Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Life in a data-laden age : finding and managing datasets -- The art of visual storytelling : creating accurate tables and graphs -- Summarizing center and diversity : basic descriptive statistics -- Using sample crosstabs to talk about populations : the chi-square test -- Using a sample mean or proportion to talk about a population : confidence intervals -- Using multiple sample means to talk about populations : t-tests and anova -- Give me one good reason why: bivariate correlation and regression -- Using sample slopes to talk about populations : inference and regression -- It's all relative : dichotomies as independent variables in regression -- Above and beyond: the logic of controlling and the power of nested regression models -- Some slopes are bigger than others : calculating and interpreting beta coefficients -- Different slopes for different folks : interaction effects -- Explaining dichotomous outcomes : logistic regression -- Visualizing causal stories : path analysis -- Questioning the greatness of straightness : nonlinear relationships -- Problems and prospects : regression diagnostics, advanced techniques, and where to go now -- Appendix A: Variables and indexes from the american national election studies, the world values survey, and three surveys from the pew internet and american life project -- Appendix B: Eighty-six articles that use statistics in less than scary ways -- Appendix C: Statistical tables -- Appendix D: Answers to selected end-of-chapter exercises -- Bibliography -- Glossary/index.