Research Methods for the Social Sciences : Practice and Applications

by Mutchnick, Robert J.; Berg, Bruce L.

• ISBN13: 9780023854514
• ISBN10: 0023854510
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-08-11
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This unique workbook is designed as a stand-alone book or hands-on applications supplement for any of the standard books on research methods in the social sciences. It presents examples from a wide range of current studies, with a research summary explaining how the methodology was used.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(28)
Objectives	1	(1)
Table Reading	2	(3)
The Research Process/Scientific Method	5	(3)
Value-Free Research	8	(1)
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning	9	(1)
Responsibilities to Subjects, Colleagues, and the Community	9	(1)
References	9	(20)
Table Reading: ``Inequality and Metropolitan Rape Rates: A Routine Activity Approach''	11	(4)
David J. Maume, Jr.
Application Exercise 1.1	15	(2)
Reading Tables and Creating Typologies: ``Measuring Jail Use: A Comparative Analysis of Local Corrections''	17	(4)
John Klofas
Application Exercise 1.2	21	(2)
Null and Alternate Hypotheses: ``Gender and Varieties of White-Collar Crime''	23	(4)
Kathleen Daly
Application Exercise 1.3	27	(2)
Issues of Measurement	29	(44)
Why Do Social Scientists Measure Variables?	30	(1)
Relationships between Variables	30	(1)
Measures of Central Tendency	30	(3)
Levels of Measurement	33	(6)
References	39	(34)
Scales: ``What Is the Perceived Seriousness of Crimes?''	40	(3)
Mark Warr
Application Exercise 2.1	43	(7)
Scaling---Index Scale: ``Love, Sex, and Self-Esteem''	50	(3)
Anthony Walsh
Grace J. Balazs
Application Exercise 2.2	53	(4)
Scaling---Likert Scale: ``Neighborhood Differences in Attitudes toward Policing: Evidence for a Mixed-Strategy Model of Policing in a Multi-Ethnic Setting''	57	(4)
Roger G. Dunham
Geoffrey P. Alpert
Application Exercise 2.3	61	(3)
Measures of Central Tendency: ``Gender and Adolescent Drinking Problems: The Effects of Occupational Structure''	64	(5)
Kevin M. Thompson
Application Exercise 2.4	69	(4)
Sampling and Design	73	(42)
Probability Sampling	73	(2)
Nonprobability Sampling	75	(2)
Types of Research Designs	77	(2)
Causality	79	(1)
Validity and Reliability	80	(1)
References	81	(34)
Hypothesis Development and Probability Sampling: ``Delinquency and Drug Use: Temporal and Developmental Patterns''	83	(4)
David H. Huizinga
Scott Menard
Delbert S. Elliott
Application Exercise 3.1	87	(2)
Experimental Design Variables: ``Questionably Adult: Determinants and Effects of the Juvenile Waiver Decision''	89	(4)
Carole Wolfe Barnes
Randal S. Franz
Application Exercise 3.2	93	(2)
Quasi-Experimental Design: ``Raising the Minimum Drinking Age: Some Unintended Consequences of Good Intentions''	95	(4)
Lonn Lanza-Kaduce
Pamela Richards
Application Exercise 3.3	99	(4)
Longitudinal Sample: ``The Effect of Dropping Out of High School on Subsequent Criminal Behavior''	103	(4)
Terence P. Thornberry
Melanie Moore
R. L. Christenson
Application Exercise 3.4	107	(2)
Validity: ``Ethnicity, Geography, and Occupational Achievement of Hispanic Men in the United States''	109	(4)
Ross M. Stolzenberg
Application Exercise 3.5	113	(2)
Technologies of Observation	115	(66)
Questionnaire-Based Surveys	115	(1)
Interviews	116	(2)
Constructing Questionnaires and Interview Schedules	118	(1)
