Spectral Analysis of Time-Series Data: Methodology in the Social Sciences

This book provides a thorough introduction to methods for detecting and describing cyclic patterns in time-series data. It is written both for researchers and students new to the area and for those who have already collected time-series data but wish to learn new ways of understanding and presenting them. Facilitating the interpretation of observations of behavior, physiology, mood, perceptual threshold, social indicator variables, and other responses, the book focuses on practical applications and requires much less mathematical background than most comparable texts. Using real data sets and currently available software (SPSS for Windows), the author employs extensive examples to clarify key concepts. Topics covered include research design issues, preliminary data screening, identification and description of cycles, summary of results across time series, and assessment of relations between time series. Also considered are theoretical questions, problems of interpretation, and potential sources of artifact.