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HISTORY 590 [7739] ~ Spring 2006
Prof. Gerald Zahavi
Dept. of History, University at Albany-SUNY
Classroom: G-24 (History Smart Classroom, Science Library)
Course Schedule: Mon.. 4:40-6:40
Office: Ten Broeck 202
Phone: 518-442-4780
Office Hrs: Mon. & Tues 2:00-4:00
E-mail: [email protected]
.
COURSE INTRODUCTION: The
proliferation of innovative computer-based information technologies
and the growing utilization of quantitative methods in social, political,
and economic history have made it increasingly necessary for students
to become familiar with more technical bodies of knowledge than previous
generations of historians. This course aims to provide students with
an orientation to a a number of new, and for some, indispensable,
methodologies and tools for accessing, collecting, and analyzing social,
economic, and political historical data.
History 590 has several specific and
complementary goals. The first is to familiarize students with the
use of descriptive and inferential statistics in historical research:
levels of measurement, contingency tables, sampling, tests of statistical
significance, measures of association, regression, and so on. Associated
with this objective is a stress on learning to read and evaluate articles
and monographs that employ a variety of statistical techniques and
measures.
This is also a "hands on"
course, where you will be trained in the practice of quantitative
history. Members if the class are expected to plan and carry out quantitative
research projects of their own. A series of short exercises and book/article
reviews will prepare you for a more extended and ambitious research
paper utilizing skills learned over the course of the semester. The
final quantitative research project, due at the end of the semester,
is an important component of the course.
A final goal of History 590 is to acquaint
students with computers and computer applications useful in quantitative
analysis, qualitative historical research, and teaching. These include:
statistical analysis programming; database creation and management;
computer graphics; accessing information networks, and the use of
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in historical research.
REQUIRED TEXTS AND READINGS:
1] Robert William Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman, Time on
the Cross (W. W. Norton & Company, 1995; reprint, with new
introduction, of 1974 ed.)
2] Loren Haskins and Kirk Jeffrey, Understanding Quantitative
History. (McGraw Hill, 1990). [Currently out of print; available
on reserve].
3] Marija J. Norusis, SPSS Guide to Data Analysis 13.0
(Prentice Hall, 2005).
4] Anne Kelly Knowles, Ed., Past Time, Past Place: GIS for
History (Esri Press, 2002).
5] History 590 Readings: misc. journal articles and chapters
on methodology ( packet available at Shipmates). Additional readings
may be announced in class during the course of the semester. These
will be placed on electronic reserve. ON-LINE TEXTS:
StatSoft:
Electronic Statistics Textbook [http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html]
This is a comprehensive web-based statistics textbook.
DATA ARCHIVES: Most of the following list of data
archives and sources come from the University at Albany Library's
excellent "Sociology
Resources on the Internet". Most of the assigned projects
will utilize data available from the Inter-University
Consortium for Political & Social Research (ICPSR).
You may have trouble downloading data from ICPSR off campus; if so,
use public access computers on campus to download it to a floppy disk.
- Australian
National University - Social Science Data Archives (SSDA).
- Council
of European Social Science Data Archives. Information
about European Archives.
- Inter-university
Consortium for Political & Social Research (ICPSR).
- Murray
Research Center, Radcliffe College.
- The Bureau
of Labor Statistics
-
CenStats: Includes a variety of applications, including
the census tract street locator, zip code business patterns, USA
Counties, etc.
-
CIESIN's Demography Home Page: Part of an initiative
to identify, document, and provide simple access to demographic
information on the U.S. Provides access to data resources, supporting
documentation (codebooks, data dictionaries, citations), some extraction
tools for data access, and connects to an anonymous ftp service
for data file retrieval.
-
County and City Data Book: Find the latest official
statistics for 1,078 cities, all 3,141 U.S. counties, and 11,097
places of 2,500 or more inhabitants
- Current
Population Surveys A comprehensive body of data on
the employment and unemployment experience of the Nation's population,
classified by age, sex, race, etc.
-
Data FERRET The Census Bureau's and the Department
of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) joint project that enables
users to access and manipulate large demographic and economic data
sets on line.
- FedStats
A searchable guide to statistics produced by more than 70 Federal
agencies.
