Social research and statistics Books

Book SynopsisSocial psychologist and Stanford professor Brian Lowery presents a provocative, powerful theory of identity, arguing that there is no essential "self"—our selves are social creations of those with whom we interact —exploring what that means for who we can be and who we allow others to be.Trade Review“An unusually insightful look at how our social world shapes who we become. This book will challenge you to rethink many of your assumptions about what drives your decisions, your actions, and your identity.” — Adam Grant, author of Think Again and Originals “This powerful book is guaranteed to change the way you see yourself and the world around you. Lowery masterfully weaves science and stories together to expose that we are all selfless – shaped in each moment and over years by our social situations. Selfless is a gift – an engaging and important book that will help you better understand the influence of the web of relationships you inhabit.” — Katy Milkman, author of How to Change “[Lowery] investigates many commonly held assumptions that selfhood is, for the most part, a privately malleable entity originating within us at birth, and that absolute liberty in defining it might be both possible and desirable. We know ourselves better and can improve our chances at self-improvement, the author explains convincingly, if we accept that our identities are fluid, socially determined phenomena…. An informed, thought-provoking consideration of the relational dimensions of our lives.” — Kirkus Reviews "Blending psychology, philosophy, and sociology, Lowery relays the exploration of what a self is into questions about how selfhood relates to personal autonomy, the consequences of our actions, and the desire for a meaningful life. Lowery is remarkably skillful at making these potentially heady themes clear and accessible, and engaging with them makes for a rewarding journey." — Mindful

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Book SynopsisThis new textbook addresses the neglect of practical research methods in cultural studies. It provides students with clearly written overviews of research methods in cultural studies, along with guidelines on how to put these methods into operation. It advocates a multi-method approach, with students drawing from a pool of techniques and approaches suitable for their own topics of investigation. The book covers the following main areas:* Drawing on experience, and studying how narratives make sense of experience.* Investigating production processes in the cultural industries, and the consumption and assimilation of cultural products by audiences and fans.* Taking both quantitative and qualitative approaches to the study of cultural life.* Analysing visual images and both spoken and written forms of discourse.* Exploring cultural memory and historical representation.The contributors, along with Michael Pickering, are Martin Barker, Aeron Davis, David Deacon, Emily Keightley, Steph Lawler, Anneke Meyer, Virginia Nightingale, and Sarah Pink. The book is designed for use by students on upper-level undergraduate and taught Masters-level courses as well as postgraduate research students and cultural studies researchers more generally. It will be of enormous value across all fields of study involved in cultural enquiry and analysis.Trade ReviewThis book serves a double purpose: it features very useful 'how to' advice and guidance but Pickering and his contributors also take many of the assumptions and practices of cultural studies to task. This book is primarily aimed at upper level undergraduate and graduate students, but it would be a valuable resource across all areas of teaching. -- Geoff Lealand, University of Waikato Media International Australia Research Methods for Cultural Studies is a brilliant book. It is inspiring, challenging, stroppy, provocative and well written. It has punch and passion ... This is the best book that has been written on cultural studies methods. -- Tara Babazon, University of Brighton Times Higher Education Providing readers with a clear, concise overview of the qualitative and quantitative approaches to research methods in cultural studies, This book will be useful for undergraduate students of all aspects of cultural study from anthropology to media studies. Bookseller Michael Pickering has assembled a fine and fascinating collection of articles from various scholars working in cultural studies. That the book consists of ten chapters plus an introduction and index makes it an ideal starter text for those beginning research! Of particular assistance to the course leader who may well select this book as a text for an undergraduate or graduate course is the Summary Key Points section which concludes each chapter. The clarity of these summary points, along with a Further Reading section, provides accessibility and focus that is always valuable for new scholars. Pickering intends his book to help establish methods training as an integral part of doing cultural studies. In this, he has succeeded! Pickering's text is likely to become a classic in the field and helpful to any and all interested in meaningful research within the social sciences. -- Allyson Jule, Trinity Western University, Canada Qualitative Research This book serves a double purpose: it features very useful 'how to' advice and guidance but Pickering and his contributors also take many of the assumptions and practices of cultural studies to task. This book is primarily aimed at upper level undergraduate and graduate students, but it would be a valuable resource across all areas of teaching. Research Methods for Cultural Studies is a brilliant book. It is inspiring, challenging, stroppy, provocative and well written. It has punch and passion ... This is the best book that has been written on cultural studies methods. Providing readers with a clear, concise overview of the qualitative and quantitative approaches to research methods in cultural studies, This book will be useful for undergraduate students of all aspects of cultural study from anthropology to media studies. Michael Pickering has assembled a fine and fascinating collection of articles from various scholars working in cultural studies. That the book consists of ten chapters plus an introduction and index makes it an ideal starter text for those beginning research! Of particular assistance to the course leader who may well select this book as a text for an undergraduate or graduate course is the Summary Key Points section which concludes each chapter. The clarity of these summary points, along with a Further Reading section, provides accessibility and focus that is always valuable for new scholars. Pickering intends his book to help establish methods training as an integral part of doing cultural studies. In this, he has succeeded! Pickering's text is likely to become a classic in the field and helpful to any and all interested in meaningful research within the social sciences.Table of ContentsIntroduction - Michael Pickering SECTION ONE: LIVES AND LIVED EXPERIENCE 1. Experience and the Social World - Michael Pickering 2. Stories and the Social World - Steph Lawler SECTION TWO: PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION 3. Investigating Cultural Producers - Aeron Davis 4. Investigating Cultural Consumers - Anneke Meyer SECTION THREE: QUANTITY AND QUALITY 5. Why Counting Counts - David Deacon 6. Why Observing Matters - Virginia Nightingale SECTION FOUR: TEXTS AND PICTURES 7. Analysing Visual Experience - Sarah Pink 8. Analysing Discourse - Martin Barker SECTION FIVE: LINKING WITH THE PAST 9. Engaging with Memory - Emily Keigthley 10. Engaging with History - Michael Pickering

