Description
Book SynopsisIntroducing Social Research Methods: Essentials for Getting the Edge is a concise and student-friendly introduction to research methods that uses examples from around the world to illustrate the centrality of social science research in our everyday lives.
- Explains complex, multi-faceted concepts and methodologies in straightforward prose
- Designed for students who are new to or skeptical of social science research methods as useful tools for approaching real-world challenges
- Persuasively argues that social scientific proficiency unlocks an array of personal and professional opportunities beyond the realms of academia
- A supplementary website features a glossary, test bank, Power Point presentations, a comprehensive list of web resources, a guide to relevant TED lectures and much more
Table of ContentsAbout the Website ii
1 How Do We Know What We Know? Science as a Superior Way of Knowing 1
2 The Language of Science and Research: Learning to Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk 21
3 Ethics: It’s the Right Thing To Do 45
4 Designing Ideas: What Do We Want to Know and How Can We Get There? 67
5 Measure by Measure: Developing Measures—Making the Abstract Concrete 93
6 All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Assessing the Validity and Reliability of Measures 117
7 One Thing Leads to Another … or Does it? Tackling Causal Analysis 139
8 The Questionnaire: Would You Mind Taking the Time to Answer a Few Questions? 163
9 Having the Talk: Person to Person Information Exchanges 189
10 Field Research: Welcome to My World 209
11 Sample This! How Can So Few Tell Us About So Many? 231
12 Show Me the Numbers: Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics 255
13 Pulling it Together: A Final Synthesis 283
Glossary 289
Index 295
