Making Sense of the Social World
Methods of Investigation
1st Edition
Published on 14. May 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-0-7619-8787-1 (ISBN)
Description
Making Sense of the Social World provides an engaging and innovative introduction to social research and presents research methods as an integrated whole. The book contains: a balanced treatment of qualitative and quantitative methods; integration of substantive examples and research techniques; and consistent attention to the goal of validity and the standards of ethical practice.
Reviews / Votes
"First, I would adopt-not just consider-this book. The writing style is direct and easy to follow. The issues are treated in context, with good examples. The authors do a great job of presenting the material in a way that prevents students from asking "how is this relevant to what I do?" I do wish I had written this book myself." -- Ronald Perry "The text's strengths, bottom line, are that it's casual and accessible, yet thorough and accurate. It is very up-to-date using good examples from very contemporary social science research." -- Mark Edwards "The strength of this text is in its brevity. In a one semester course, it is impossible to cover all the topics in a comprehensive text in any depth. I would rather my students learn the fundamentals of doing research - a few topics in depth. They can then build on this knowledge, if they need to, in order to learn new types of analysis. I also like the types and varieties of exercises included in the text." -- Ann Marie KinnellMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 187 mm
Weight
657 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7619-8787-1 (9780761987871)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Book
04/2006
2nd Edition
SAGE Publications Inc
€55.89
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Daniel F. Chambliss, PhD, is the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Emeritus at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he has taught from 1981 to 2023. He received his PhD from Yale University in 1982; later that year, his thesis research received the American Sociological Association's (ASA'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 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 Eliot 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. In 2018, he received the ASA's national career award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching.
Russell K. Schutt, PhD, is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he received the 2007 Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Service and taught from 1979 to 2022. He is also a Clinical Research Scientist I at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Lecturer (part-time) in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. He completed his BA, MA, and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (where he met Dan). In addition to ten editions of Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research and one of Understanding the Social World, as well as coauthored versions for the fields of social work, criminal justice, psychology, and education, his other books include Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness (2011), Social Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society (coedited, 2015), and Organization in a Changing Environment (1986). He has authored and coauthored more than 65 peer reviewed journal articles, as well as book chapters and research reports on homelessness, mental health, organizations, law, and teaching research methods. His currently a Dual Principal Investigator (with Matcheri Keshavan, MD) in randomized comparative effectiveness trial of two socially-oriented interventions to improve community functioning among persons diagnosed with serious mental illness, funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). His other recently concluded research includes co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded study of the social impact of the pandemic in Boston, and co-investigator on a Veterans Health Administration-funded study of peer support. His earlier research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Veterans Health Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Fetzer Institute, and state agencies. Details are available at https://blogs.umb.edu/russellkschutt/.
Russell K. Schutt, PhD, is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he received the 2007 Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Service and taught from 1979 to 2022. He is also a Clinical Research Scientist I at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Lecturer (part-time) in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. He completed his BA, MA, and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (where he met Dan). In addition to ten editions of Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research and one of Understanding the Social World, as well as coauthored versions for the fields of social work, criminal justice, psychology, and education, his other books include Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness (2011), Social Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society (coedited, 2015), and Organization in a Changing Environment (1986). He has authored and coauthored more than 65 peer reviewed journal articles, as well as book chapters and research reports on homelessness, mental health, organizations, law, and teaching research methods. His currently a Dual Principal Investigator (with Matcheri Keshavan, MD) in randomized comparative effectiveness trial of two socially-oriented interventions to improve community functioning among persons diagnosed with serious mental illness, funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). His other recently concluded research includes co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded study of the social impact of the pandemic in Boston, and co-investigator on a Veterans Health Administration-funded study of peer support. His earlier research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Veterans Health Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Fetzer Institute, and state agencies. Details are available at https://blogs.umb.edu/russellkschutt/.
Content
Chapter 1. Science, Society, and Social Research
What is the Problem?
Can Social Scientists See the Social World More Clearly?
What Questions Can Social Science Research Answer?
How Well Have We Done Our Research? Are Our Answers Correct?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 2. The Process and Problems of Social Research
What is the Question?
