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Cover

Social Research Methods

Author Alan Bryman, Edward Bell, Jennifer Reck, and Jessica Fields

Publication Date - 03 September 2021

ISBN: 9780190853693

432 pages
Looseleaf

Clear and comprehensive, Social Research Methods is a step-by-step, student-friendly, practical guide to doing social research.

Description

This is a comprehensive text for the research methods course taught out of sociology or other social science disciplines. It covers a wide range of methods and approaches to study design, data collection, and analysis. It is clear, comprehensive, and pays equal attention to both qualitative and quantitative methods, while offering practical, step-by-step advice to students through all stages of the research process. This includes formulating questions, choosing methods, recruiting participants, analyzing the data, and writing up the results. The text also features examples from studies that employ an intersectional analysis, and engages meaningfully with discussions of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability.

Features

  • Encourages students to imagine themselves as researchers; foregrounding questions that motivate them to consider choices researchers make, how they make them, and what they mean
  • Each chapter includes a writing prompt called Portfolio Exercise that guides students through the steps of devising an individual research project. Each prompt directs them to think and write about their chosen research topic in relation to the chapter's concepts.
  • Pays equal attention to both qualitative and quantitative research methods
  • Mixed Methods in Action boxes throughout introduce examples of mixed methods research, emphasizing the ways qualitative and quantitative methods complement one another
  • Features examples from studies that employ an intersectional analysis, and engages meaningfully with discussions of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability
  • The Oxford Learning Link (OLL) for Social Research Methods contains a variety of materials to aid in teaching: Instructor's Resource Manual, Test Banks, and Lecture Slides

About the Author(s)

Alan Bryman (deceased) was professor emeritus of organizational and social research at the University of Leicester in the UK.

Edward Bell is professor in the sociology department and chair of the School of Behavioural and Social Sciences at Brescia University College at Western University`

Jennifer Reck is Assistant Professor of Sociology at San Francisco State University.

Jessica Fields is Professor of Sociology at University of Toronto Scarborough.

Reviews

"This is an accessible and student-friendly text that makes research methods come to life by connecting them to the most important and relevant issues of the day. This book checks every box for something that I would want for my students." -- Kathrin Parks, lLoras College

"Social Research Methods uses clear examples from current studies and prioritizes issues of diversity. It provides a fresh perspective, uses accessible language, and employs logic to explain complex concepts to students." -- Monica Solinas-Saunders, lIndiana University Northwest

"This is by far the most helpful sociology methods textbook I've come across. It sets itself apart from other social science textbooks by paying less attention to experiments and more to survey and in-depth interview skills." -- Hien Park, lVanguard University

"As a textbook for undergrads being introduced to research methods, it is just right. It is straightforward, concise, and conversational. I love the interactive classroom exercises at the end of each chapter." -- Karen Jeong Robinson, lCSU-San Bernardino

