Research methods / methodology Books

Book SynopsisFirst published Open Access under a Creative Commons license as What is Rhythmanalysis?, this title is now also available as part of the Bloomsbury Research Methods series.In recent years, there has been growing interest in Henri Lefebvre's posthumously published volume, Rhythmanalysis. For Lefebvre and subsequent scholars, rhythmanalysis is a research strategy which offers a means of thinking space and time together in the study of everyday life, and this remains its strength and appeal. This book addresses the task of how to do rhythmanalysis. It discusses the history and development of rhythmanalysis from Lefebvre to the present day in a range of fields including cultural history and studies of place, work and nature. For Lefebvre, it is necessary to be grasped by' a rhythm at a bodily level in order to grasp it. And yet we also need critical distance to fully understand it. Rhythmanalysis is therefore both corporeal and conceptual. This book Trade ReviewIt is hard to imagine a more engaging, yet succinct introduction to Henri Lefebvre’s rhythmanalysis. Surveying the most relevant cross-disciplinary work while continually demonstrating how rhythmanalysis is a practicable method, this book is illuminating and generative in equal measure. * Gregory J. Seigworth, Professor of Communication Studies, Millersville University, USA *Starting with Lefebvre's thought and tracing its evolution through the current times across the social sciences, Lyon's book presents rhythmanalysis as a family of concepts, a research strategy and a set of field practices intended to sensitize students and scholars to undertake empirical research with attention to the flows of rhythm. The book demystifies the often-misunderstood but ever so popular concept through clear and practical terms and examples, showing us how to better understand social life through the perspective of rhythm and the role of time in the production, imagination, experience, and representation of multiple social realities. * Phillip Vannini, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Royal Roads University, Canada *Dawn Lyon's invitation to consider the methodological benefits of adopting rhythmanalysis as a research tool is a no-nonsense, bracing account that generously treats readers to a wealth of empirical examples and theoretical ideas. Rescuing Lefebvre's contentions from the realm of arcane scholarly debate, Lyon provides a wide-ranging, lucid and convivial exploration that grounds rhythmic experience in everyday living while simultaneously extending ways in which rhythm may be conceptualised. * Tim Edensor, Reader in Cultural Geography, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK *A timely contribution. While rhythmanalysis to date has not been a well-defined methodology, or at least can as much reveal the idiosyncrasies of the researcher, her book offers a clear and thoughtful attempt to characterize what rhythmanalysis might actually look like for a wide range of researchers. * Sunil Manghani, Professor of Theory, Practice and Critique, University of Southampton, UK *Table of ContentsSeries Editor Foreword 1. Introduction to Rhythmanalysis 2. A Brief History of Rhythmanalysis 3. The Application of Rhythmanalysis 4. Gains and Limitations of Rhythmanalysis 5. Future Directions in Rhythmanalysis 6. Summary Annotated Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the possibilities of the relationships between theory and method as enacted in post-qualitative research. The contributors, based in Australia, Canada, the UK and USA, use theory and method to disrupt established traditions and create new and alternative possibilities for research in identity, agency, power, social justice, space, materiality, and other transformations. Using examples of recent and highly innovative research practices which meaningfully challenge taken-for-granted assumptions in education and social science, the editors and contributors open new ground for other ways of thinking about doing research in these fields. Major theoretical perspectives explored and applied include: posthumanism, poststructuralism, feminist theory, ecofeminism, new materialism, SF, and critical theory and the theorists drawn on include: Karen Barad, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Mikhail Bakhtin, Donna Haraway, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Rosie Braidotti, Anna TsingTrade ReviewThis important new collection has that ‘forward tilt’ described by the editors, of elaborating new concepts and new possibilities for thought and action, while being anchored in the ethics and the affects of specific research projects and encounters. It is a lively and serious contribution to a field that, thankfully, still has no fixed boundaries. * Maggie MacLure, Professor of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK *Matthew Thomas and Robin Bellingham have assembled a book we need in this moment, one that moves beyond the pronouncements of post-qualitative, posthumanist, and agential realism as departures from what was and takes the step of materially exploring what social inquiry can be. It does so with an honesty about the slippages, challenges, and struggles of putting new theory to work that will stimulate great conversations in methodology classes and conferences for years to come. * Jerry Rosiek, Professor of Education Studies, University of Oregon, USA *This provoking volume is one of the Bloomsbury Social Theory and Methodology in Education Research Series…The book provides an opportunity to question assumptions upon which research and society are built… The editors and authors are to be congratulated for developing and presenting a book that takes us to see research with different eyes, to imagine new forms and terms, to be intrigued by the intersecting of humanity with the natural world, and to envisage further changes that are moving into the world of Artificial Intelligence. -- Margaret Malloch * Australian Journal of Adult Learning *Table of ContentsSeries Preface, Mark Murphy Foreword, Julianne Moss 1. The Vitality of Theory in Research Innovation, Matthew Krehl Edward Thomas and Robin Bellingham Part I: Disruption, Subjectivity and Agency 2. Postproductive Methods: Researching Modes of Relationality and Affect Worlds through Participatory Video with Youth, Laura Trafí-Prats and Rachel Fendler 3. Experimental Critical Qualitative Inquiry: Disrupting Methodologies, Resisting Subjects, Travis M. Marn and Jennifer R. Wolgemuth 4. Troubling Binaries: Gendering Research in Environmental Education, Catherine Hart and Annette Gough 5. The Shame of Participation: Rethinking the Ontology of Participation with a Stutter, Eve Mayes Part II: Frontiers: Possibility, Timespace and Materiality 6. Posthumanist Poetics and the Transcorporeal, Hypercorporeal Chronotope, Robin Bellingham 7. Who is in My Office and Which Century/ies Are We In? A Pedagogical Encounter, Mary Dixon 8. Disturbance and Intensive Methodology in Capitalist Ruins, Jesse Bazzul 9. Transversalities in Education Research: Using Heterotopias to Theorize Spaces of Crises and Deviation, Marguerite Jones and Jennifer Charteris Part III: Entanglements and Innovations: Method and Theory 10. Swarms and Murmurations, Matthew Thomas 11. Post-Anthropocene Imaginings: Speculative thought, Diffractive Play and Women on the Edge of Time, Chessa Adsit-Morris and Noel Gough 12. Replete sensations of the Refrain: Sound, Action and Materiality in Agentic Posthuman Assemblages, Jennifer Charteris and Marguerite Jones Index

