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This document continues a series of statistical reports from the National Center for Children in Poverty about young child poverty in the United States. The highlights of this update include the current profile of extremely poor, poor, and near poor population of young children; an examination of the changing association between higher education among parents and the economic well-being of young children; and an analysis of the impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit on young child poverty. Among the findings noted in the report are the following: (1) the poverty rate for young children and the number of poor young children have declined significantly since 1993, yet remain well above levels seen in earlier decades; (2) almost half of young poor children live in extreme poverty; (3) poverty continues to occur disproportionately among black and Hispanic young children; (4) racial differences in young child poverty rates have narrowed; (5) whites remain the largest racial or ethnic group of young children in poverty; (6) poverty rates are highest in urban areas, but 60 percent of the poor young children live in suburban or rural areas; (7) the young child poverty rate has risen fastest in suburban areas; (8) the risk of experiencing poverty is related to living in a single parent family, low parental educational attainment, and part-time or lack of parental employment; and (9) in 1997, the young child poverty estimate would have been 24 percent higher in the absence of the earned income tax credit. (KB

Making Sense of Statistical Methods in Social Research is a critical introduction to the use of statistical methods in social research. It provides a unique approach to statistics that concentrates on helping social researchers think about the conceptual basis for the statistical methods they're using. Whereas other statistical methods books instruct students in how to get through the statistics-based elements of their chosen course with as little mathematical knowledge as possible, this book aims to improve students' statistical literacy, with the ultimate goal of turning them into competent researchers. Making Sense of Statistical Methods in Social Research contains careful discussion of the conceptual foundation of statistical methods, specifying what questions they can, or cannot, answer. The logic of each statistical method or procedure is explained, drawing on the historical development of the method, existing publications that apply the method, and methodological discussions. Statistical techniques and procedures are presented not for the purpose of showing how to produce statistics with certain software packages, but as a way of illuminating the underlying logic behind the symbols. The limited statistical knowledge that students gain from straight forward 'how-to' books makes it very hard for students to move beyond introductory statistics courses to postgraduate study and research. This book should help to bridge this gap.