Making Sense of the Social World

Making Sense of the Social World provides an engaging and innovative introduction to social research and presents research methods as an integrated whole. The book contains: a balanced treatment of qualitative and quantitative methods; integration of substantive examples and research techniques; and consistent attention to the goal of validity and the standards of ethical practice.

Review:

"First, I would adopt-not just consider-this book. The writing style is direct and easy to follow. The issues are treated in context, with good examples. The authors do a great job of presenting the material in a way that prevents students from asking "how is this relevant to what I do?" I do wish I had written this book myself."

"The text's strengths, bottom line, are that it's casual and accessible, yet thorough and accurate. It is very up-to-date using good examples from very contemporary social science research."

"The strength of this text is in its brevity. In a one semester course, it is impossible to cover all the topics in a comprehensive text in any depth. I would rather my students learn the fundamentals of doing research - a few topics in depth. They can then build on this knowledge, if they need to, in order to learn new types of analysis. I also like the types and varieties of exercises included in the text."

Contents: Chapter 1. Science, Society, and Social Research What is the Problem? Can Social Scientists See the Social World More Clearly? What Questions Can Social Science Research Answer? How Well Have We Done Our Research? Are Our Answers Correct? Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 2. The Process and Problems of Social Research What is the Question? What is the Theory? What is the Strategy? Deductive Research Inductive Research Descriptive Research: A Necessary Step What is the Design? But is it Ethical? Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 3. Conceptualization and Measurement What Do We Have in Mind? Conceptualization How Do We Focus the Problem? Variables and Hypotheses How Will We Know When We've Found It? Operationalization How Much Information Do We Really Have? Establishing Validity and Reliability Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 4. Sampling How to Prepare to Sample? What Sampling Methods to Use? Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 5. Causation and Experimental Design What is a Causal Explanation? How Do We Identify Causes? What are the Features of a True Experiment? How Can Experiments Be Modified? Why Units of Analysis Can Affect Causal Reasoning What are the Threats to Validity in Experiments? How Do Experimenters Protect Their Subjects? Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 6. Survey Research Why is Survey Research So Popular? How Should We Write Survey Questions? How Should Questionnaires Be Designed? What Are the Alternatives for Administering Surveys? Ethical Issues in Survey Research Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 7. Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening What Makes Methods "Qualitative"? How Does Participant Observation Become a Research Method? How to Conduct Intensive Interviews How Do You "Focus" a Group? Analyzing Qualitative Data Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 8. Evaluation Research What Is the History of Evaluation Research? What Is Evaluation Research? What are the Alternatives in Evaluation Designs? What Can an Evaluation Study Focus On? Ethical Issues in Evaluation Research Conclusions Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 9. Elementary Data Analysis Introducing Statistics Case Study: The Likelihood of Voting Preparing Data for Analysis Displaying Univariate Distributions Graphs Frequency Distributions Summarizing Univariate Distributions Measures of Central Tendency Measures of Variation Crosstabulating Variables Controlling for a Third Variable Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie With Statistics Conclusion Key Terms Highlights Exercises Chapter 10. Reviewing, Proposing, and Reporting Research Comparing Research Designs Reviewing Research Case Study: "Night as Frontier" Proposing New Research Case Study: Treating Substance Abuse Reporting Research Writing and Organizing Conclusion Highlights Exercises References Appendices A. Finding Information B. HyperRESEARCH: A Softward Tool for Qualitative Data Analysis C. Secondary Data Analysis D. How to Use a Statistical Package