Investigating the social world : the process and practice of research

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Bibliographic Information

Investigating the social world : the process and practice of research

Russell K. Schutt

Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, c2006

5th ed

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Includes bibliographical references and indexes

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Praise for the Fourth Edition: `I think this volume is a good textbook and, if I were teaching a research methods subject, I would consider using it as a core text. The extensive study aids are a particularly attractive aspect of the book as a teaching pool' - Qualitative Research Journal The Fifth Edition of Investigating the Social World is written so that the `doing' of social research is closely and consistently linked to important social issues, demonstrating not only the value of research, but also how technique and substance are intimately related. The text offers guides for critiquing research articles, exercises for applying research skills and the examples of analyzing and reporting social data provide instructors with key supports for effective teaching. Ethical concerns and ethical decision making are treated in tandem with each study of specific methods and an emphasis on `how to do' research is joined with an equal emphasis on giving students the critical skills necessary to evaluate research done by others.

Table of Contents

Science, Society, and Social Research Learning About the Social World Avoiding Errors in Reasoning About the Social World Science, Social Science and Psuedoscience Social Research Goals Strengths and Limitations of Social Research Conclusions Theories and Philosophies for Social Research Theoretical Perspectives in Social Science Social Research Philosophies Conclusions The Process and Problems of Social Research Social Research Questions Social Research Foundations Social Research Strategies Social Research Ethics Social Research Proposals, Part I Conclusions Conceptualization and Measurement Concepts Measurement Operations Levels of Measurement Evaluating Measures Conclusions Sampling Sample Planning Sampling Methods Sampling Distributions Conclusions Causation and Research Design Causal Explanation Research Designs and Criteria for Causal Explanation Conclusions Experiments True Experiments Quasi-Experiments Nonexperiments Validity in Experiments Ethical Issues in Experimental Research Conclusions Survey Research Survey Research in the Social Sciences Writing Questions Combining Questions in Indexes Designing Questionnaires Organizing Surveys Combining Methods Ethical Issues in Survey Research Conclusions Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening Fundamentals of Qualitative Methods Participant Observation Systematic Observation Intensive Interviewing Focus Groups Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research Conclusions Qualitative Data Analysis Features of Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques of Qualitative Data Analysis Alternatives in Qualitative Data Analysis Visual Sociology Evaluation Research Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Conclusions Ethics in Qualitative Data Analysis Evaluation Research History of Evaluation Research Evaluation Basics Questions for Evaluation Research Design Decisions Ethics in Evaluation Conclusions Historical and Comparative Research Overview of Unobtrusive Methods for Comparative and Historical Research Historical Social Science Methods Comparative Social Science Methods Demographic Analysis Methodological Complications Ethical Issues in Historical and Comparative Research Conclusions Secondary Data Analysis and Content Analysis Secondary Data Sources Challenges for Secondary Data Analyses Content Analysis Ethical Issues in Secondary Data Analysis and Content Analysis Conclusions Quantitative Data Analysis Introducing Statistics Preparing Data for Analysis Displaying Univariate Distributions Summarizing Univariate Distributions Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie With Statistics Crosstabulating Variables Regression Analysis Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie About Relationships Conclusions Reporting Research Social Research Proposals, Part II Comparing Research Designs Writing Research Reporting Research Ethics, Politics, and Research Reports Conclusions

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