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Book SynopsisA newer edition of this book is available at the following address: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780759123212Rapid Assessment Process (RAP) has gone under many names but invariably uses the techniques of fieldwork and ethnography in a telescoped manner to provide solid, field-based research findings for use by policymakers and program planners. It uses an emic perspective, a team of researchers, triangulation of research findings, and iterative process to produce high-quality research in a fraction of the time taken by traditional ethnography. Long used for third world projects, RAP is now being used to inform policy in many different settings. This volume is the first introduction to this group of methods, explaining to researchers and to students how to do RAP research well. The author, an international development professional who has been doing RAP studies for over two decades, clearly outlines the process, promise and pitfalls of RAP in this brief volume. Included are many examples ofTrade ReviewJames Beebe is the master of RAP. In this book he provides the basic explanation and methodological justification for the use of RAP. He draws upon his own rich experience to illustrate its implementation and demonstrate its practical value. It is unusual for a methods book to be written so clearly and to be so accessible to the reader. I recommend it both as a teaching tool for the classroom and as a handy guide for seasoned professionals. -- John YoungThis admirable treatment is particularly straightforward and comprehensive. Chapter-opening summaries of main points, boxes relaying important points in single sentences, a chapter comparing RAP to similar methods, well-chosen examples, helpful figures, and a comprehensive glossary add to the book's usefulness. For both students and specialists. -- M. A. Gwynne, (SUNY at Stony Brook) * CHOICE *Professor James Beebe has written a highly useful, reader-friendly book on Rapid Assessment Process. The book combines concise presentations of research and analytical techniques with clear conceptual explanations about the purpose and ways of using these procedures. This enables Beebe to simultaneously emphasize speed in field work and caution against excesses, when a rapid pace may not be slow enough to capture and reveal what is essential. To my knowledge, there is no other similar manual in the literature available for those interested in employing social science inquiry methods in a time effective manner, with practical goals in mind. Social scientists doing applied research — sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, social geographers — will find in this volume a treasure trove of methods, ideas, and advice for their work. Government agencies or private sector corporations interested in benefiting from direct social research will know better from Beebe's book what to request and what to expect from able investigators mandated to carry out rapid assessments and generate insights, knowledge, and recommendations for action. I highly recommend this book to both practitioners and teachers of social investigation methods. -- Michael Cernea, (World Bank)This book is an easy read and provides pragmatic suggestions for engaging in rapid assessment process research. As a university professor and researcher as well as a practitioner I find Beebe's text to be a welcome addition to the growing number of useful resources for qualitative researchers. -- Charles Lee Cole, (University of Louisiana at Monroe) * Forum: Qualitative Social Research, Vol. 3.4 *I found James Beebe's new book on Rapid Assessment Process to be interesting and useful. I enjoyed reading personal experiences coupled with well-stated principles. The book will be very helpful to both novice and experienced ethnographers: novices will gain a concisely presented introduction to rapid assessment work on which they can build through practice in the field. Experienced ethnographers will benefit from the remembering and reorganizing of research habits that happened to me throughout the book. I also look forward to using the book with my graduate students in community health nursing... -- Noel Chrisman, (University of Washington)Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: To RAP or Not to RAP and the Basic Concepts Chapter Two: Data Collection: Triangulation and Getting the Insider's Perspective Chapter Three: Iterative Analysis and Additional Data Collection Chapter Four: Teamwork: Polish State Farms and the Community College Chapter Five: Trusting RAP Chapter Six: Successful RAP Chapter Seven: Who Benefits, Who Pays, and Who Calls the Tune Chapter Eight: The RAP Family Tree Appendix A. Executive Summary, Community College RAP Appendix B. Executive Summary, Polish State Farms RAP Appendix C. Learning to RAP Appendix D. Glossary of Terms References