- Government
Information Sharing Project Access to a variety of
federal statistical information sources, primarily demographic and
economic. Hosted by Oregon State University. User-friendly interface.
- Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population
of the United States: 1850 to 1990 Contains "decennial
census data on several characteristics of the foreign-born population,
including country of birth, length of residence in the United States,
citizenship and age-sex distribution."
- High
School and Beyond High School and Beyond describes
the activities of seniors and sophomores as they progressed through
high school, postsecondary education, and into the workplace. The
data span 1980 through 1992 and include parent, teacher, high school
transcript, student financial aid records, and college transcripts
in addition to student questionnaires. From the National Center
for Education Statistics.
- Historical
United States Census Data Browser Data on the population
and economy of the U.S. from 1790 to 1970 by state and county.
- Integrated
Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) Twenty-five
high-precision samples of the American population drawn from thirteen
federal censuses 1850 to 1990). A rich source of quantitative information
on long-term changes in the American population.
- National
Crime Victimization Survey This is the primary source
of information on criminal victimization. Data are collected annually
from a nationally representative sample of roughly 49,000 households
comprising more than 100,000 persons on the frequency, characteristics
and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States.
- National
Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) A nationally representative
sample of 12,686 young men and young women who were 14 to 22 years
of age when they were first surveyed in 1979. Data collected during
the yearly surveys of the NLSY chronicle changes in their lives
and provide researchers an opportunity to study the life course
experiences of a group of young adults who can be considered representative
of all American men and women born in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online
Data about all aspects of criminal justice in the United States
presented in over 600 tables from more than 100 sources.
-
State and Metropolitan Area Data Book Data from the
5th edition (1997-1998) are available here. Also available are lists
of state and metropolitan area rankings.
-
Statistical Abstract of the United States The Statistical
Abstract contains a collection of statistics (over 1400 tables
and graphs) on social, economic, and international subjects. Data
for 1995-1998 are available in pdf format.
- Uniform
Crime Reports The UCR data are compiled from monthly
law enforcement reports or individual crime incident records on
the following crimes reported to law enforcement authorities: homicide,
forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft,
motor vehicle theft, and arson.
- U.S. Census
Bureau Search for information, view their product
catalog, use their data extraction tools from this page.
- On-line Census Guide: http://www.census-online.com/links/
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American Religion Data Archive This site at Purdue
University provides quantitative data for the study of American
religion.
- Data
on the Net A searchable collection of internet sites
with statistical data, data catalogs, social sciences data archives,
etc. From UC San Diego.
- Demographic
and Health Surveys (DHS) An archive of survey data
collected from countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the
Near East.
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IRSS Public Opinion Poll Question Database Provides
keyword access to public opinion polls from the 1960s to the present.
- LABORSTA:
The Labour Statistics Database International labor
statistics from the Statistics Branch of the International Labour
Organization.
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Mexican Migration Project The MMP Database contains
demographic data on more than 7,000 households in 52 Mexican communities
and 500 households in the United States. From the University of
Pennsylvania.
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National Survey of Families and Households A comprehensive
survey of American family life. A national sample of over 13,000
respondents was interviewed in 1987-88. The sample was followed
up in 1992-94.
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OFFSTATS: Official Statistics on the Web "...free
and easily accessible social, economic and general data from official
or similar "quotable" sources, especially those that provide both
current data and time series." From the University of Auckland Library.
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TIMSS International Database Contains many educational
statistics collected in more than 40 countries, including achievement
results in mathematics and science.
- University
of Wisconsin Data and Program Library Service This
site provides useful links to both governmental and non-governmental
domestic and international sites and sources of data. In addition,
the following data sets are among those currently available at this
site:
ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:
The following statement of
policy is required by the University at Albany: It is assumed
that your intellectual labor is your own. If there is any evidence
of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, the minimum penalty
will be an automatic failing grade for that piece of work. Plagiarism
is taking (which includes purchasing) the words and ideas of another
and passing them off as one’s own work. If another person’s work
is quoted directly in a formal paper, this must be indicated with
quotation marks and a citation. Paraphrased or borrowed ideas
are to be identified by proper citations.
