety of topics for users from beginning to advanced. Mostly text-based, but also includes some videos.
• SPSS for the Classroom: the Basics This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Wisconsin)
• SPSS Links This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Wuensch). Lessons, links to other resources, etc.
• SPSS Resources This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Mississippi State University). Links to online guides and tutorials as well as to print resources.
• SPSS Tutorials This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Kent State)

• Videos

  • SPSS Online Training Workshop This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Central Michigan
  • SPSS Video Tutor This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Mays). Can be viewed online at no charge (but registration is required). The collection of videos can also be downloaded for a fee.
  • SPSS Learning Modules This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (University of Minnesota). Free downloadable videos for use with iTunes.
  • SPSS Video Tutorials This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Taylor).

   

• Miscellaneous:
  • PSPP (The GNU Project) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Downloadable software with the look and feel of SPSS and many (though not all) of its capabilities. For those without access to SPSS, PSPP provides a good (and free) alternative. There are two versions of PSPP, syntax, or command. mode, Command mode is much more comprehensive, but has a much steeper learning curve. The Graphic User Interface (GUI) mode is less comprehensive, but more user friendly. 
    • The Free Software Foundation, creators of PSPP, has produced a comprehensive users’guide This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. for the command (syntax) version of PSPP. Available in various formats.

    • For introductory guides to the GUI version, see:

      • Nelson and Korey (eds.). PSPP: A Basic Tutorial (California State University, Social Science Research and Instructional Council)
      • Fisk, PSPP for Beginners This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Georgia Southwestern State)

       

  • The GUI version of PSPP is perhaps most limited in its very minimal coverage of graphics, offering only pie charts, bar charts, histograms, and scatterplots, and these only with very few options. Fortunately, another package, also freely available, is Statistics Open for All  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.(SOFA), which includes much more extensive graphics capabilities. George Self has developed a comprehensive lab manual for this package. Designed for use by his own students, he has not as yet published it on the Internet. He has, however, generously granted us permission to post it hereThis link will open a PDF file. -  (pdf) on the site of the Cal State University Social Science Research and Instructional Center.

Statistics

• Rice Virtual Lab in Statistics This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (David Lane).
• Introduction to Probability and Statistics This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Kara)
• Simulations (applets) – There are hundreds of statistical java applets on the web. Many of the links to these applets no longer work. Applets seem to come and go. We have checked these links and most of them work but we have not previewed all of the applets. 
  • Web Interface for Statistical Education This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Claremont Graduate University).
  • Statistical Applets and Calculators This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (stAtliNk).
  • The Central Limit Theorem: How to Tame Wild Populations  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.(Rogers),

• Online courses  This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.

  • Introduction to Statistics (ST101): Making Decisions Based on Data This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Udacity). One of a series of free online courses offered by Udacity, a project created by former Stanford professors.

   

• Online textbooks

  • Introduction to Research Methods in Political Science: POWERMUTT (Politically-Oriented, Web-Enhanced Research Methods for Undergraduates - Topics and Tools) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Korey). The POWERMUTT Project is a Web site that can serve as a basic on-line textbook for teaching research methods in political science and cognate disciplines. Compared to other texts, it is more interactive and less expensive (free!). It also comes with generous terms of use that allow instructors to use the entire resource or to take and modify portions to meet their specific needs. For example, an instructor might wish to simply use one or more of the datasets and codebooks provided.
  • Seeing Statistics This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (McClelland; published by Duxbury which is part of Cengage Learning). An online text (they call it a webbook) which is based on a visual approach to learning statistics. Uses interactive graphs to illustrate statistical concepts.
  • Rice Virtual Lab in Statistics This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Lane). Online statistics text with many applets and case studies.
  • Stat Trek This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Online statistics text with videos (e.g., what is a variable?), sample problems, statistical tools (e.g., random number generator) and calculators (e.g., binomial probabilities).
  • Statistics Every Writer Should Know This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Niles). A simple but well written introduction to basic descriptive statistics, margin of error, sample size, and statistical testing). Contains only text but written in a very clear and simple way.
  • Electronics Statistics Textbook This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (StatSoft). An extensive online statistics textbook which contains lots of materials at the intermediate and advanced levels (e.g., canonical analysis, cluster analysis, log-linear analysis). Contains only text.
  • Chance (Dartmouth). Not exactly an online text book but lots of materials that can be used in any course that deals with quantitative literacy. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chance/ This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
  • Statistical Associates Publishing (Garson). Series of small books on many statistical topics. Books area available for the Kindle at a small cost. Books can also be downloaded for free. Books are only available at Amazon for the Kindle for 90 days after being published. After 90 days, they are available to be freely downloaded. Requires that you register but registration is free.

