Social Scientific Research
August 2018 | 384 pages | Sage UK
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Description

Offering an engaging and entertaining introduction to research methods, this is a practical and easy-to-use companion for all new researchers and students in the social sciences. Covering all the key stages of the research process, this book guides students in navigating some of the biggest challenges in developing a research project.

This book:

  • Uses real-life everyday examples, connecting research methods to your experiences
  • Includes dedicated chapters on identifying a research question, ethics and writing up your findings
  • Comprises an array of activities, tips, illustrations and international case studies
  • Covers qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research

Bringing methods to life for students across the social sciences, this book will provide you with the confidence you need to get your research off the ground.

Contents

I. Introduction

  • Chapter 1: What is Social Science Research?
  • Chapter 2: Research Ethics
  • Chapter 3: Identifying a Research Question
  • Chapter 4: Conducting the Literature Review

II. Argumentation

  • Chapter 5: Building Effective Concepts
  • Chapter 6: Making Strong Arguments

III. METHOD AND CASE SELECTION

  • Chapter 7: Method Selection
  • Chapter 8: Mixed Methods Research
  • Chapter 9: Case Selection

IV. QUALITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS

  • Chapter 10: Interviews
  • Chapter 11: Focus Groups
  • Chapter 12: Participant Observation
  • Chapter 13: Process Tracing
  • Chapter 14: Comparative Case Method

V. QUANTITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS

  • Chapter 15: Measurement
  • Chapter 16: Quantitative Data
  • Chapter 17: Content Analysis
  • Chapter 18: Surveys
  • Chapter 19: Experiments
  • Chapter 20: Observational Studies

V. CONCLUSION

  • Chapter 21: Social Scientific Writing
  • Glossary
  • Notes
  • Index

Description

Offering an engaging and entertaining introduction to research methods, this is a practical and easy-to-use companion for all new researchers and students in the social sciences. Covering all the key stages of the research process, this book guides students in navigating some of the biggest challenges in developing a research project.

This book:

  • Uses real-life everyday examples, connecting research methods to your experiences
  • Includes dedicated chapters on identifying a research question, ethics and writing up your findings
  • Comprises an array of activities, tips, illustrations and international case studies
  • Covers qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research

Bringing methods to life for students across the social sciences, this book will provide you with the confidence you need to get your research off the ground.

Contents

I. Introduction

  • Chapter 1: What is Social Science Research?
  • Chapter 2: Research Ethics
  • Chapter 3: Identifying a Research Question
  • Chapter 4: Conducting the Literature Review

II. Argumentation

  • Chapter 5: Building Effective Concepts
  • Chapter 6: Making Strong Arguments

III. METHOD AND CASE SELECTION

  • Chapter 7: Method Selection
  • Chapter 8: Mixed Methods Research
  • Chapter 9: Case Selection

IV. QUALITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS

  • Chapter 10: Interviews
  • Chapter 11: Focus Groups
  • Chapter 12: Participant Observation
  • Chapter 13: Process Tracing
  • Chapter 14: Comparative Case Method

V. QUANTITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS

  • Chapter 15: Measurement
  • Chapter 16: Quantitative Data
  • Chapter 17: Content Analysis
  • Chapter 18: Surveys
  • Chapter 19: Experiments
  • Chapter 20: Observational Studies

V. CONCLUSION

  • Chapter 21: Social Scientific Writing
  • Glossary
  • Notes
  • Index
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Social Scientific Research


August 2018 | 384 pages | Sage UK

Format Published Date ISBN Price

Offering an engaging and entertaining introduction to research methods, this is a practical and easy-to-use companion for all new researchers and students in the social sciences. Covering all the key stages of the research process, this book guides students in navigating some of the biggest challenges in developing a research project.

This book:

  • Uses real-life everyday examples, connecting research methods to your experiences
  • Includes dedicated chapters on identifying a research question, ethics and writing up your findings
  • Comprises an array of activities, tips, illustrations and international case studies
  • Covers qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research

Bringing methods to life for students across the social sciences, this book will provide you with the confidence you need to get your research off the ground.


Table Of Contents:

  • I. Introduction
  • Chapter 1: What is Social Science Research?
  • Chapter 2: Research Ethics
  • Chapter 3: Identifying a Research Question
  • Chapter 4: Conducting the Literature Review
  • II. Argumentation
  • Chapter 5: Building Effective Concepts
  • Chapter 6: Making Strong Arguments
  • III. METHOD AND CASE SELECTION
  • Chapter 7: Method Selection
  • Chapter 8: Mixed Methods Research
  • Chapter 9: Case Selection
  • IV. QUALITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS
  • Chapter 10: Interviews
  • Chapter 11: Focus Groups
  • Chapter 12: Participant Observation
  • Chapter 13: Process Tracing
  • Chapter 14: Comparative Case Method
  • V. QUANTITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS
  • Chapter 15: Measurement
  • Chapter 16: Quantitative Data
  • Chapter 17: Content Analysis
  • Chapter 18: Surveys
  • Chapter 19: Experiments
  • Chapter 20: Observational Studies
  • V. CONCLUSION
  • Chapter 21: Social Scientific Writing
  • Glossary
  • Notes
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

An exceptionally broad, clear, and fair-minded treatment of social science research methodology John Gerring, Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin
John Gerring, University of Texas
Dawn Brancati's Social Science Research is a fun, engaging, and intelligent book about the basics of research design. I wish I had it when I was an undergraduate. Gary King is the Weatherhead University Professor at Harvard University.
Gary King, Harvard
Rich with examples from across the social sciences and comprehensive in its treatment of the diverse empirical tools that social scientists use, Brancati's book will greatly help students to grow their abilities to be both consumers and producers of research. The writing is crisp and engaging throughout, and the end-of-chapter exercises work to fix key concepts in students' minds. Matthew S. Winters, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Matthew Winters, Illinois
For faculty, teaching how to conduct social science research is known to be notoriously difficult. For students, learning research methods is mind-numbing. Brancati's book offers a solution to this decades-long dilemma. Inter-weaving concepts with examples from cutting-edge research, Social Scientific Research succinctly explains what makes good social science and how to do it. Kosuke Imai, Author of Quantitative Social Science: An Introduction (Princeton University Press)
Kosuke Imai, Princeton
Dawn Brancati has written a social science methods book that is, in one, the broadest and most accessible text I have seen. In addition to being a terrific stand alone text for an introductory methods course, it would be an excellent addition to an introductory course in data analysis and statistics to give students a sense of the range of other research methods available and of issues, beyond methodology, in social science research. Robert Y. Shapiro is a professor of Political Science at Columbia University ?
Robert Shapiro, Columbia

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