GRADING:
Student evaluations will be based on: class participation and
oral presentations (10% of final grade); two 3-5 pp. book/article
reviews on bold numbered readings, one of which must be on Time on the Cross (20%
of final grade); quality of completed projects and assigned exercises
(20% of final grade); and a final research paper (50% of final
grade). Each student is expected to present oral introductions
and critiques of 2 to 3 assigned readings identified below by
bold numbers after
citations (the specific number will be determined by enrollment).
All written assignments are due on the date specified (reviews
of articles and books should be handed in on the day we are scheduled
to discuss them). The final paper is due on May 10th..
CLASS SCHEDULE
Mon., Jan. 23: Introduction to Computing and Historical Data
Analysis
Mon., Jan. 30: History and Quantification: Promise and
Limits
WWW LINKS:
http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/pol02-ma.pdf.
An introduction to census data and census collection. Look through
the instuctions for enumerators for the various 19th century
decennial federal census forms.We'll revisit the census when
we examine studies of social structure and mobility later in
the semester.
REQUIRED READING:
Robert William Fogel, "'Scientific' History and Traditional
History," in Robert William Fogel and G. R. Elton, Which Road
to the Past? (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983). (1)
Robert William Fogel,
A Life of Learning [http://www.acls.org/op34.htm]
(American Council of Learned Societies Occasional Paper No. 34,
1996).
Thomas J. Archdeacon, Correlation and Regression Analysis:
A Historian’s Guide (Madison: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1994),
chap. 1.
Konrad H. Jarausch & Kenneth A. Hardy, Quantitative Methods
For Historians: A Guide to Research, Data, and Statistics,
Chapters 1-2. [Now available on Electronic
Reserve]
Robert A. Gross, "The Machine-Readable Transcendalists: Cultural
History on the Computer," American Quarterly 41 (Sept.
1989): 501-521. Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search.(2)
Margo Anderson, "The History of Women and the History of
Statistics," Journal of Women's History, 4 (Spring
1992): 14-36. Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search.(3)
Elementary Concepts in Statistics in StatSoft:
Electronic Statistics Textbook [http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html.
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Mon., Feb 6: The Research Process in Social Science History,
I: Theory
and Operationalizing
REQUIRED READING:
Carole Shammas, “The Domestic Environment in Early Modern
England and America,” Journal of Social History 14 (Fall
1980): 3-24. Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (4)
B. Zorina Khan, "'Not for Ornament': Patenting Activity
by Nineteenth-Century Women Inventors," Journal of
Interdisciplinary History 31 (Autumn, 2000): 159-195. Available
on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (5)
George W. Bohrnstedt and David Knoke, Statistics for Social
Data Analysis, chap. 1 ("The Social Research Process").
"Factor Analysis" in StatSoft:
Electronic Statistics Textbook [http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html.
PROJECT #1 DUE: Translating
conceptual variables into empirical variables
Mon. February 13: Data—Collecting, Classifying, Coding,
Managing
REQUIRED READING:
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, chaps. 1-2.
Konrad H. Jarausch & Kenneth A. Hardy, Quantitative Methods
For Historians: A Guide to Research, Data, and Statistics,
chap. 4.
Roderick Floud, An Introduction to Quantitative Methods for
Historians (Methuen, 1979), chaps. 1. .
PROJECT #2 DUE: Coding Endicott
Johnson Corporation Employment Records. [See Gerald Zahavi, Workers,
Managers, and Welfare Capitalism, chap. 3 for background information;
on electronic reserve.]
Mon., Feb. 20: No Class
Mon., Feb. 27: The Research Process in Social Science History,
II: Computerized Analysis and Simple Descriptive Statistics
REQUIRED READING:
Thomas Dublin, Women at Work (chapter 3), "The Lowell
Work Force, 1836, and the Social Origins of Women Workers. (6)
Paul E. Johnson, A Shopkeepers Millennium: Society and Revivals
in Rochester, New York 1815-1837, introduction and chapter 5.