   

• Data sets

  • The Salem Witchcraft Site This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Latner). Contains many data sets pertaining to the Salem witchcraft incidents of 1692. Data can be used to explore this historical event.
  • SDA: Survey Documentation and Analysis This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (UC Berkeley). A list of data sets that can be used with Survey Documentation and Analysis (SDA), an online statistical package written at UC Berkeley.
  • Teaching With Data This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (a partnership between the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research and the Social Science Data Analysis Network). A source for data and other teaching resources for courses that deal with quantitative reasoning.
  • Introduction to Research Methods in Political Science: POWERMUTT (Politically-Oriented, Web-Enhanced Research Methods for Undergraduates - Topics and Tools) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Korey). Contains data sets that can be used to teach research methods. See description under online textbooks.
  • OPOSSEM (Online Portal for Social Science Education in Methodology) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. This is a portal for instructional materials for teaching social science research methods. This link will take you to the data sets available.

   

• Videos
  • Against all Odds – Inside Statistics This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications and Chedd-Angier). A series of 26 videos on various topics such as “the question of causation” and “inference for relationships.” Originally produced in 1989 which may make some of the videos seem dated but the content is still excellent. Videos can be purchased but can also`be viewed online.

Survey Research and Sampling

• American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Provides numerous publications in the area of survey research. Useful material includes: 

  • Standards and practices – AAPOR’s Code of Ethics, best practices, survey practices that AAPOR condemns, standard definitions of survey outcomes.
  • Reports on such issues as election polling, response rates, sampling, margin of error, question wording, glossary of survey terms, cell phones.
  • Webinars on survey research topics (recordings of these webinars can be purchased from AAPOR).

   

• FiveThirtyEight.com This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. "The new version of FiveThirtyEight will continue to provide data-driven coverage of politics and elections, while expanding its reach into other topics including sports, economics, technology and culture."
• Pollster.com This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Summary of many national polls along with useful charts and graphs. Also includes a list of FAQs on trend estimates.
• Research Randomizer This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Social Psychology Network). Random number generator.

• Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. Includes information that can be used in classes. 

  • Polling Fundamentals This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Includes information on sampling, total survey error, reading tables and a glossary of survey research terms.
  • Classroom Materials This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Includes assignments that you can use in your classes along with syllabi and lesson plans.

   

• Sample Size Calculator This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Creative Research Systems). Among other things, this applet is a great way to convince skeptics that, beyond a certain counter-intuitively low point, sample sizes needed for a given confidence interval don’t vary much with the size of the population.
• Survey Research This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Colorado State). General introduction. Includes links to other explanations and examples.
• Survey Research Center This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (University of Michigan). Offers a series of programs to learn more about survey research. Also includes a list of publications relevant to survey research.
• Opinion & Survey Data Sources This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (Princeton). "Sources for United States and international public opinion results and data, with an emphasis on political topics."
• Web Survey Methodology This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Includes references to the latest web survey methodology, information about online survey software and codes and standards.

Teaching Resources

• Research Methods
  • Lecture notes, slides, syllabi and more
    • OPOSSEM (Online Portal for Social Science Education in Methodology) This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. This is a portal for instructional materials for teaching social science research methods. This link will take you to the data sets available.
    • Online textbooks

      • MERLOT This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.. Click on “learning materials, then search for “research methods textbook,” refine your search by choosing your discipline’s category). Several types of teaching tools (by various authors) including: 

        • Virtual lab (java based) for Psychology (Malloy)
        • Electoral map simulations for Political Science (Tuthill, Williams, and Donnelly)
        • Interactive Introduction to SPSS Statistical Software (PowerPoints) (Bigham)
        • Some videos (limited)

         

  • For bringing the use of real data into higher education across the curriculum 
    • Lecture notes, slides, syllabi and more
      • Teaching with Data This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (a partnership of ICPSR and SSDAN, both at the University of Michigan). is a web site devoted to providing faculty with tools to use in courses. This site gives you links to datasets, lesson plans, theoretical examples, charts, learning modules, sample assignments, etc. These materials are useful in any course where you would like to incorporate digital materials into lectures (in-person and virtual), assignments, and active learning. Teaching With Data also promotes the development of quantitative literacy. Among the resources currently available are guides for Economics, Sociology, and Political Science. This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.
         

      • MERLOT This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (click on “learning materials," then search for “data,” refine your search by choosing your discipline’s category). Several types of teaching tools (by various authors) including:

        • Virtual lab (java based) for Psychology (Malloy)
        • Electoral map simulations for Political Science (Tuthill, Williams, and Donnelly)
        • Interactive Introduction to SPSS Statistical Software (PowerPoints) (Bigham)
        • Some videos (limited)

         

      • SSRIC - Social Science Research & Instructional Center -- Teaching Resources. (Various academic contributors). Includes modules and exercises, online textbooks, other courseware:
      • ICPSR - Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (housed by the University of Michigan). Includes an introduction to ICPSR, the Data User Help Center This link will take you to an external website in a new tab., and various resources for instructors This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (modules, exercises, tutorials, webinars. etc.).

      • Print publications and links to other online tools 

        • SSDAN – Social Science Data Analysis Network This link will take you to an external website in a new tab. (University of Michigan). Publications and links to various web-based tools (such as CensusScope - an easy-to-use tool for investigating U.S. demographic trends)
        • U.S. Census Guide: How to Get the Most Out of census.gov This link will take you to an external website in a new tab.