Statistics for Social Science

2020/2021

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

4

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

Course type:

Compulsory course

When:

2 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Simonova, Marina

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course will introduce essential methods for harnessing data to answer questions arising from various fields of social sciences. The course will focus more on the intuition behind the analysis than proofs. We will start with fundamentals of descriptive statistics and proceed to learn techniques such as averages, time series variables, index numbers and data visualization. You will learn these techniques with real world examples in social and economic development of countries and regions. By taking this course, you will be able to work with real data and will be able to use statistical tools. You need a prior knowledge on the basic statistical software to solve problems in lectures, problem sets, assignments, presentations and tests.

Learning Objectives

• to provide students with foundational knowledge and sound understanding of social and economic development process;
• to introduce students to statistical methods of calculating;
• to orient students to self-dependent computing and economic analysis;
• to provide students with understanding of international statistical social and economic standards, variables and indicators.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• This course is for students who are interested in building a set of skills required to tackle problems facing the world’s problem such as globalization, population and labor force issues, macroeconomic development. Having equipped with the data analysis insight, you will better understand the problem and learn how to design and evaluate decision on social and economic policies.
• By the end of this session students should be able to recognize and describe data;
• By the end of this session students should be able to calculate the measures of time series
• By the end of this session students should be able to interpret, analyze and identify trends in population, labour force statistical variables and time series
• By the end of this session students should be able to display, make presentations and interpret tabular data;
• By the end of this session students should be able to display data graphically and interpret graphs
• By the end of this session students should be able to calculate and analyze system of economic index numbers
• By the end of this session students should be able to interpret, identify trends in macroeconomic indicators, deflator variables and time series
• By the end of this session students should be able to analyze Gross Domestic Product, Gross National Income information
• By the end of this session students should be able to interpret, identify trends and analyze International Trade in Goods and Services time series.

Course Contents

• Introduction
  Topics - Data and statistics. - Types of Data and Information - Methods of Collecting Data - Statistics as the science of collecting, analyzing, presenting, and interpreting data.
• Descriptive statistics: System of variables
  Topics - Statistical observation - Statistical population - Statistical sample (Questioners, Types Of Statistical Observation, Rules of Statistical Observation)
• Descriptive statistics: Qualitative and Quantitative Data.
  Topics - Scales of Measurement. - Tabular and graphical presentations. - Statistical tables - Elements, Variables, Observations. - Summarizing quantitative data.
• Measures of Central Location
  Topics - Mean. - Weighted mean.
• Time series
  Topics - Describing Time-Series Data. - Growth rates - Annual everage growth rates
• Index numbers
  Topics - Index numbers method of analysis - UN methodology in Index numbers: price, unit value, volume.
• Global Statistical System
  Topics - UN statistical system - Statistical Departments of International Organizations - ISI
• Midterm exam
• Social statistics. Demography 1.
  Topics - Primary source of population data. - Population censuses - Geographical coverage. Territorial composition. - Comparability over time. International comparability. - Total population. Age distribution.
• Social statistics. Demography 2.
  Topics - Vital Statistics - Statistics of live birth, death, foetal death, marriage and divorce. - Variables of migration statistics
• Social statistics. Labour force
  Topics - International Labour Organization, Regulation 1372/2007. - Economically active population. - Resident population of working age. - Employment and unemployment. Persons employed, unemployed. - Economically inactive persons. Labour market.
• System of national accounts: main concepts
  Topics - System of national accounts. - Economic territory, residents, production boundary. - Taxes and subsidies. - Institutional sectors. Industries. ISIC - 4. - Gross Value Added.
• System of national accounts. Macroeconomic indicators’ analysis.
  Topics - MEI. Compensation of employees, - Gross operating surplus. Final consumption expenditure. - Gross Capital formation. Capital Transfers.
• SNA: Gross domestic product
  Topics - Gross domestic product: three approaches. - Gross national income. Gross national disposable income. - Deflator. Analytical Indicators for government economic and social programs
• Statistics of International Merchandise Trade
  Topics - International trade in goods. - International Trade classifications - Exports, Imports, balance. - General and special system. - CIF, FOB. Terms of Trade.
• Statistics of International Trade and Globalization
  Topics - International trade in services. - Globalization indicators.
• Final exam

Assessment Elements

• Midterm
• Final Exam
• Homework
  Reports, Presentations of Teams According the program all students make presentations. the dates of your presentations will be discussed with the lecturer and professor. 1/ Chose the topic of your presentation based on official databases. 2/ Find 5-7 sources: links of official statisitical and other organ, scientific articles, official surveys, text books, monographs.
• Attendance
• Assignment
  Reports, Presentations of Teams According the program all students make presentations. the dates of your presentations will be discussed with the lecturer and professor. 1/ Chose the topic of your presentation based on official databases. 2/ Find 5-7 sources: links of official statisitical and other organ, scientific articles, official surveys, text books, monographs.

Interim Assessment

• Interim assessment (2 module)
  0.1 * Assignment + 0.1 * Attendance + 0.33 * Final Exam + 0.14 * Homework + 0.33 * Midterm

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• David R. Anderson, Dennis J. Sweeney, Thomas A. Williams, James Freeman, & Eddie Shoesmith. (2017). Statistics for Business and Economics. Cengage Learning.
• Giovannini, E. (DE-588)137332378, (DE-627)695037390, (DE-576)303190957, aut. (2008). Understanding economic statistics an OECD perspective Enrico Giovannini.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Durmuş Özdemir. (2016). Applied Statistics for Economics and Business (Vol. 2nd ed. 2016). Springer.
• Салин В.Н., Нарбут В.В., Шпаковская Е.П. - ECONOMIC STATISTICS. Бакалавриат - SCIENTIFIC WORLD - 2019 - 224с. - ISBN: 978-9934-8833-3-0 - Текст электронный // ЭБС BOOKRU - URL: https://book.ru/book/933492