Ethnography	119	(1)
Unobtrusive Research	120	(3)
Triangulation	123	(1)
References	123	(58)
Operationalization and Survey Construction: ``Gender and Delinquency in White-Collar Families: A Power-Control Perspective''	125	(4)
John Hagan
Fiona Kay
Application Exercise 4.1	129	(3)
Survey Construction: ``The Consequences of Professionalism among Police Chiefs''	132	(3)
Robert M. Regoli
John P. Crank
Robert G. Culbertson
Application Exercise 4.2	135	(4)
Interviews: ``Drinking in the Dorms: A Study of the Etiquette of RA-Resident Relations''	139	(4)
Earl Rubington
Application Exercise 4.3	143	(4)
Telephone Interviews: ``Assessing Age and Gender Differences in Perceived Risk and Fear of Crime''	147	(4)
Randy L. LaGrange
Kenneth F. Ferraro
Application Exercise 4.4	151	(2)
Telephone Surveys: ``Effects of Interview Mode on Self-Reported Drug Use''	153	(4)
William S. Aquilino
Leonard A. Lo Sciuto
Application Exercise 4.5	157	(7)
Participant Observation: ``Power in Hospitals: Implications for the Validity of Data''	164	(3)
Barbara Haley
Application Exercise 4.6	167	(4)
Scaling Sociometric Rating Scale: ``Self-Concept as an Insulator against Delinquency''	171	(2)
Walter C. Reckless
Simon Dinitz
Ellen Murray
Application Exercise 4.7	173	(2)
Field Experiment: ``A Field Experiment on Insurance Fraud in Auto Body Repair''	175	(4)
Paul E. Tracy
James Alan Fox
Application Exercise 4.8	179	(2)
Data Organization and Analysis	181	(34)
Quantitative Data	181	(2)
Qualitative Data	183	(2)
References	185	(30)
Content Analysis: ``Teenage Suicide: An Evaluation of Reactive Responses to Change and a Proposed Model for Proactive Accommodation/Adaptation''	186	(5)
Dennis L. Peck
Kimberly A. Folse
Application Exercise 5.1	191	(2)
Time-Series Analysis: ``Economic Antecedents of Mental Hospitalization: A Nineteenth-Century Time Series Test''	193	(4)
George W. Dowdall
James R. Marshall
Wayne A. Morra
Application Exercise 5.2	197	(10)
Locating Source Material: ``The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment in the Five Most Active Execution States: A Time Series Analysis''	207	(4)
Scott H. Decker
Carol W. Kohfeld
Application Exercise 5.3	211	(4)
Research Ethics	215	(24)
Ethical Issues in Social Science Research	215	(2)
Responses of Organizations and Agencies to Ethical Issues in Research	217	(3)
Value-Neutral Research and the Role of the Researcher	220	(1)
References	220	(19)
Ethical Issues: ``Patrons of Porn: Research Notes on the Clientele of Adult Bookstores''	221	(4)
Richard Tewksbury
Application Exercise 6.1	225	(2)
Institutional Review Boards: ``Institutional Review Boards: Virtue Machines or Villains?''	227	(6)
Bruce L. Berg
W. Timothy Austin
Glenn A. Zuern
Application Exercise 6.2	233	(6)
Policy Implications	239	(28)
Ethics versus Politics	239	(1)
Gatekeepers and the Powerful	240	(1)
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)	241	(1)
The Use of Research Findings	242	(1)
Gender and Research Politics	243	(1)
References	244	(23)
Interpreting Patterns of Crime Analysis: ``Estimation of Individual Crime Rates from Arrest Records''	247	(4)
Alfred Blumstein
Jacqueline Cohen
Application Exercise 7.1	251	(4)
Likert Scale: ``Death Penalty Opinions: A Classroom Experience and Public Commitment''	255	(4)
Robert M. Bohm
Application Exercise 7.2	259	(8)
Appendix A Drugs, Alcohol, and Social Styles of Life Questionnaire	267	(14)
Appendix B Random Numbers Table	281