Social Research A Simple Guide

by Glicken, Morley D.

• ISBN13: 9780205334285
• ISBN10: 0205334288
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-23
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

A user-friendly guide to understanding social research and statistics. Fun to read, this successful class-tested book provides step-by-step guidance using numerous real-life examples and applications. This concise book attempts to make research fun and interesting by using concrete examples, funny vignettes and worked-out problems.MARKET : For anyone interested in improving in research methods.

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
Why Bother Learning Research?	1	(18)
Introduction	1	(3)
The Excitement of Discovery	4	(1)
Knowledge is Knowledge, or is Some Knowledge Better?: Inductive and Deductive Reasoning	5	(3)
Deduction	5	(1)
Induction and Inference	5	(1)
Which Approach is Better?	6	(2)
The Scientific Method	8	(3)
Is the Scientific Method the Only Way to Approach Knowledge?	11	(1)
Creativity and Science	12	(1)
A Way of Processing Ideas	12	(2)
The Three Reasons for Doing Research	14	(1)
Exploratory Research	14	(1)
Descriptive Research	15	(1)
Explanatory Research	15	(1)
Pure and Applied Research	15	(1)
Summary	16	(1)
Review Questions	17	(1)
References	17	(1)
Additional Readings	17	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	18	(1)
A Way of Viewing the Research Process: Research Paradigms	19	(17)
Introduction	19	(1)
The Four Paradigms	20	(12)
The Positivist Paradigm	20	(3)
The Critical Theory Paradigm	23	(4)
The Post-Positivist Paradigm	27	(3)
The Constructivist Paradigm	30	(2)
Which Paradigm Should You Choose for Your Research Project?	32	(1)
Summary	33	(1)
Review Questions	33	(1)
References	33	(2)
Additional Readings	35	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	35	(1)
What's the Beef? A Look at Problem Formulations	36	(18)
Introduction	36	(1)
An Example of a Problem Formulation	37	(5)
A Feminist Response to the Problem Formulation	42	(1)
The Moral of the Story	43	(1)
Choosing a Research Problem	44	(4)
Special Meaning	44	(1)
Availability of Research	45	(1)
Time Constraints	45	(1)
Human Subjects Review	46	(1)
Relevant Problem	46	(1)
Your Level of Expertise in Research	47	(1)
A New Way of Seeing the Problem	47	(1)
Walking You through the Problem Formulation Process	48	(2)
Have You Chosen the Correct Problem?	50	(1)
Summary	51	(1)
Review Questions	51	(1)
References	52	(1)
Additional Readings	53	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	53	(1)
The Research Proposal	54	(19)
The Purpose of the Proposal	54	(1)
The Content of the Proposal	54	(4)
The Problem	54	(1)
The Importance of the Problem	55	(1)
Prior Research	55	(1)
Your Methodology	55	(1)
What Is the Study About?	56	(1)
The Relevance of the Study	57	(1)
Choosing a Topic for Your Research Proposal	58	(3)
The Problem Touches You Personally	59	(1)
The Problem Relates to an Agency Need	59	(1)
You are Going on for a Doctorate	60	(1)
Ethnic, Racial, or Gender Interests	60	(1)
The Methodology Outweighs the Problem	60	(1)
Replicating Another Study	61	(1)
Other Ideas	61	(1)
Issues to Consider When Choosing a Topic	61	(4)
Difficult Populations	61	(1)
Surveys	62	(1)
Studies in Public Agencies	62	(1)
Overly Long Instruments	62	(1)
Political Correctness	62	(1)
Human Subjects Problems	63	(1)
Time Limitations	63	(1)
An Adequate Literature Review	63	(2)
A Suggested Outline for the Proposal	65	(4)
Title	65	(1)
Abstract	65	(1)
Text	65	(4)
Constructivist Proposals	69	(1)
Critical Theory Studies	70	(1)
An Evaluation Protocol for Research Proposals	70	(1)
Summary	71	(1)
Review Questions	71	(1)
References	72	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	72	(1)
The Literature Review	73	(15)
Introduction	73	(1)
The Steps in Doing a Serious Literature Review	74	(3)
Know Your Library	74	(1)
Free Online Servers for Literature Searches	75	(1)
Accessing Non-Library Servers from Home	76	(1)