(7)
Laurence A. Glasco, "The Life Cycles and Household Structure
of American Ethnic Groups: Irish, Germans, and Native-born Whites
in Buffalo, New York, 1855," from Tamara K. Hareven's Family
and Kin in Urban Communities, 1700-1930 (New York, 1977).(8)
John Robertson, "Re-enlistment Patterns of Civil War Soldiers,"
Journal of Interdisciplinary History 32 (Summer, 2001):
15-35. Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (9)
Loren Haskins and Kirk Jeffrey, Understanding Quantitative
History, 1-38. [Electronic
Reserve]
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, chaps. 4-5.
PROJECT #3 DUE: SPSS analysis
of assigned data set.
Mon., March 6: More on Descriptive Statistics: Summarizing Data
and Displaying
Relationships Between Variables with Tables and Graphs
REQUIRED READING:
Loren Haskins and Kirk Jeffrey, Understanding Quantitative
History, 39-118.
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, chaps. 6-9 and pp. 577-592
(“Obtaining Charts in SPSS”).
Edward R. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
(Cheshire, Conn: Graphics Press, 1983), chapter 1 [see “Graphical
Excellence” on Electronic
Reserve]. (10)
RECOMMENDED READING:
The
Data Artist. By Scott Rosenberg. Source: Salon,
March 1997.
PROJECT #4 DUE: Graphing project.
Mon., March 13: Introduction to Historical Geography and Geographical
Information Systems (GIS) , I
REQUIRED READING:
Anne Kelly Knowles, Ed., Past Time, Past Place: GIS for History
(Esri Press, 2002). (11)
RECOMMENDED GIS RESOURCES:
- ArcExplorer
- ESRI's free GIS data explorer. Allows users to display and query
(but not create) GIS data sources.
- Corpscon
(Version 5.11.03) - a free program developed by the Army Corps
of Engineers, Corpscon is an MS-Windows-based program that allows
users to convert coordinates between Geographic, State Plane and
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) systems on the North American
Datum of 1927 (NAD 27), the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83)
and High Accuracy Reference Networks (HARNs).
- Crimestat
- A free program developed by the Crime Mapping Research Center
at the National Institute of Justice, CrimeStat is a spatial statistics
program for the analysis of crime incident locations. It is Windows-based
and interfaces with most desktop GIS programs.
- ER Viewer
- From ER Mapper, a free "easy to use image viewer featuring interactive
roaming and zooming of very large image files." ER Viewer supports
a wide range of image formats and is OLE-enabled, for viewing images
inside Windows applications. Select the ECW Downloads from the Downloads
link.
- Geomatica
Freeview - PCI Geomatica offers Geomatica, a free viewing environment
for imagery and graphical bitmaps.
- GRASS
GIS - The Geographic Resource Analysis Support System (GRAS)
is a copyrighted, but freely distributed GIS with raster, topological
vector, image processing, and graphics production functionality
that operates in the UNIX environment through a graphical user interface
and shell in X-Windows.
- Irfran View
- very fast FREEWARE 32-Bit graphic viewer for Windoze 9x/ME, WinNT,
Win2000 and Windows XP. View numerous types of files including .SID,
.TIFF and .JPG. Easy to install. You will need to install the Irfran
View plugins also.
- LandView
III - A free Windows-based desktop mapping system that consists
of two components, the LandView database and the MARPLOT mapping
system. The database contains information about EPA-regulated sites,
plus demographic data and street-level maps from the Bureau of the
Census.
- MapInfo
ProViewer - This free viewer allows users to display tables
and workspaces created with MapInfo. An add-on support is available
to use with LizardTech MrSid format images.
- MrSid
GeoViewer - A free application form LizardTech that allows users
to view imagery in MrSid format.
- ERDAS Viewfinder - ERDAS ViewFinder
is a free viewing tool with basic image viewing and manipulation
capabilities available from the "Free Software Downloads"
section.
Mon., March 20: Introduction to Historical Geography and Geographical
Information Systems, II (GIS) / GUEST PRESENTER: Alex Chaucer
Mon., March 27: Inferential Statistics, I: Working With Samples
/ Testing Hypotheses
REQUIRED READING:
Allan G. Johnson, Social Statistics Without Tears, chaps
9 and 10 (pp. 161-197).
Loren Haskins and Kirk Jeffrey, Understanding Quantitative History,
121-206.
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, chaps. 10-12, 14.