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Book SynopsisNick Peim is Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is the author of Critical Theory and the English Teacher (1993), and co-author of Introduction to Education Studies (2001) and Rethinking the Education Improvement Agenda (2011). He has taught for over ten years on research methods courses at the University of Birmingham, UK.Trade ReviewThe search for the validation of a particular paradigm of educational research is problematized by Nick Peim in the effort to identify a shift away from the hegemonic structure of the current empiricist paradigm under the rhetoric of an evidence-based goal. Shifting from a search for certainty in the form of standardized research protocols and the brute data that provide the paradigm its legitimacy requires intentional inquiry into the research project. Thinking in Education Research provides a foundation for this renewal and rethinking of research. * Paul Parkison, Associate Professor, University of North Florida, USA *Throw away your handbooks, abandon the well-trodden avenues of educational research, and give upon the idea that education must, before all else, be improved. This book is a rare invitation to think the unthinkable in educational research. * Ansgar Allen, Lecturer in Education, University of Sheffield, UK *Table of Contents1. Introduction: What is the Role of Thinking? 2. What is Philosophical about Research? 3. What is the Object? 4. What about the Role of the Researcher? 5. Is the Truth Out There? 6. What about Time, Place and World? 7. What is the Role of Narrative? 8. Why Does Language Matter? 9. New Bearings in Significance and Value? Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisCatherine Lyall is Professor of Science and Public Policy at the University ofEdinburgh, UK. Ann Bruce is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Joyce Tait is Professor and Co-Director of the Innogen Institute at the Universityof Edinburgh, UK. Laura Meagher heads the Technology Development Group and is an HonoraryFellow at the University of Edinburgh, UK.Trade ReviewThis book is an essential guide for researchers and research managers in how to do interdisciplinary projects and programmes. Written by a team highly experienced in the conduct and evaluation of interdisciplinary work, the book is full of helpful tips and practical examples. -- Philip Lowe, Duke of Northumberland Professor of Rural Economy, Director of the UK Research Councils’ Rural Economy and Land-Use (Relu) ProgrammeThis timely new book marks an important turning point in the literature. It brings together conceptual insights with wisdom of practice for capacity building. Overviews of key topics are enriched by short case studies, advice boxes, and reflective questions for individuals and teams at all levels and stages of design, development, management, and evaluation. Grounded in literature and hands-on experience, the volume provides a wide audience with informed and tested lessons about strategies both within and across institutional sectors. -- Julie Thompson Klein, Professor of Humanities, Department of English and Faculty Fellow in the Office for Teaching and Learning, Wayne State UniversityRigorously researched, clearly structured, and entertainingly written, Interdisciplinary Research Journeys will be essential reading for researchers, managers, and policy-makers alike. -- Andrew Barry, University of OxfordTable of ContentsIntroduction; Designing ID Research Projects; Building and Managing ID Teams; Training the Next Generation of Interdisciplinary Researchers; Charting a Course for an Interdisciplinary Career; The Contribution of Interdisciplinary Research; Evaluating Interdisciplinary Research; The Future Interdisciplinary Landscape