Good and Bad Sources	77	(4)
Refereed Academic Journals	77	(1)
Professional Journals	78	(1)
Journals Published by Commercial Publishers	79	(1)
Books Published by Academic Presses	79	(1)
Books Published by For-Profit Publishing Companies	79	(1)
Magazines or Newspapers That are Highly Regarded	80	(1)
The Mainstream Popular Press	80	(1)
The Sensational Press	80	(1)
Are Scholars So Smart? Do They Know Everything?	81	(1)
How to Judge a Well-Done Literature Review	81	(1)
Plagiarism	82	(2)
Locating Documents on the Web	84	(1)
Government Documents	84	(1)
Full-Text Social Science Databases	85	(1)
Citations and Abstracts	85	(1)
Summary	86	(1)
Review Questions	86	(1)
References	87	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	87	(1)
Using Instruments to Measure Behavior	88	(22)
Creating Your Own Instrument	88	(7)
Make the Questions Relevant	88	(1)
Ask One Question at a Time	89	(1)
Pre-Test Your Instrument	89	(1)
Test Your Instrument for Validity and Reliability	90	(1)
Decide on the Construction of the Scales	91	(2)
Other Options	93	(1)
Questions to Guide an Interview	94	(1)
Choosing an Instrument Developed by Others	95	(3)
The Preference for a Valid and Reliable Instrument	95	(2)
Problems with Meaningful Relationships	97	(1)
Lack of Data Generated by the Instrument	98	(1)
Validity of the Instrument	98	(3)
Determining Reliability of the Instrument	101	(1)
The Test-Retest Method	101	(1)
The Split-Half Method	101	(1)
Using the Instrument: Approaches to Data Collection	101	(5)
Interviews	101	(1)
Telephone Interviews	102	(2)
Critical Incident Interviews	104	(1)
The Focus Group	104	(1)
The Survey	105	(1)
Guidelines for Surveys	106	(1)
Summary	107	(1)
Review Questions	107	(1)
References	107	(2)
Recommended Internet Sites	109	(1)
Resources for Testing Instruments	109	(1)
Examples of Research Instruments	110	(19)
Introduction	110
Instrument 1: A Vague Likert Scale	109	(4)
Discussion	112	(1)
Instrument 2: A Behaviorally-Oriented Likert Scale	113	(1)
Discussion	114	(1)
Instrument 3: The Use of Vignettes	114	(3)
Discussion	116	(1)
Instrument 4: An Open-Ended Instrument	117	(3)
Discussion	119	(1)
Making Sense out of Open-Ended Answers	120	(2)
Cover Letters Used with Instruments	122	(2)
Example of Cover Letter	123	(1)
Sending out the Results to Participants	124	(2)
Summary	126	(1)
Review questions	127	(1)
References	127	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	128	(1)
Quantitative Designs	129	(22)
Introduction	129	(5)
The Independent Variable Must Come before the Dependent Variable	129	(1)
You Must Be Able to Vary the Independent Variable	130	(1)
You Must Base a Hypothesis on Something Already Proven	131	(1)
You Must Control for Other Explanations of Your Hypothesis	131	(1)
All Quantitative Studies Require a Control Group	132	(1)
Random Sampling and Assignment Are Essential	133	(1)
Comparisons between an Experimental and a Control Group	134	(1)
Solomon Four-Group Designs	135	(1)
Time Series Studies	136	(1)
Quasi-Experimental Designs	137	(2)
Survey Research	139	(1)
Threats to Experimental Designs	140	(1)
Internal Validity: Threats to Showing Cause-Effect Relationships	141	(4)
Life Events	141	(1)
Biological Changes	141	(1)
Chance Occurrences	142	(1)
Test-Wiseness	142	(1)
Knowing How to Take a Test	143	(1)
Same Test, Different Meaning	143	(1)
Those Darn Statistics	143	(1)
Whoops, We Chose the Wrong People	144	(1)
Drop Outs	144	(1)
Some Folks Are More Resilient	144	(1)
External Validity: Threats to Generalizing Findings to Other Similar People, Situations, or Events	145	(3)
Testing Interferences	145	(1)
If You Know You're in the Study, You Try Harder	145	(1)
Problems with the Sample	146	(1)
A Biased Sample	146	(1)
It's Not the Treatment, It's Something Else	146	(1)
Meaningless Relationships (not to be confused with anyone's love life)	147	(1)
Too Many Reasons to Know Why Something Happened	147	(1)
The Researcher's Bias	147	(1)
Summary	148	(1)
Review Questions	148	(1)
References	148	(2)
Recommended Internet Sites	150	(1)
