Description
Book SynopsisSocial research is a bourgeoning field. Of course it has many traditions and approaches, but there is a high premium upon thinking differently and thinking anew because social life is never static or wholly predictable.
The Handbook, edited by internationally recognized scholars, provides a comprehensive, pitch-perfect critical assessment of the field. The main features of the Handbook are:
- Clear organization into 4 parts dealing with The Social Context of Research; Design and Data Collection; Integrating The Analysis of New Data Types; Sampling, Inference and Measurement
- Clear, cutting edge chapters on Objectivity; Causation; Organizing Social Research; Correspondence Analysis; Grounded Theory; Conversational Surveys; Mixed Methods; Meta-Analysis; Optimal Matching Analysis; GIS Analysis; Quantitative Narrative Analysis; Longitudinal Studies; SEM; MLM; Qualitative Comparative Analysis; Respondent Driven Sampling
- Brings together a glittering as
Trade Review
This book speaks to researchers across the social sciences, irrespective of their methodological persuasion. It brings fresh new perspectives to some of the core concerns of social science research methods; it challenges conventions and accepted wisdoms and provides pointers to an exciting future. The editors have produced a collection of papers that bring together some of the most original and innovative thinking about research methods. The chapters run the gamut of the research process whilst moving seamlessly across methodological boundaries. The book provides new ways of thinking about research and new ways of doing research, providing the reader with valuable pointers to their own research. -- Angela Dale
This is a wonderful collection of interesting, novel and practically useful discussions of a wide variety of methodological topics in the social sciences. -- Harold Kincaid
Table of Contents
PART ONE: THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF RESEARCH Introduction - Malcolm Williams and W Paul Vogt Objectivity: A Reconceptualization - Martyn Hammersley Setting Up Sociological Research - Geoff Payne Feminist Methodology - Gayle Letherby What Is an Effect? Coming at Causality Backwards - David Byrne PART TWO: DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION Introduction - Malcolm Williams and W Paul Vogt Narratives of the Future: Complexity, Time and Temporality - Emma Uprichard Mapping Pathways - Wendy Dyer Correspondence Analysis: A Case for Methodological Pluralism? - Ian Rees-Jones Case-Oriented Theory-Building and Theory-Testing - Charles C Ragin and Garrett Andrew Schneider Investigating Human Communication and Language from Traces Left on the Web - Mike Thelwall Innovative Qualitative Data-Collection Techniques for Conducting Literature Reviews/Research Syntheses - Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L Leech and Kathleen M T Collins Grounded Theory - Antony Bryant and Kathy Charmaz Back to Likert: Towards the Conversational Survey - Giampietro Gobo Mixed Methods for Construct Validation - John H Hitchcock and Bonnie K Nastasi Researching with Peer/Community Researchers: Ambivalences and Tensions - Rosalind Edwards and Claire Alexander Innovations in Program Evaluation: Comparative Case Studies as an Alternative to RCTs - W Paul Vogt et al PART THREE: INTEGRATING THE ANALYSIS OF NEW DATA TYPES Introduction - W. Paul Vogt and Malcolm Williams Advances in Combining Regression Results in Meta-Analysis - Ariel M Aloe and Betsy Jane Becker Toward a New Era for Conducting Mixed Analyses: The Role of Quantitative Dominant and Qualitative Dominant Cross-Over Mixed Analyses - Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L Leech and Kathleen M T Collins Optimal Matching Analysis - Peter Martin and Richard D Wiggins Quantitative Narrative Analysis - Roberto Franzosi Lexicographic Index: A New Measurement of Resemblance among Sequences - Ivano Bison Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Analysis - Elizabeth Griffiths PART FOUR: SAMPLING, INFERENCE AND MEASUREMENT Introduction - W Paul Vogt and Malcolm Williams Respondent-Driven Sampling: Operational Procedures, Evolution of Estimators and Topics for Future Research - Cyprian Wejnert and Douglas Heckathorn Analyzing Longitudinal Studies with Non-Response: Issues and Statistical Methods - James Carpenter and Ian Plewis Statistical Inference for Causal Effects, with Emphasis on Applications in Psychometrics and Education - Donald B Rubin Automatic Item Generation: An Innovation for Developing Complex Cognitive Tests - Susan E Embretson and Heather H. McIntyre Convergence of Structural Equation Modeling and Multilevel Modeling - Rex B Kline Hierarchical Linear and Structural Equation Modeling Approaches to Mediation Analysis in Randomized Field Experiments - Keenan Pituch and Laura Stapleton
