General Research Methods

a Student’S guIde to Methodology

Second Edition

Peter Clough Liverpool Hope University and Cathy Nutbrown University of Sheffield

Praise for the First Edition : ‘This is a thoughtful, well-crafted, easily accessible book. I believe this book would work well for a variety of methodology courses, and I would direct students and colleagues to use it’ – Norman K Denzin, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

The Second Edition includes a range of new examples as well as updated readings and suggestions on using the Internet as a research tool and resource. There is also further guidance on ethical issues – a key concern for all engaged in research with human participants in the light of new regulations – and additional sections on how to improve academic writing.

READERSHIP Anyone undertaking a dissertation or thesis

2007 • 272 pages Cloth (978-1-4129-2912-7) • £70.00 Paper (978-1-4129-2913-4) • £21.99

reSearch Methodology

A Step-by-Step Guide for beginners

Second Edition

Ranjit Kumar University of Western Australia

In a clear and concise way, the author focuses on developing research skills by providing examples from both qualitative and quantitative research for a balanced and comprehensive grounding in methodology.

New to the Second Edition are: expanded sections on the paradigms of research; more material on focus groups and interviewing; and new guides to analyzing quantitative data.

READERSHIP Second and third-year undergraduate and postgraduate social science students new to research methods

2005 • 352 pages Paper (978-1-4129-1194-8) • £25.99

the tao of reSearch

A Path to Validity

New Edition

Dana Keller

Using the same approachable style as his popular Tao of Statistics , Dana Keller’s informal presentation style in The Tao of Research brings about an understanding of research without the stress normally associated with the subject. He accomplishes this stress-free learning by explaining the fundamental concepts in plain English. This text will employs concrete, applied examples that students will encounter in everyday life so that they see the excitement of research.

October 2009 • 200 pages Paper (978-1-4129-6468-5) • £17.99

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the Sage handbook of SocIal reSearch MethodS

Edited by Pertti Alasuutari University of Tampere, Finland , Leonard bickman Vanderbilt University, Nashville and Julia brannen Insitute of Education, University of London

The SAGE Handbook of Social Research Methods is a must for every social science researcher. It charts the new and evolving terrain of social research methodology, covering qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods in one volume.

The Handbook includes chapters on each phase of the research process: research design; methods of data collection; and the processes of analyzing and interpreting data. The volume maintains that there is much more to research than learning skills and techniques: methodology involves the fit between theory, research questions, research design and analysis. The book also includes several chapters that describe historical and current directions in social research, debating crucial subjects such as qualitative versus quantitative paradigms, how to judge the credibility of types of research, and the increasingly topical issue of research ethics.

READERSHIP

Students and researchers across the social sciences

Cloth February 2008 / Paper February 2009 • 648 pages Cloth (978-1-4129-1992-0) • £90.00 Paper (978-1-84860-730-9) • £29.99

the Sage handbook of SocIal ScIence Methodology

Edited by William Outhwaite Newcastle University and Stephen P Turner University of South Florida

This jewel among methods handbooks, brings together a formidable collection of international contributors to comment on every aspect of the various central issues, complications and controversies in the core methodological traditions. It is designed to meet the needs of those disciplinary and non-disciplinary problem-oriented social inquirers for a comprehensive overview of the methodological literature. The text is divided into seven sections including:

overviews of methodological approaches in the social sciences • cases, comparisons and theory • quantification and experiment • rationality, complexity and collectivity • interpretation, critique and postmodernity • discourse construction • engagement. • Edited by two leading figures in the discipline, the Handbook is a landmark work in the field of research methods. It will give social scientists, in all disciplines, an appreciation of the full range of methodological debates today, from the quantitative to the qualitative, giving them deeper and sharper insights into their own research questions.

READERSHIP Students across the social sciences

2007 • 640 pages Cloth (978-1-4129-0119-2) • £90.00

+44 (0)20 7324 8700

www.sagepub.co.uk
General Research Methods / Philosophy of Research

NEW

the handbook of SocIal reSearch ethIcS

Edited by Donna M Mertens Gallaudet University and Pauline Ginsberg Utica College

The Handbook of Social Research Ethics is the first comprehensive volume of its kind to offer a deeper understanding of the history, theory, philosophy and implementation of applied social research ethics. Much of the literature surrounding research ethics originates from or focuses on medical or related health science issues involving human subject research. This volume brings together eminent, international scholars across the social and behavioural sciences and education to address those ethical issues that arise in the theory and practice of research within the technologically advancing and culturally complex world in which we live. In addition, ethical dilemmas that arise in the relationship between research practice and social justice issues are examined. The guiding themes used throughout the volume include: defining and exploring the role(s) of ethics in research from a multidisciplinary perspective; making explicit the differing ethical emphases entailed by differing research traditions; locating ethical concerns within research practice; elucidating how each of the above influences the relationship between good ethical practice and good research practice.

READERSHIP Graduate students, professors, researchers and practitioners of various kinds of social and behavioural research

October 2008 • 688 pages Cloth (978-1-4129-4918-7) • £70.00

NEW

the Sage handbook of applIed SocIal reSearch MethodS

Second Edition

Leonard bickman Vanderbilt University, Nashville and Debra J Rog Vanderbilt University, Washington DC

The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods , Second Edition provides students and researchers with the most comprehensive resource covering core methods, research designs, and data collection, management and analysis issues. This thoroughly revised edition continues to place critical emphasis on finding the tools that best fit the research question given the constraints of deadlines, budget and available staff.

Each chapter has been enhanced pedagogically to include more stepby-step procedures, specific rich yet practical examples from various settings to illustrate the method, parameters to define when the method is most appropriate and when it is not appropriate, and greater use of visual aids (graphs, models, tip boxes) to provide teaching and learning tools.

READERSHIP Libraries, academics, researchers and advanced students across the social sciences

October 2008 • 680 pages Cloth (978-1-4129-5031-2) • £90.00

CLASSiC TExT

the foundatIonS of SocIal reSearch

Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process

Michael Crotty

Choosing a research method can be bewildering. How can you be sure which methodology is appropriate, or whether your chosen combination of methods is consistent with the theoretical perspective you want to take? This book links methodology and theory with great clarity and precision, showing students and researchers how to navigate the maze of conflicting terminology.

READERSHIP Researchers, students and professionals in the health and social sciences

1998 • 256 pages Cloth (978-0-7619-6105-5) • £70.00 Paper (978-0-7619-6106-2) • £23.99

SocIal ScIence In QueStIon

Towards a Postdisciplinary Framework

Mark J Smith The Open University

Social Science in Question provides an accessible and authoritative guide to both traditional debates and new approaches to knowledge construction in the social sciences. The book takes the reader on an intellectual journey starting with the story of modern science and the impact that this has had on social scientific practice, and going on to outline and critically review the major approaches to social scientific inquiry, ranging from positivism to postmodernism.

READERSHIP Advanced students in sociology and cultural studies

1998 • 352 pages Cloth (978-0-7619-6040-9) • £65.00 Paper (978-0-7619-6041-6) • £22.99

reSearch MethodS In the SocIal ScIenceS

Edited by bridget Somekh Manchester Metropolitan University and Cathy Lewin

Rather than being written by one or two ‘generalists’, this innovative book is written by a large number of active researchers about their specialisms in methods/methodologies. The book introduces all the key qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and methods and seeks to draw readers into a community of researchers engaged in reflection on the research process.

READERSHIP Students and academics across the social sciences

2004 • 376 pages Cloth (978-0-7619-4401-0) • £80.00 Paper (978-0-7619-4402-7) • £21.99

Available as inspection copy for lecturers

Research Methods | 2009

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