James N. Gregory, “The Southern Diaspora and the Urban Dispossessed:
Demonstrating the Census Public Use Microdata Samples,” Journal
of American History 82 (June 1995): 11-134. Available on-line.
Go to Journals
and search. (13)
RECOMMENDED READING:
Integrated
Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) The IPUMS consists
of twenty-five high-precision samples of the American population drawn
from thirteen federal censuses.
Mon., April 3: Statistical Applications in Historical Studies
of Gender and Sexuality: Introduction to Chi Square
REQUIRED READING:
Loren Haskins and Kirk Jeffrey, Understanding Quantitative History,
209-227.
Allan G. Johnson, Social Statistics Without Tears, pp. 228-233.
[Now available on Electronic
Reserve]
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, chap. 17.
Bohrnsted and Knoke, Statistics for Social Data Analysis,
ch. 4, (Crosstabulation").
Cissie Fairchilds, "Female Sexual Attitudes and the Rise of
Illegitimacy: A Case Study," Journal of Interdisciplinary
History, 8 (Spring 1978), 627-667. Available on-line. Go to
Journals
and search. (14)
Regina Markell Morantz and Sue Zschoche, "Professionalism,
Feminism, and Gender Roles: A Comparative Study of Nineteenth-Century
Medical Therapeutics," Journal of American History,
67(Dec., 1980), 568-588. Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (15)
Mon., April 10: No Class
Mon., April 17: Historical Studies of Social Structure, Mobility,
and Public Opinion
REQUIRED READING:
Introduction, chapter 6 & appendixes from Stephen Thernstrom,
The Other Bostonians. (16)
Jonathan M. Wiener, "Planter Persistence and Social Change:
Alabama, 1850-1870," Journal of Interdisciplinary History
7 (Autumn 1976): 235-260. Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (17)
Selection from Clyde and Sally Griffin, Natives and Newcomers:
The Ordering of Opportunity in Mid-Nineteenth Century Poughkeepsie
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978). (18)
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, Appendix B ("Transforming and
Selecting Data"), pp. 593-615.
PROJECT #5 DUE: Crosstabulations
and Chi Square
Mon., April 24: Inferential Statistics, II: Quantifying
Slavery
Mon., May 1: Statistical Measures of Association and Bivariate
Regression
REQUIRED READING:
James Turner, "Understanding the Populists," Journal
of American History, 67 (Sept., 1980), 354-73. Available
on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (20)
Laird Boswell, "The French Rural Communist Electorate,"
Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 23 (Spring, 1993):
719-749. Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search..(21)
Kathleen Smith Kutolowski, "Antimasonry Reexamined: Social
Bases of the Grass-Roots Party," Journal of American History,
71(Sept. 1984), 269-293. Available on-line. Go
to Journals
and search. (22)
Loren Haskins and Kirk Jeffrey, Understanding Quantitative History,
228-257.
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, chapter 20-21.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Lucy Horwitz and Lou Ferleger, Statistics for Social Change
(Boston: South End Press, 1980), chap. 14 ("Correlation").
Allan G. Johnson, Social Statistics Without Tears, 103-113.
See "Correlation" under "Basic Statistics"
in StatSoft:
Electronic Statistics Textbook [http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html.
PROJECT #7 DUE: Scattergrams
and correlation coefficients.
Mon., May 8: Introduction to Multivariate Analysis and Regression
REQUIRED READING:
Allan G. Johnson, Social Statistics Without Tears, 118-137.
Loren Haskins and Kirk Jeffrey, Understanding Quantitative History,
259-361.
SPSS Guide to Data Analysis, chapter 23 (Recommended:
chapters 22, 24).
W. J. Rorabaugh, "Prohibition as Progress: New York State's
License Elections, 1846," Journal of Social History
(Spring 1981), 425-443. (read footnote #25 carefully). Available
on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (23)
Carole Shammas, "How Self-Sufficient Was Early America?"
Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 13(Autumn, 1982), 247-272.
Available on-line. Go to Journals
and search. (24)
"Factor Analysis" and "Linear Regression" in
StatSoft:
Electronic Statistics Textbook [http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html.
FINAL QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PAPER IS DUE May 12th.
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