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Book SynopsisMake the best use of measurement approaches that gauge social behaviorHere is a state-of-the-art examination of various approaches to measuring and assessing client functioning and specific aspects of clients’ social environments. It examines numerous age groups and ethnic populations and makes use of cutting-edge methodologies in its examinations of measuring depression in children, measuring “the neighborhood” from a child’s perspective, measuring and assessing family functioning, measuring spirituality, and measuring psychosocial problems in seriously mentally ill families. Helpful tables in each chapter make complex information easy to access and understand.Inside Approaches to Measuring Human Behavior in the Social Environment you’ll find: a psychometric evaluation of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Childhood Diagnoses (KID-SCID) (with 4 tables) a clinical/psychometric perspective on using sTable of Contents Psychometric Evaluation of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Childhood Diagnoses (KID-SCID) (Douglas C. Smith, Diane L. Huber, and James A. Hall) Using Self-Rating Scales for Assessing the Severely Mentally Ill Client: A Clinical and Psychometric Perspective (Edward H. Taylor) Assessing Tradition in Chinese Elders Living in a Changing Social Environment: Implications for Social Work Practice (Lee Ann Mjelde-Mossey, Iris Chi, and Vivian W. Q. Lou) The Rap Music Attitude and Perception (RAP) Scale: Scale Development and Preliminary Analysis of Psychometric Properties (Edgar H. Tyson) Assessment of Self-Esteem Among Individuals with Severe Mental Illness: Testing Two Dimensions of Self-Esteem Theory and Implications for Social Work Practice (Sang Kyoung Kahng and Carol Mowbray) The Child’s View of Neighborhood: Assessing a Neglected Element in Direct Social Work Practice (Nicole Nicotera) Assessment of Depressive Symptomatology in Young Maltreated Children (Alan J. Litrownik, Rae R. Newton, and John A. Landsverk) Advances in the Reliability and Validity of the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale (Raymond S. Kirk, Mimi M. Kim, and Diane P. Griffith) The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS): Confirmatory Factor Analyses with a National Sample of Mental Health Social Workers (Laura Ting, Jodi M. Jacobson, Sara Sanders, Brian E. Bride, and Donna Harrington) Development of a Spiritual Support Scale for Use with Older Adults (Holly Nelson-Becker) Scale for the Identification of Acquaintance Rape Attitudes: Reliability and Factorial Invariance (G. Lawrence Farmer and Sarah McMahon) Index Reference Notes Included

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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