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Book SynopsisMany resources exist to help new doctoral investigators to understand and engage with the tenets and philosophies that underpin doctoral-level research to allow for a sample of self-as-subject research. Every day, new forms of researcher-participant data collection and analysis protocols and contributions to the respective discipline in the use of these methods are designed by doctoral researchers and other scholars for heuristic inquiry and autoethnography. Autoethnography and Heuristic Inquiry for Doctoral-Level Researchers: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential research publication that explores the conventions of autoethnography or heuristic research within the specific context of doctoral-level research. In contrast to similar resources, this book presents various and unique systematic methods and procedures used within current research for data collection, analysis, interpretation and representations of data, and study contributions to illustrate the varied nuances and many choices doctoral-level researchers have when their research design is founded on the principles and tenets of autoethnography or heuristic inquiry. Thus, this book is ideal for doctoral research supervisors, doctoral students, independent researchers, and academicians.

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Book SynopsisAfter almost three centuries of employing Western research methodologies, many African communities, both on the continent and throughout the world, remain marginalized in contemporary discourse. It is obvious that these Western methodologies have done relatively little good for Africans. To rectify this oversight and bring these African communities to the fore, a shift in perspective is needed, and this book posits the adoption of alternative, African-centered research methodologies as a solution. Employing such methodologies would enable African communities to define their unique identities from their unique perspectives and would help offer a long-overdue challenge to entrenched European paradigms of Africans as the “other.” To enable readers to apply a methodology systematically in investigating a phenomenon of interest to him/her, chapters in African-Centered Research Methodologies include: An introduction to the method discussed A definition of the method The sub-areas of the method A brief history and brief backgrounds of the pioneers of the method Major research questions investigated by the method Major concepts and/or theories of the method Major research topics covered by the method Types of methodological approaches employed Major academic journals and publications that publish works utilizing the method A sample of outstanding scholarly works that have employed the method A conclusion

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Book SynopsisA volume in Ethics in Practice Series Editors Robert A. Giacalone, Temple University and Carole L. Jurkiewicz, Louisiana State University The daily process of public service provision and administration is filled with value judgments and value trade-offs, and the safeguarding of just and fair processes is key to the public's trust in governing institutions. In crises, public decision-makers face complex ethical judgments under great uncertainty, timepressure, and heightened public scrutiny. A lack of attention to the ethical dimensions of crises has lead decision-makers to long-shadow crises that never reach closure. Furthermore, crises triggered by unethical conduct by public officials steadily feed people's cynicism about politicians and bureaucracy. The fact that decision-makers often are judged on how they dealt with ethical issues in crises further underlines the importance of this topic. Little scholarly attention had been paid to how ethics play into and are dealt with in situations when they matters most - in crises. In order to improve government performance we need to analyze the ethical dilemmas and normative challenges that face practitioners in crises. This book meets this challenge by presenting a public policy framework for analyzing the ethical dilemmas in crises and introduces ten empirical chapters written by prominent public administration and crisis management scholars. The cases reviewed include Abu Ghraib, the 9/11 Commission, the 2008 Financial Crisis and the Memorial Hospital Tragedy during Hurricane Katrina. Building off the empirical focus on inherent ethical challenges in crises and actor ethics in evaluation and judgment, the concluding chapter outlines important lessons about criteria for crisis decision-making and strategies, the poisoned apple of bureaucratic discretion, and the nature of post-crisis evaluations. The book is geared toward students, scholars, and practitioners concerned with public management, public sector ethics, public policy, crisis management, and the implication of these factors on business and corporate crisis management.

