Praise for the Fourth Edition: 'I think this volume is a good textbook and, if I were teaching a research methods subject, I would consider using it as a core text. The extensive study aids are a particularly attractive aspect of the book as a teaching pool' - Qualitative Research Journal The Fifth Edition of Investigating the Social World is written so that the 'doing' of social research is closely and consistently linked to important social issues, demonstrating not only the value of research, but also how technique and substance are intimately related. The text offers guides for critiquing research articles, exercises for applying research skills and the examples of analyzing and reporting social data provide instructors with key supports for effective teaching. Ethical concerns and ethical decision making are treated in tandem with each study of specific methods and an emphasis on 'how to do' research is joined with an equal emphasis on giving students the critical skills necessary to evaluate research done by others.

Table of Contents

Science, Society, and Social Research Learning About the Social World Avoiding Errors in Reasoning About the Social World Science, Social Science and Psuedoscience Social Research Goals Strengths and Limitations of Social Research Conclusions Theories and Philosophies for Social Research Theoretical Perspectives in Social Science Social Research Philosophies Conclusions The Process and Problems of Social Research Social Research Questions Social Research Foundations Social Research Strategies Social Research Ethics Social Research Proposals, Part I Conclusions Conceptualization and Measurement Concepts Measurement Operations Levels of Measurement Evaluating Measures Conclusions Sampling Sample Planning Sampling Methods Sampling Distributions Conclusions Causation and Research Design Causal Explanation Research Designs and Criteria for Causal Explanation Conclusions Experiments True Experiments Quasi-Experiments Nonexperiments Validity in Experiments Ethical Issues in Experimental Research Conclusions Survey Research Survey Research in the Social Sciences Writing Questions Combining Questions in Indexes Designing Questionnaires Organizing Surveys Combining Methods Ethical Issues in Survey Research Conclusions Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening Fundamentals of Qualitative Methods Participant Observation Systematic Observation Intensive Interviewing Focus Groups Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research Conclusions Qualitative Data Analysis Features of Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques of Qualitative Data Analysis Alternatives in Qualitative Data Analysis Visual Sociology Evaluation Research Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Conclusions Ethics in Qualitative Data Analysis Evaluation Research History of Evaluation Research Evaluation Basics Questions for Evaluation Research Design Decisions Ethics in Evaluation Conclusions Historical and Comparative Research Overview of Unobtrusive Methods for Comparative and Historical Research Historical Social Science Methods Comparative Social Science Methods Demographic Analysis Methodological Complications Ethical Issues in Historical and Comparative Research Conclusions Secondary Data Analysis and Content Analysis Secondary Data Sources Challenges for Secondary Data Analyses Content Analysis Ethical Issues in Secondary Data Analysis and Content Analysis Conclusions Quantitative Data Analysis Introducing Statistics Preparing Data for Analysis Displaying Univariate Distributions Summarizing Univariate Distributions Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie With Statistics Crosstabulating Variables Regression Analysis Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie About Relationships Conclusions Reporting Research Social Research Proposals, Part II Comparing Research Designs Writing Research Reporting Research Ethics, Politics, and Research Reports Conclusions

Author Biography

Russell K. Schutt, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and Lecturer on Sociology in the Department of Psychiatry (Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center) at the Harvard Medical School. He completed his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. (1977) degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (1977--1979). In addition to Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research, now in its 6th edition, Making Sense of the Social World (with Dan Chambliss), and adaptations for the fields of social work (with Ray Engel) and criminology/criminal justice (with Ronet Bachman), he is the author of Organization in a Changing Environment, coeditor of The Organizational Response to Social Problems, and coauthor of Responding to the Homeless: Policy and Practice. He has authored and coauthored numerous journal articles, book chapters, and research reports on homelessness, service preferences and satisfaction, mental health, organizations, law, and teaching research methods. His recent funded research experience includes a National Cancer Institute-funded study of community health workers and recruitment for cancer clinical trials, a large translational research project for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Women's Health Network, a National Institute of Mental Health-funded study of housing alternatives for homeless persons diagnosed with severe mental illness, and evaluations of case management programs in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and in the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. His publications in peer-reviewed journals range in focus from the effect of social context on cognition, satisfaction and functioning to the service preferences of homeless persons and service personnel, the admission practices of craft unions, and the social factors in legal decisions.