Essentials of Research Methods A Guide to Social Science Research

by Ruane, Janet M.

• ISBN13: 9780631230496
• ISBN10: 0631230491
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-03
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Essentials of Research Methods is a concise and accessible introduction to research methods in the social sciences. Written by an expert of research methods teaching, this book takes extraordinary care to focus the reader on experiences in his or her everyday life as a way of understanding and performing research methods. The logic and techniques of research methods can be daunting and not of obvious use to students of social science, and yet this book clearly and coherently defines the terms and requirements of research methods studies for the inexperienced student. Covering ethics, data gathering and analysis, and statistics, Essentials of Research Methods makes the "essentials" relevant to our information-dominated society, while exploring the complexities and values of each. With an engaging, reader-friendly style, discussions that appeal across disciplines, and timely examples that are informative and interesting to read, this book is ideal for any student of research methods. Features include further reading lists, graphs, exercises, study questions, and an annotated list of web resources.

Author Biography

Janet M. Ruane is Associate Professor of Sociology at Montclair State University. She is co-author of Second Thoughts: Seeing Conventional Wisdom Through the Sociological Eye (with Karen Cerulo, third edition, 2004). She has taught research methods to undergraduates for more than fifteen years.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	ix
Preface	x
Acknowledgments	xii
When Should We Trust What We Know? Why Research Methods?	1	(15)
Time-Based Knowing: Traditional Knowledge	3	(1)
Credential-Based Knowing: Authoritative Knowledge	4	(4)
More Risky Knowledge Sources: Common Sense and Intuition	8	(1)
Science as a Trustworthy Way of Knowing	9	(2)
Goals of Research	11	(2)
Using Research Methods to Become Critical Consumers of Information	13	(3)
Ethics: It's the Right Thing To Do	16	(16)
Research Should Not Cause Harm to Subjects	17	(2)
Researchers Should Obtain the Informed Consent of Subjects	19	(3)
Researchers Should Respect Subjects' Privacy	22	(4)
Researchers Should Avoid Conflicts of Interest	26	(1)
Ethical Reporting: The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth?	27	(1)
Reinforcing the Ethical Route: Institutional Review Boards	28	(1)
Ethical Fusion	29	(3)
Some Perfectly Valid Points: Measurement, Internal, and External Validity	32	(15)
Measurement Validity	33	(5)
Internal Validity	38	(3)
External Validity	41	(4)
Conclusions	45	(2)
Measure By Measure: Making the Abstract Concrete	47	(15)
Concepts and the Research Process	48	(1)
Bringing Theory Down to Earth	49	(1)
Conceptualization	50	(1)
Operationalization	51	(1)
Levels of Measurement	52	(5)
Operational Definitions	57	(2)
Conclusion	59	(3)
If It Glitters Is It Gold? Assessing Measures	62	(13)
Facing Off Our Measures	62	(1)
Content Validity	63	(1)
Criterion Validity	64	(2)
Construct Validity	66	(1)
Reliability Checks	67	(1)
Testing, Testing, Testing for Reliability	67	(1)
Multiple-Forms	68	(1)
Split-Half Technique	69	(1)
Noise and Bias	70	(3)
Measuring Up and Out	73	(2)
One Thing Leads to Another: Causal Analysis	75	(17)
Causal Models: Nomothetic and Idiographic	76	(2)
Causal Requirements	78	(4)
Causal Analysis and Research Design	82	(4)
Causal Analysis and Survey Research	86	(2)
Causality and Field Research	88	(2)
Conclusions	90	(2)
Designing Ideas: Research Strategies	92	(12)
It's All in the Timing	92	(1)
Cross-Sectional Research Designs	93	(1)
Longitudinal Research Designs	94	(5)
Units of Analysis	99	(3)
Conclusions	102	(2)
An Informative Few: Sampling	104	(19)
Obstacles to Representative Samples	106	(3)
A Representative Sample: Take a Chance	109	(7)
Non-Probability Techniques	116	(2)
Estimating Sampling Error	118	(2)
Just a Sampling of the Issues	120	(3)
Our Inquisitive Nature: The Questionnaire	123	(23)
The Way We Word	126	(4)
The Structure of Questions: Closed- and Open-Ended Questions	130	(4)
Putting It Together	134	(7)
Pre-Testing	141	(1)
Return to Sender: The Special Challenge of the Mailed Questionnaire	141	(2)
Delivering Questions Electronically	143	(1)
Ask and You Shall Receive	143	(3)
Talking Heads: The Interview	146	(18)
Conversational Exchange	147	(4)
Developing an Unstructured Guide	151	(3)
The Interview Schedule	154	(1)
Covering Sensitive Topics	155	(1)
Phone Home	155	(2)
The More the Merrier: Focus Groups	157	(2)
Training Issues	159	(2)
Tools of the Trade	161	(1)
The Final Word	162	(2)
Watch and Learn: Field Research	164	(13)
Location, Location, Location ... and More	165	(2)
Fieldwork Tasks	167	(2)
Informal Interviews	169	(1)
Notes	169	(3)
Files	172	(2)
The Validity of Field Research	174	(3)
Getting Organized: Descriptive Statistics	177	(21)
How Did We Get to this Point?	177	(2)
Getting Organized	179	(1)
Summarizing Descriptions	179	(8)
Picture This	187	(7)
SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)	194	(4)
Beyond Description: Inferential Statistics	198	(13)
The Normal Curve	198	(4)
Repeat After Me	202	(1)
The Sampling Distribution	203	(1)
Putting It Together	204	(3)
Some Concrete Examples	207	(1)
Bringing It Home	208	(3)
References	211	(8)
Web Resources	219	(12)
Index	231