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Book SynopsisOpen access publishing can be used as a strategic tool to avail access to information and achieve universal literacy. Open access has gained importance over the past 15 years by making knowledge available to all, without any barrier of affordability or restrictions on using this knowledge to inform and develop. Open access contributes to scientific research excellence, disseminates research results to a wider community, and promotes multi-disciplinary and collaborative research. Issues of sustainable development and open access are major concerns in librarianship and information management, particularly as the international library and information management community is focusing on how to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.Open Access Implications for Sustainable Social, Political, and Economic Development is a pivotal reference source that provides an understanding of the concept of open access within the context of social, political, and economic development and deliberates the critical issues and challenges that face the implementation of open access and its impact on the global economy and sustainable development. While highlighting a broad range of topics including digital scholarship, open data, and ethics, this book is ideally designed for librarians, information science professionals, government officials, policymakers, academicians, researchers, and students.

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Book SynopsisSocio-legal researchers increasingly recognise the need to employ a wide variety of methods in studying law and legal phenomena, and the need to be informed by an understanding of debates about theory and method in mainstream social science. The papers in this volume illustrate how a range of topics, including EU law, ombudsmen, judges, lawyers, Shariah Councils and the quality assurance industry can be researched from a socio-legal perspective. The objective of the collection is to show how different methods can be used in researching law and legal phenomena, how methodological issues and debates in sociology are relevant to the study of law, and the importance of the debate between "structural" and "action" traditions in researching law. It also approaches the methodological problem of how sociology of law can address the content of legal practice from a variety of perspectives and discusses the relationship between pure and applied research. The editors provide a critical introduction to each of the six sections, and a general introduction on law, sociology and method. The collection will provide an invaluable resource for socio-legal researchers, law school researchers and postgraduates.Trade ReviewI found all 16 papers to be of high caliber, clearly written and organized, and this makes for engaging reading. Theory and Methods in Socio-Legal Research will doubtless prove fruitful for use in all courses in sociolegal studies, but particularly in those courses taught in British and American law schools that tend to ignore conceptual and methodological considerations. A. Javier Trevino Law & Society Review Volume 41, Number 2 (2007)Table of ContentsIntroduction Reza Banakar and Max Travers 1. Law, Sociology and Method Reza Banakar and Max Travers SECTION 1: METHOD VERSUS METHODOLOGY Introduction to Section One Reza Banakar and Max Travers 2. Ethnography and Socio-Legal Research John Flood 3. Systems Theory and Qualitative Socio-legal Research Klaus A Ziegert SECTION 2: ETHNOGRAPHY AND LAW Introduction to Section Two Reza Banakar and Max Travers 4. Courses of Mobilisation: Writing systematic micro-histories of legal discourse Thomas Scheffer 5. "Standpoint", "Difference" and Feminist Research Samia Banio 6. Researching Women's Legal Experiences in Botswana: An anthropological perspective Anne Griffiths SECTION 3: STUDYING LEGAL TEXTS Introduction to Section Three Reza Banakar and Max Travers 7. Studying Cases Empirically: A sociological method for studying discrimination cases in Sweden Reza Banakar 8. Researching Ombudsmen Mary Seneviratne 9. Discourse Analysis and the Implementation of a European Directive Bettina Lange SECTION 4: STRUCTURAL APPROACHES Introduction to Section Four Reza Banakar and Max Travers 10. How to Study the Social and Legal Position of Danish Judges Ole Hammerslev 11: Changing Maps: Empirical legal autopoesis John Paterson and Gunther Teubner SECTION 5: STUDYING LEGAL CULTURES Introduction to Section Five Reza Banakar and Max Travers 12. Doing Research into Comparative Criminal Justice David Nelken 13. Researching Legal Culture in Russia Marina Kurkchiyan SECTION 6: SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH IN THE UK Introduction to Section Six Reza Banakar and Max Travers 14. Constructing a Typology of Administrative Grievances Michael Adler 15. The Formalisation of Research Ethics Andrew Boon 16. Evaluation Research and Legal Services Max Travers

