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| What is Social Research? Some Practical and Theoretical Concerns | |
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| What Is Social Research? | |
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| Why Do Research? | |
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| Developing a Sociological Imagination | |
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| The Research Process: Moving Between Theories and Data | |
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| Paradigms | |
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| Traditional Approaches to Social Research (Positivism) | |
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| Challenges to Traditional Ways of Doing Social Science | |
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| You Are Here: Locating the Self in Social Research | |
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| Naturalism | |
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| Social Constructionist and Interpretive Approaches | |
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| Feminist and Other Critical Approaches | |
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| Postmodernism | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Strategies for Beginning Research | |
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| Getting Started: Where to Begin? | |
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| Where Do Ideas Come From? | |
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| A Problem Is Always a Problem for Someone | |
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| Deciding What to Research | |
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| Developing a Research Strategy | |
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| Reading the Literature | |
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| Summary: The Research Process in View | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Additional Readings | |
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| Ethical Issues | |
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| Sleeping Well at Night: A Practical Ethics | |
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| Ethical Codes | |
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| Confidentiality and Informed Consent | |
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| Controversies in Social Research | |
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| Feminist Approaches to Research Ethics | |
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| Institutional Review Boards | |
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| Ethical Concerns in Qualitative Research | |
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| Practical Concerns in Protecting Privacy | |
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| Conclusion | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Observation: Participant and Otherwise | |
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| Participating and Observing | |
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| The Self as Instrument | |
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| Thinking About Settings: Selecting a Site | |
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| Getting In, Gaining Access | |
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| Emotions in The Field | |
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| Writing Field Notes | |
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| Leaving the Field | |
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| Focusing | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Interviews | |
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| Interviewing as a Relationship | |
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| Types Of Interviews | |
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| Closeness and Distance In Interview Situations | |
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| Developing Relationships | |
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| Getting Ready to Begin: Preparing For The Interview | |
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| Before the Interview | |
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| During the Interview | |
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| After The Interview | |
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| Group Interviews | |
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| Making Meaning | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Unobtrusive Measures: Analyzing Texts and Material Artifacts | |
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| Physical Traces | |
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| Material Artifacts | |
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| Documents and Records | |
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| Electronic Texts | |
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| Historical Research | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Action Research | |
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| Varieties of Action Research | |
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| Research for Whom? | |
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| Empowerment | |
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| The Process of Action Research: Look, Think, Act | |
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| Identifying Stakeholders | |
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| Formulating a Collective Problem | |
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| Think: Exploring the Problem | |
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| Act: Defining an Agenda for Action | |
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| Sharing the Results | |
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| Some Problems and Opportunities in Action Research | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Making Sense of Data | |
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| Making Sense of Qualitative Data: A Process of Making Meaning | |
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| Managing Data | |
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| Getting Intimate With Your Data | |
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| Coding | |
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| Memos | |
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| Asking Questions | |
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| Developing an Analysis | |
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| Content Analysis | |
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| Semiotic Analysis | |
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| Grounding the Analysis | |
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| Computer-Assisted Data Analysis | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Narrative Analysis | |
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| What Is a Narrative? | |
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| The Structure of Stories | |
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| Other Structures of Stories | |
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| Structure, Story, and Social Context | |
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| Some Practical Advice | |
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| Evaluating Narratives | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| Writing | |
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| Writing as a Process | |
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| Audiences and Venues | |
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| Useful Ways to Structure Qualitative Research | |
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| Making Writing Vivid | |
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| Other Genres of Qualitative Research | |
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| Questions for Thought | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Suggestions for Further Reading | |
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| American Sociological Association Code of Ethics | |
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| Sample Informed Consent Form References | |