Making Sense of the Social World / Edition 5

Making Sense of the Social World / Edition 5

ISBN-10:
1483380610
ISBN-13:
9781483380612
Pub. Date:
01/28/2015
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
ISBN-10:
1483380610
ISBN-13:
9781483380612
Pub. Date:
01/28/2015
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Making Sense of the Social World / Edition 5

Making Sense of the Social World / Edition 5

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Current price is , Original price is $107.0. You
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Overview

At the heart of this book is the authors’ firm belief that understanding research methods is critical to being an informed citizen in our complex, fast-paced social world. Now in its Fifth Edition, Making Sense of the Social World by Daniel F. Chambliss and Russell K. Schutt continues to help students achieve that understanding by providing a balanced treatment of qualitative and quantitative methods, integrating substantive examples and research techniques throughout. All essential elements of social research methods are covered, including validity, causation, experimental and quasi-experimental design, and techniques of analysis. Additionally, it is written in a less formal style to make concepts more accessible to students, and it includes wide-ranging, practical exercises drawn from every experience to help students get hands-on with the material. Not only do students find the book approachable and easy to digest, but they also enjoy it!


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781483380612
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Publication date: 01/28/2015
Edition description: Older Edition
Pages: 400
Product dimensions: 7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Daniel F. Chambliss, Ph D, is the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he has taught since 1981. He received his Ph D from Yale University in 1982; later that year, his thesis research received the American Sociological Association’s Medical Sociology Dissertation Prize. In 1988, he published the book Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers, which received the Book of the Year Prize from the U.S. Olympic Committee. In 1989, he received the American Sociology Association (ASA)’s Theory Prize for work on organizational excellence based on his swimming research. Recipient of both Fulbright and Rockefeller Foundation fellowships, he published his second book, Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses, and the Social Organization of Ethics, in 1996; for that work, he was awarded the ASA’s Elliot Freidson Prize in Medical Sociology. In 2014, Harvard University Press published his book, How College Works, coauthored with his former student Christopher G. Takacs. His research and teaching interests include organizational analysis, higher education, social theory, and comparative research methods.

Russell K. Schutt, Ph D, is a professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, a Research Associate in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center), and a Research Associate at the Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Administration Medical Center. He completed his BA, MA, and Ph D (1977) at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (1977–1979). His other books include Understanding the Social World: Research Methods for the 21st Century, Fundamentals of Social Work Research (with Ray Engel), Making Sense of the Social World (with Dan Chambliss), and Research Methods in Psychology (with Paul G. Nestor)—all with SAGE Publications, as well as Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness (Harvard University Press) and Social Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society (coedited with Larry J. Seidman and Matcheri S. Keshavan, Harvard University Press). Most of his peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters focus on the effect of social context on cognition, satisfaction, functioning, and recidivism; the orientations of service recipients and of service and criminal justice personnel; and the organization of health and social services. His research has been supported by the Veterans Health Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Fetzer Institute, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the University of Massachusetts, and other state and local funders.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Science, Society, and Social Research
Learning about the Social World
Can Social Scientists See the Social World More Clearly?
How Well Have We Done Our Research?
Chapter 2: The Process and Problems of Social Research
What Is the Question?
What Is the Theory?
What Is the Strategy?
What Is the Design?
But Is It Ethical?
Chapter 3: Ethics in Research
Historical Background
Ethical Principles
Chapter 4: Conceptualization and Measurement
What Do We Have in Mind?
How Will We Know When We’ve Found It?
How Much Information Do We Really Have?
Did We Measure What We Wanted to Measure?
Chapter 5: Sampling
How Do We Prepare to Sample?
What Sampling Method Should We Use?
Chapter 6: Causation and Experimental Design
Causal Explanation
What Causes What?
Why Experiment?
What If a True Experiment Isn’t Possible?
What Are the Threats to Validity in Experiments?
How Do Experimenters Protect Their Subjects?
Chapter 7: Survey Research
Why Is Survey Research So Popular?
How Should We Write Survey Questions?
How Should Questionnaires Be Designed?
What Are the Alternatives for Administering Surveys?
A Comparison of Survey Designs
Ethical Issues in Survey Research
Chapter 8: Elementary Quantitative Data Analysis
Why Do Statistics?
How to Prepare Data for Analysis
What Are the Options for Displaying Distributions?
What Are the Options for Summarizing Distributions?
How Can We Tell Whether Two Variables Are Related?
Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie With Statistics
Chapter 9: Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening
What Are Qualitative Methods?
How Does Participant Observation Become a Research Method?
How Do You Conduct Intensive Interviews?
How Do You Run Focus Groups?
Analyzing Qualitative Data
Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research
Chapter 10: Qualitative Data Analysis
What Is Distinctive About Qualitative Data Analysis?
What Techniques Do Qualitative Data Analysts Use?
What Are Some Alternatives in Qualitative Data Analysis?
Why Are Mixed Methods Helpful?
How Can Computers Assist Qualitative Data Analysis?
What Ethical Issues Arise in Doing Qualitative Data Analysis?
Chapter 11: Unobtrusive Measures
Creative Sources
Content Analysis
Historical Methods
Comparative Methods
Chapter 12: Evaluation Research
What Is the History of Evaluation Research?
What Is Evaluation Research?
What Are the Alternatives in Evaluation Designs?
What Can an Evaluation Study Focus On?
Ethical Issues in Evaluation Research
Chapter 13: Reviewing, Proposing, and Reporting Research
Comparing Research Designs
Reviewing Research
Proposing New Research
Reporting Research

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