Table of Contents

    Contents
    Part One
    Principles of Research
    1 What Is Social Research?
    A Particular Way of Knowing?
    Overview
    Introduction: Why Study Research Methods?
    Knowledge Creation
    Theory Building and Testing
    Perceptions, Values, and Practicalities
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    2 What Principles and Standards Guide Research?
    Research Ethics ?
    Overview
    Introduction: Why Are Research Ethics Important?
    The History of Research Ethics
    Institutional Oversight and Research Ethics
    Key Ethical Principles in Research
    Ethics as a Question of Power and Social Justice
    Considering Ethics in Research
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    Part Two
    Concepts and Cases
    3 How Do Researchers Identify and Evaluate Social Concepts?
    Measurement
    Overview
    Introduction: What Is Measurement?
    Identifying and Measuring Concepts
    Conceptualization and Operationalization
    Measurement in Quantitative Research
    Reliability and Validity
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    4 How Do Researchers Select the People, Places, and Things to Study?
    Sampling?
    Overview
    Introduction: Why do Researchers Do Sampling?
    Sampling in the Research Process
    Generalizability and Representativeness
    Probability Sampling
    Types of Probability Sampling
    Non-Probability Sampling
    Types of Non-Probability Sampling
    Sampling Error
    Considerations during the Sampling Process
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    Part Three
    Modes and Practices of Inquiry
    5 How Can Researchers Understand Meaning, Process, and Experience in the Social World?
    Qualitative Research?
    Overview
    Introduction: How Qualitative Research Favors Depth over Breadth
    The Emergence of Qualitative Approaches
    Defining Qualitative Research
    The Main Goals of Qualitative Researchers
    The Main Steps in Qualitative Research
    The Distinct Perspective of Qualitative Research
    Considering Qualitative Approaches
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    6 How Can Researchers Enumerate and Examine Broad Patterns to Social Life?
    Quantitative Research
    Overview
    Introduction: How Quantitative Research Examines Broad Trends and Patterns
    The Emergence of Quantitative Approaches
    The Main Goals of Quantitative Researchers
    The Main Steps in Quantitative Research
    The Distinct Perspective of Quantitative Research
    Some Contrasts between Qualitative and Quantitative Research
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    7 Where Do Principles and Practice Meet in Research?
    Study Design?
    Overview
    Introduction: Choosing a Study Design for Your Research
    Experimental Design
    Collecting Data at Different Points in Time: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Design
    Case Study Design
    Modes of Inquiry and Study Design
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    Part Four
    Gathering Information
    8 How Do Researchers Study Patterns that Span Populations and Categories of Experience?
    Questionnaires and Structured Interviews?
    Overview
    Introduction: Why Surveys Are Efficient
    Different Kinds of Surveys
    Writing Survey Questions
    Questionnaire Design
    Conducting Structured Interviews
    Pilot Studies and Pre-Testing Questions
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    9 How Do Researchers Learn about People's Perspectives and Lives?
    Qualitative Interviewing
    Overview
    Introduction: Why the Interview Is the Most Widely Used Qualitative Research Method
    Types of Qualitative Interviews: Unstructured and Semi-structured
    Preparing for a Qualitative Interview
    Conducting Qualitative Interviews
    Focus Groups
    Online Interviews and Focus Groups
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    10 How Can Researchers Study the Patterns of People's Lives?
    Participant Observation and Ethnography
    Overview
    Introduction: Why Participant Observation and Ethnography Are Not the Same
    Why Participant Observation?
    Selecting and Navigating a Setting
    Balancing Participation and Observation
    Field Notes
    Innovations in Ethnographic Research
    Exiting the Field Well
    Comparing Ethnography and Qualitative Interviewing
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    11 How Do Researchers Study the Ways Meanings Are Communicated in Everyday Life?
    Content Analysis
    Overview
    Introduction: Why Content Analysis Is an Unobtrusive Method of Research
    Documents for Study
    Choosing Documents to Examine: Sampling
    Analyzing Communication Trends and Meanings using Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches
    Key Considerations in Content Analysis
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    12 What Can Researchers Learn from Information Others Collected?
    Existing Data
    Overview
    Introduction: Research Using Shared Data
    Large Surveys as Existing Data
    Analysis of Official Statistics
    Analysis of Government Documents
    Analysis of Oral History Collections
    Analysis of Big Data
    Considerations When Conducting Secondary Analysis
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    Part Five
    Interpreting and Sharing What We've Learned
    13 How Do Researchers Develop Inductive Findings?
    Qualitative Data Analysis
    Overview
    Introduction: Why Managing Qualitative Information Can Be Challenging
    Managing and Organizing Qualitative Data
    Approaches to Qualitative Analysis
    Other Methods of Qualitative Analysis
    The Technology of Analysis
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    14 How Do Researchers Develop Deductive Findings?
    Quantitative Data Analysis
    Overview
    Introduction: Why Data Analysis Is the Starting Point for Quantitative Research
    Types of Variables
    Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
    Quantitative Analysis as a Tool for Understanding
    Univariate Analysis
    Bivariate Analysis
    Multivariate Analysis
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    15 How Do Researchers Record and Share Their Work?
    Writing and Dissemination
    Overview
    Introduction: How to Get Started
    Effective Writing
    Disseminating Your Work
    Presentations
    Issues to Consider when Disseminating Research
    And Finally
    Key Points
    Questions for Review
    Portfolio Exercise
    Interactive Activities
    Online Resources
    Glossary
    References
    Photo Credits
    Index

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