What is the Theory?
What is the Strategy?
Deductive Research
Inductive Research
Descriptive Research: A Necessary Step
What is the Design?
But is it Ethical?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 3. Conceptualization and Measurement
What Do We Have in Mind? Conceptualization
How Do We Focus the Problem? Variables and Hypotheses
How Will We Know When We've Found It? Operationalization
How Much Information Do We Really Have?
Establishing Validity and Reliability
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 4. Sampling
How to Prepare to Sample?
What Sampling Methods to Use?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 5. Causation and Experimental Design
What is a Causal Explanation?
How Do We Identify Causes?
What are the Features of a True Experiment?
How Can Experiments Be Modified?
Why Units of Analysis Can Affect Causal Reasoning
What are the Threats to Validity in Experiments?
How Do Experimenters Protect Their Subjects?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 6. 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?
Ethical Issues in Survey Research
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 7. Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening
What Makes Methods "Qualitative"?
How Does Participant Observation Become a Research Method?
How to Conduct Intensive Interviews
How Do You "Focus" a Group?
Analyzing Qualitative Data
Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 8. 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
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 9. Elementary Data Analysis
Introducing Statistics
Case Study: The Likelihood of Voting
Preparing Data for Analysis
Displaying Univariate Distributions
Graphs
Frequency Distributions
Summarizing Univariate Distributions
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of Variation
Crosstabulating Variables
Controlling for a Third Variable
Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie With Statistics
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 10. Reviewing, Proposing, and Reporting Research
Comparing Research Designs
Reviewing Research
Case Study: "Night as Frontier"
Proposing New Research
Case Study: Treating Substance Abuse
Reporting Research
Writing and Organizing
Conclusion
Highlights
Exercises
References
Appendices
A. Finding Information
B. HyperRESEARCH: A Softward Tool for Qualitative Data Analysis
C. Secondary Data Analysis
D. How to Use a Statistical Package
What is the Problem?
Can Social Scientists See the Social World More Clearly?
What Questions Can Social Science Research Answer?
How Well Have We Done Our Research? Are Our Answers Correct?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 2. The Process and Problems of Social Research
What is the Question?
What is the Theory?
What is the Strategy?
Deductive Research
Inductive Research
Descriptive Research: A Necessary Step
What is the Design?
But is it Ethical?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 3. Conceptualization and Measurement
What Do We Have in Mind? Conceptualization
How Do We Focus the Problem? Variables and Hypotheses
How Will We Know When We've Found It? Operationalization
How Much Information Do We Really Have?
Establishing Validity and Reliability
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 4. Sampling
How to Prepare to Sample?
What Sampling Methods to Use?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 5. Causation and Experimental Design
What is a Causal Explanation?
How Do We Identify Causes?
What are the Features of a True Experiment?
How Can Experiments Be Modified?
Why Units of Analysis Can Affect Causal Reasoning
What are the Threats to Validity in Experiments?
How Do Experimenters Protect Their Subjects?
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 6. 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?
Ethical Issues in Survey Research
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 7. Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening
What Makes Methods "Qualitative"?
How Does Participant Observation Become a Research Method?
How to Conduct Intensive Interviews
How Do You "Focus" a Group?
Analyzing Qualitative Data
Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 8. 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
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 9. Elementary Data Analysis
Introducing Statistics
Case Study: The Likelihood of Voting
Preparing Data for Analysis
Displaying Univariate Distributions
Graphs
Frequency Distributions
Summarizing Univariate Distributions
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of Variation
Crosstabulating Variables
Controlling for a Third Variable
Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie With Statistics
Conclusion
Key Terms
Highlights
Exercises
Chapter 10. Reviewing, Proposing, and Reporting Research
Comparing Research Designs
Reviewing Research
Case Study: "Night as Frontier"
Proposing New Research
Case Study: Treating Substance Abuse
Reporting Research
Writing and Organizing
Conclusion
Highlights
Exercises
References
Appendices
A. Finding Information
B. HyperRESEARCH: A Softward Tool for Qualitative Data Analysis
C. Secondary Data Analysis
D. How to Use a Statistical Package