Description
Book SynopsisDesigned to help aspiring social scientists, including credentialed scholars, understand the formidable complexities of the research process. Instead of explaining specific research techniques, this book concentrates on the philosophical, sociological, and psychological dimensions of social research.
Trade Review“Becoming a Social Science Researcher makes the dual contribution of being profound about philosophical matters and being a great how-to manual for helping graduate students launch their careers.”—George Breslauer, University of California, Berkeley
“A terrific addition to literature aimed at assisting doctoral students! Professor Parrott lays out the many existential issues faced by developing scholars in lively, understandable, and erudite ways. Reflecting on these issues and associated debates will help students feel more confident about the choices they must make during their journey.”—Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, University of Utah
Table of Contents
- Preface
- List of Tables and Illustrations
- I. Preview
- Why You Should Read This Book
- Chapter Summaries
- II. The Context of Your Quest
- 1. Perception and Misperception in Life and Scholarship
- 2. Social Science and History
- 3. Scholarship as Social Process and as Politics
- 4. Progress in Social Science—Real and Imaginary
- 5. Dimensions of Social Science
- III. Your Quest: Weighing Intellectual Choices
- 6. Building Faculty Relationships and Preparing for Your Doctoral Exams
- 7. Choosing Research Problems: Personal Values and Disciplinary Agendas
- 8. Concept Formation—The Heart of Analytical Thought
- 9. Hypotheses, Theories, and Research Designs
- 10. Case Studies and Comparative Methods
- 11. The Logics of Explanation
- IV. Your Quest: From Planning to Finishing
- 12. Planning the Project and Writing Your Prospectus
- 13. Mapping Research Resources and Gathering Evidence
- 14. Producing a Draft
- 15. Through the Jungle: Guiding Your Reader (and Yourself)
- 16. Getting to Go: Revising and Defending
- 17. Your Choices and Your Futures
- “On the Meaning of Education”
- Information on the Supplementary Website
- Acknowledgments
