Social Research Methods 6E

by Clark, Tom; Foster, Liam; Sloan, Luke; Bryman, Alan

• ISBN13: 9780198796053
• ISBN10: 0198796056
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-10-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Clear, comprehensive, and trusted, Bryman's Social Research Methods has supported over a quarter of a million students through their research methods course and research project. Spanning theory and practice and covering quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, this bestselling text offers unrivalled coverage of the whole research process.

The authors have worked closely with lecturers and students in thoroughly updating the sixth edition to reflect the current social science landscape, and carefully streamlining content to make it relevant and appealing to today's students. As a result, the text's comprehensive coverage - which includes many new examples and additional material on areas such as social media research and big data - is now even clearer, more focused, and easier to navigate.

In addition to many new examples of published research, this edition features the insights of a panel of recent graduates from their experiences of researching a variety of fascinating topics, including attitudes towards the LGBT+ community on social media, the experiences of Pakistani Muslim single mothers, and the impact of screen time on sleep. 'Learn from experience' boxes in every chapter contain their candid reflections on the successes and challenges of their projects, and their advice for student researchers.

Digital formats and resources

Bryman's Social Research Methods is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by extensive online resources.

The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access, with learning resources embedded and hyperlinked throughout to offer self-assessment activities and extra support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks

The student resources, accessible both online and via the e-book, include:

- Over 300 multiple choice questions
- A 'Research process in practice' simulation
- Student researcher's toolkit
- Answers to the end-of-chapter questions, including audio commentary from the authors
- A flashcard glossary
- Data analysis software tutorials covering SPSS, Nvivo, R, and Stata
- Guidance on using Excel in data analysis
- 'Learn from experience' videos, expanding on the graduate insights provided in the book

The book's teaching resources, accessible online to adopting lecturers, include:

- PowerPoint slides for every chapter
- 250 test bank questions
- 25 seminar outlines
- 75 exam- or coursework-based questions
- Figures and tables from the book

Author Biography

Tom Clark, Lecturer in Research Methods, The University of Sheffield,Liam Foster, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy & Social Work, The University of Sheffield,Luke Sloan, Reader at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University,Alan Bryman, Former Professor of Organizational and Social Research,
The University of Leicester

Dr Tom Clark is a Lecturer in Research Methods at the University of Sheffield, UK. He is interested in all aspects of methods and methodology, particularly with respect to learning and teaching. His other interests have variously focussed on the sociology of evil, student experiences of higher
education, and football fandom. Tom's work has been published in a wide variety of journals, including Sociology, Qualitative Research, Social Policy and Administration, Teaching in Higher Education, the Journal of Education and Work, and Qualitative Social Work.

Dr Liam Foster is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Sheffield, UK, who specializes in pensions and theories of ageing. Liam also has a longstanding interest in methods and has published widely in this area, including Beginning Statistics for Social Scientists
(with Sir Ian Diamond and Dr Julie Jefferies). He has been an invited speaker at the Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions, the European Parliament in Brussels, the House of Lords, and the UN in New York, as a world leading expert on ageing. Liam is a member of the UK Social
Policy Association Executive Committee. He is also the Managing Editor of Social Policy and Society.

Dr Luke Sloan is a Reader, Deputy Director of the Social Data Science Lab, and Co-Director of Cardiff Q-Step at the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, UK. Luke's internationally recognised work focuses on exploring how social media data, specifically from Twitter, can be used for
social scientific research. He is co-editor of the SAGE Handbook of Social Media Research Methods and has published widely on how Twitter can help us understand social phenomena and the ethics of using this data for research. His work has appeared in journals including Sociology, Social Media +
Society, the British Journal of Criminology, Electoral Studies, PLoS ONE, and the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics.

Alan Bryman was Professor of Organizational and Social Research at the University of Leicester from 2005 to 2017. Prior to this he was Professor of Social Research at Loughborough University for 31 years. His main research interests were in leadership, especially in higher education, research
methods (particularly mixed methods research), and the 'Disneyization' and 'McDonaldization' of modern society. Alan also co-authored Business Research Methods (Oxford University Press, 2018), helped conceive of How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation (Oxford University Press, 2019),
and contributed to a range of leading journals: he was an extraordinarily well-cited and internationally renowned social scientist.

Table of Contents

Part 1: The research process
1. The nature and process of social research
2. Social research strategies: quantitative research and qualitative research
3. Research designs
4. Planning a research project and formulating research questions
5. Reviewing the literature
6. Ethics and politics in social research
Part 2: Quantitative research
7. The nature of quantitative research
8. Sampling in quantitative research
9. Structured interviewing
10. Self-completion questionnaires
11. Asking questions
12. Structured observation
13. Content analysis
14. Using existing data
15. Quantitative data analysis
Part 3: Qualitative research
16. The nature of qualitative research
17. Sampling in qualitative research
18. Ethnography and participant observation
19. Interviewing in qualitative research
20. Focus groups
21. Language in qualitative research
22. Documents as sources of data
23. Qualitative data analysis
Part 4: Mixed methods research and writing up
24. Combining quantitative and qualitative research
25. Writing up social research