Social Research Methods

by Bryman, Alan

• ISBN13: 9780199588053
• ISBN10: 0199588058
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In the fourth edition of this lively and engaging textbook, Alan Bryman presents students with an updated and all-encompassing guide to the principle techniques and methodology in the field of Social Research. Adopting a coherent and student-friendly format, the book offers an encyclopaedic introduction to social research methodology, and considers a broad range of qualitative and quantitative methods to help students identify and evaluate the best approach for their research needs. Building on the success of the previous editions, this book is concerned with the ways that social researchers approach their craft. Bryman guides the reader through all aspects of the research process including formulating objectives, choosing research methods, securing research participants, as well as advice on how to effectively collect, analyse and interpret data and disseminate those findings to others. This fourth edition features a new 'supervisor experience' feature, which offers helpful tips from the supervisor's perspective on successful research, as well as a new chapter which tackles the sampling issues faced by qualitative researchers in a more consolidated fashion than in previous editions. Substantial updates have also been made to the existing material, particularly the internet research section, which has been fully revised to accommodate the extensive developments in this area. An Online Resource Center accompanies the text and includes: For students: A student researcher's toolkit, providing guidance and advice on every aspect of social research Student experience podcasts Self-marking multiple choice questions for revision Annotated web links to useful articles, reviews, models and research guides A guide to using Excel in data analysis For instructors: A lecturer's guide including lecture outlines, reading lists and teaching activities A suite of customisable PowerPoint slides Figures and tables from the text Case studies

Table of Contents

Part One
1. The nature and process of social research
2. Social research strategies
3. Research designs
4. Planning a research project and formulating research questions
5. Getting started: Reviewing the literature
6. Ethics and politics in social research
Part Two
7. The nature of quantitative research
8. Sampling
9. Structured interviewing
10. Self-completion questionnaires
11. Asking questions
12. Structured observation
13. Content analysis
14. Secondary analysis and official statistics
15. Quantitative data analysis
16. Using SPSS for Windows
Part Three
17. The nature of qualitative research
18. Sampling in qualitative research
19. Ethnography and participant observation
20. Interviewing in qualitative research
21. Focus groups
22. Language in qualitative research
23. Documents as sources of data
24. Qualitative data analysis
25. Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis: using NVivo
Part Four
26. Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide
27. Mixed methods research: combining quantitative and qualitative research
28. E-research: Internet research methods
29. Writing up social research