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. The massive expansion of the internet into every aspect of our lives creates a challenge for social researchers: can they simply transfer their traditional methods and techniques online or do they need to reinvent research methods for the new environment? As online research becomes increasingly prevalent it becomes more important for researchers to have an answer to these questions and an approach to conducting research online. This book is a straightforward, accessible introduction to social research online. It covers the key issues and concerns for social scientists: online surveys, focus groups, interviews, ethnographies and experiments, as well as discussing the implications of social media, and of online research ethics. It provides a detailed, up-to-date glossary and bibliography for those new to the area. Short, clear case studies throughout allow students to see examples of the research in practice. Wide-ranging and interdisciplinary, What is Online Research? shows social scientists of all levels - from undergraduates to established researchers - how to engage in the online environment in appropriate ways, and points the way forward for future research.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements List of tables (see below) NO List of figures Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. A brief history of online research methods Chapter 3. Dealing with ethical issues in online research Chapter 4. Online surveys chapter 5. Online interviews and focus groups Chapter 6. Online ethnographies Chapter 7. Online experiments Chapter 8. Where next for online methods? Glossary Bibliography Normal 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. This book invites readers to explore the nature of qualitative research, and to recognise the varied and conflicting forms it can take. It examines how these contrast with quantitative work, as well as how they differ from journalism and imaginative literature. The book describes various methodological philosophies that have shaped qualitative work, as well as different types of orientation to be found within it today. It offers clear definitions of key terms and concepts, and also a detailed exploration of recent disputes among qualitative researchers, with a view to showing how differences in practice relate to underlying commitments. This book will be a vital resource for both new and experienced researchers.Trade ReviewQualitative research has become a vast and complex approach to understanding social life, riddled with diversity and debate. Martyn Hammersley has, in this short text, managed to introduce all of this complexity and diversity without baffling the reader. It is an inspiring and exciting text, full of relevant examples illustrating the diversity of qualitative research today. Written by an undoubted authority in the field, this accessible book should whet the appetite of any would-be qualitative researcher. * Karen O'Reilly, Professor of Sociology, University of Loughborough *This is a well written, authoritative text on qualitative research, written by a leading scholar in the field. The style is accessible without being patronizing; it deals with both methodology and research practice; it provides helpful definitions and typologies; it gives a sense of both the distinctiveness and diversity of qualitative approaches to social research. I enjoyed reading it. I think it will have a broad appeal to those new to qualitative research, to students and to those working within the field. In that sense it manages to be both introductory and thought provoking. * Amanda Coffey, Cardiff University School of Social Sciences, UK *Table of ContentsContents Preface Chapter 1 Defining qualitative research Chapter 2 Methodological philosophies Chapter 3 Divergent analytic styles Chapter 4 Two methodological disputes Conclusion References

