The Sage Handbook of Social Research Methods

by Pertti Alasuutari

• ISBN13: 9781848607309
• ISBN10: 184860730X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-06-16
• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd

Summary

The SAGE Handbook of Social Research Methods is a must for every social-science researcher. It charts the new and evolving terrain of social research methodology, covering qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods in one volume.The Handbook includes chapters on each phase of the research process: research design, methods of data collection, and the processes of analyzing and interpreting data. The volume maintains that there is much more to research than learning skills and techniques; methodology involves the fit between theory, research questions research design and analysis. The book also includes several chapters that describe historical and current directions in social research, debating crucial subjects such as qualitative versus quantitative paradigms, how to judge the credibility of types of research, and the increasingly topical issue of research ethics.The Handbook serves as an invaluable resource for approaching research with an open mind. This volume maps the field of social research methods using an approach that will prove valuable for both students and researchers.

Table of Contents

Social Research in Changing Social Conditions PART ONE: DIRECTIONS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH The End of the Paradigm Wars? - Alan Bryman The History of Social Research Methods - Marja Alastalo Assessing Validity in Social Research - Martyn Hammersley Ethnography and Audience - Karen Armstrong Social Research and Social Practice in Post-Positivist Society - Pekka Sulkunen From Questions of Methods to Epistemological Issues - Ann Nilsen The Case of Biographical Research Research Ethics in Social Science - Celia B. Fisher and Andrea E. Anushko PART TWO: RESEARCH DESIGNS The Core Analytics of Randomized Experiments for Social Research - H S Bloom Better Quasi-Experimental Practice - Thomas D. Cook and Vivian Wong Sample Size Planning with Applications to Multiple Regression - Ken Kelly and Scott E. Maxwell Power and Accuracy for Omnibus and Targeted Effects Re-Conceptualizing Generalization in Qualitative Research - Giampietro Gobo Old Issues in a New Frame Case Study in Social Research - Linda Mabry Longitudinal and Panel Studies - Janet Holland, Rachel Thomson and Jane Elliott Comparative and Cross-National Designs - David de Vaus PART THREE: DATA COLLECTION AND FIELDWORK Modern Measurement in the Social Sciences - James A. Bovaird and Susan E. Embretson Natural and Contrived Data - Susan Speer Self Administered Questionnaires and Standardized Interviews - Edith de Leeuw Qualitative Interviewing and Feminist Research - Andrea Doucet and Natasha Mautner Biographical Methods - Joanna Bornat Focus Groups - Janet Smithson PART FOUR: TYPES OF ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF EVIDENCE An Introduction to the Multi Level Model for Change - Suzanne E. Graham, Judith D. Singer and John B. Willett Latent Variable Models of Social Research Data - Rick H. Hoyle Equating Groups - Stephen West and Felix Thoemmes Discourse Analysis and Conversation Analysis - Charles Antaki Analyzing Narratives and Story-Telling - Matti Hyvärinen Reconstructing Grounded Theory - Kathy Charmaz Documents and Action - Lindsay Prior Video and the Analysis of Work and Interaction - Christian Heath and Paul Luff Secondary Analysis of Qualitative Data - Janet Heaton Secondary Analysis of Quantitative Data Sources - Angela Dale, Jo Wathan and Vanessa Wiggins Conducting a Meta Analysis - Erika A. Patall and Harris Cooper Synergy and Synthesis - Jane Fielding and Nigel Fielding Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Data The Analytic Integration of Qualitative Data Sources - Ann Cronin, Victoria D. Alexander, Jane Fielding, Jo Moran-Ellis and Hilary Thomas Combining Different Types for Quantitative Analysis - Max Bergman Writing and Presenting Social Research - Amir Marvasti