Qualitative Designs	151	(24)
Introduction	151	(1)
The Rules of Qualitative Research	152	(1)
The Role of the Qualitative Researcher	153	(1)
Types of Qualitative Designs	154	(12)
Naturalistic Research	154	(3)
Participant--Observer Design	157	(1)
Ex-Post Facto Designs	158	(1)
Focus Groups	159	(3)
Single Subject Studies with Goal Attainment Scaling	162	(4)
Examples of Goal Attainment Scales	166	(2)
Example One: Calculating Overall Gain on a Goal Attainment Scale	168	(1)
What Does This Tell Us?	168	(1)
Example Two: A Goal Attainment Scale to Measure Weight Loss	169	(1)
Example Three: A Goal Attainment Scale to Improve Grade Point Average	170	(1)
Summary	171	(1)
Review Questions	171	(1)
References	172	(1)
Additional Readings	172	(2)
Recommended Internet Sites	174	(1)
Sampling	175	(17)
Introduction	175	(3)
Sampling Bias	176	(1)
Sampling Error	177	(1)
Probability and Non-Probability Sampling	178	(1)
Sampling a Population Whose Members Are Known: Probability Sampling	179	(5)
Simple Random Sampling	179	(1)
Systematic Random Sampling	180	(1)
Stratified Random Sampling	180	(2)
Cluster Sampling	182	(1)
Alternate Selections	183	(1)
Sampling a Population Whose Members Are Not Known: Non-Probability Sampling	184	(2)
Convenience Sampling	184	(1)
Snowball Sampling	185	(1)
Purposive Sampling	185	(1)
Quota Sampling	186	(1)
Error Rates as a Result of Sampling	186	(3)
Reading the Table	188	(1)
To Sample or Not to Sample, That is the Question	189	(1)
Summary	190	(1)
Review Questions	191	(1)
References	191	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	191	(1)
Sadistic Statistics: Part I. Measures of Central Tendencies With Joseph Greene	192	(16)
Introduction	192	(2)
The Statistics We Cover in This Book	194	(1)
Types of Data	194	(2)
Measures of Central Tendency	196	(3)
Chance	199	(3)
Chi-Square	202	(1)
T-Tests	203	(2)
Summary	205	(1)
Review Questions	205	(1)
References	206	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	206	(2)
Sadistic Statistics: Part II. Correlations With Joseph Greene	208	(13)
Introduction	208	(1)
Understanding the Meaning of Correlation Scores	209	(1)
Variance	210	(2)
Regression Analysis	212	(2)
ANOVAS and Beyond	214	(1)
Planned Versus Unplanned Comparisons	215	(1)
How to Report Statistics	216	(2)
Computerized Statistical Packages	218	(1)
Review Questions	219	(1)
Reference	219	(1)
Additional Readings	220	(1)
Ethics in Research	221	(19)
Introduction	221	(1)
The Human Subjects Approval Process	222	(2)
The Types of Human Subjects Review	224	(4)
Exempt Reviews	224	(1)
Expedited Reviews	225	(3)
Full Board Review	228	(1)
The Request for Human Subjects Approval Form	228	(3)
Participant Recruitment	229	(1)
Description of the Project	229	(1)
Approval Letters	229	(1)
Risks and Benefits of the Research	230	(1)
Informed Consent Statement and Debriefing Statement	230	(1)
The Informed Consent and Debriefing Statements	231	(1)
Guidelines for the Informed Consent Statement	231	(2)
A Sample Informed Consent Statement	233	(2)
The Debriefing Statement	235	(1)
A Sample Debriefing Statement	236	(1)
Ethical Lapses	237	(1)
Summary	238	(1)
Review Questions	238	(1)
References	238	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	239	(1)
Writing the Research Report	240	(14)
Introduction	240	(1)
The Research Report Outline	240	(3)
Introduction/Problem Statement (Problem Statement and Problem Focus)	240	(1)
Literature Review	241	(1)
Research Design and Methods	241	(1)
Findings	241	(1)
Discussion of Findings	242	(1)
Implications	243	(1)
What to Include in a Research Report	243	(1)
Assessment of Reports	244	(1)
The Research Report: An Example	245	(6)
Personal Observations on Report Writing	251	(1)
Summary	252	(1)
Review Questions	252	(1)
References	253	(1)
Recommended Internet Sites	253	(1)
Our Role as Social Researchers	254	(11)
Introduction	254	(3)
On Being a Sophisticated Consumer	257	(5)
Thanks to the Reader	262	(1)
References	262	(1)
Recommended Readings	262	(3)
Glossary	265	(8)
Index	273