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. There has been an increasing interest in research ethics over the last decade given the increasing ethical regulation of social research. 'Ethical literacy' encourages researchers to understand and engage with the ethical issues that emerge in the process of research. This book provides a short, succinct and accessible overview of the field, highlighting the key issues and everyday ethical dilemmas that researchers are likely to face in different contexts. Covering a range of methods, the book provides clear guidance for researchers on how to identify an approach that fits with their moral and intellectual framework. It explores ethical issues relating to 'traditional' research methods as well as to new and emerging methods and approaches - particularly visual and online methods.Trade ReviewAn excellent text - clear, thoughtful and comprehensive. * Janet Boddy, Reader in Child, Youth and Family Studies, University of Sussex, UK *A well-written accessible introduction to the topic. -- Libby Bishop, Senior Officer Research Data Management, University of Essex, UKThis short book reflects years of experience with qualitative research and presents insights gained from research into ethical approaches. Wiles brings home the point that ethical review is not an exercise like jumping through hoops set out by regulations and once you’ve ticked all the right boxes for the committee you can forget about them and, this is the real benefit of the book, demonstrates how exciting and rewarding the engagement with research ethics is. Research ethic committees may wish to adopt this short book as welcome present to new members. -- Dr. Ulrike Hohmann, Plymouth University, UKA brilliant and insightful book that explores the ethical aspects of qualitative research. Has been recommended to my students for background reading in order to better understand the ethical concerns of qualitative research. -- Amer Khan Shehzad, University of Central Lancaster, UKThis is a useful introductory text for anyone who is new to qualitative research ethics. It is short, well-structured and clearly written ... I was pleased to see that the risk and safety chapter includes not only risks to participants but also risks to researchers, which often seem to be overlooked ... Overall, though, I think Wiles has done a good job of packing a huge subject into a small container. She recognises that readers are likely to need further information, and provides four pages of useful reading and resources. -- Helen Kara * Social Research Association Research Matters Magazine *Table of ContentsContents Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Thinking Ethically: Approaches To Research Ethics Chapter 3 Informed Consent Chapter 4 Anonymity and Confidentiality Chapter 5 Risk and Safety Chapter 6 Ethical Dilemmas Chapter 7 Where Next for Research Ethics? Further Reading and Resources References Normal 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on bloomsburycollections.com. What is Qualitative Interviewing? is an accessible and comprehensive ‘what is’ and ‘how to’ methods book. It is distinctive in emphasising the importance of good practice in understanding and undertaking qualitative interviews within the framework of a clear philosophical position. Rosalind Edwards and Janet Holland provide clear and succinct explanations of a range of philosophies and theories of how to know about the social world, and a thorough discussion of how to go about researching it using interviews. A series of short chapters explain and illustrate a range of interview types and practices. Drawing on their own and colleagues’ experiences Holland and Edwards provide real research examples as informative illustrations of qualitative interviewing in practice, and the use of a range of creative interview tools. They discuss the use of new technologies as well as tackling enduring issues around asking and listening and power dynamics in research. Written in a clear and accessible style the book concludes with a useful annotated bibliography of key texts and journals in the field. What is Qualitative Interviewing? provides a vital resource for both new and experienced social science researchers across a range of disciplines.Trade ReviewProfessors Rosalind Edwards and Janet Holland provide an easily digestible introductory text for newcomers to the qualitative aspects of social research. Research can be daunting for beginners who are keen to engage in the interview process as a key method. What is Qualitative Interviewing? will no doubt provide the confidence for students to consider best practice when interviewing their participants ... A most definite must read for those plunging into their very first qualitative interviews. -- Sadia Habib * The Sociological Imagination *We learn, with the utmost clarity and conciseness, a great deal about the key terms, the development of the method, forms of qualitative interviewing, research tools, practical aspects of conducting an interview ... and strengths, issues and the future of qualitative interviewing ... A really successful and readable book that will help you to understand and reflect upon qualitative interviewing. * Soziologische Revue (Bloomsbury translation) *Good, easy, accessible book for undergraduate teaching that fits with what I teach and signposts students well. Succinct, but not too basic either. Good introduction to qualitative interviewing. -- Kaye Richards, Liverpool John Moores University, UKTable of ContentsWhat do the Key Terms Used about Qualitative Interviews Mean? How Have Qualitative Interviews Developed? What Forms can Qualitative Interviews Take? Where can Qualitative Interviews Take Place? What Sort of Research Tools can be Used in Conducting Qualitative Interviews? What are the Practicalities Involved in Conducting Qualitative Interviews? What are the Strengths and Challenges in Using Qualitative Interviews? What Criticisms Have Been Made of Qualitative Interviews, and Where Next for Qualitative Interviewing?

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Book SynopsisThis book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. This book introduces the non-specialist reader to the principal ideas, nature and purpose of social network analysis. Social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals achieve their goals. Social network theory maps these relationships between individual actors. Though relatively new on the scene it has become hugely influential across the social sciences. Assuming no prior knowledge of quantitative sociology, this book presents the key ideas in context through examples and illustrations. Using a structured approach to understanding work in this area, John Scott signposts further reading and online sources so readers can develop their knowledge and skills to become practitioners of this research method. A series of Frequently Asked Questions takes the reader through the main objections raised against social network analysis and answers the various queries that will come up once the reader has worked their way through the book.Trade ReviewA very good text tackling a complex issue, highly recommended. * Stuart Agnew, University Campus Suffolk, UK *Table of ContentsSeries Page Series Foreword List of Figures Introduction History of Social Network Analysis Key Concepts and Measures Applications of Network Analysis Criticisms and Frequently Asked Questions Software for Social Network Analysis References Index

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Book SynopsisChoosing a research method can be bewildering. How can you be sure which methodology is appropriate, or whether your chosen combination of methods is consistent with the theoretical perspective you want to take? The Foundations of Social Research links methodology and theory with great clarity and precision, showing students and researchers how to navigate the maze of conflicting terminology. The major epistemological stances and theoretical perspectives that colour and shape current social research are detailed: positivism, constructionism, interpretivism, critical inquiry, feminism and postmodernism. Crotty reveals the philosophical origins of these schools of inquiry and shows how various disciplines contribute to the practice of social research as it is known today. The Foundations of Social Research is essential reading for new and experienced researchers, students and professionals, in the social and health sciences.'' .a wonderful piece of writing, expounding the philosophical and theoretical considerations of the research process for social researchers in a clear, fair minded and friendly way.''Clive Seale, Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths College, University of London

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