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Methodological Thinking Basic Principles of Social Research Design

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ISBN-10: 1412997208

ISBN-13: 9781412997201

Edition: 2013

Authors: Donileen R. Loseke

List price: $49.00
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Description:

Thinking Methodologically: Basic Principles of Social Research Design focuses on the underlying logic of social research and encourages students to understand research methods as a way of thinking. In this book author Donileeen Loseke provides an overview of the basic principles of social research, including the foundations of research (data, concepts, theory), the characteristics of research questions, the importance of literature reviews, measurement (conceptualization and operationalization), data generation techniques (experiments, surveys, interviews, observation, document analysis) and sampling. Relationships among these components of research are stressed, and the repeated, explicit…    
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Book details

List price: $49.00
Copyright year: 2013
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
Publication date: 3/1/2012
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 216
Size: 6.00" wide x 9.00" long x 0.50" tall
Weight: 0.638

Donileen R. Loseke received her bachelor's in psychology and master's in behavioral science from California State University Dominguez Hills, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She currently is a professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida. Her books include The Battered Woman and Shelters (1992, New York Press), which won the 1994Charles Horton Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, and Thinking About Social Problems: An Introduction to Constructionist Perspectives, 2e (2003, Aldine deGruyter), and Current Controversies on Family Violence, 2nd edition , edited with Richard Gelles and Mary Cavanaugh (2005,…    

Preface
Acknowledgments
Exploring the World of Social Research Design
Defining Social Research
Social Research and Other Ways of Knowing
Evaluating Social Research
The Study of Social Research Design
Basic Principles of Methodological Thinking
Think Critically
Treat All Knowledge as Tentative
Understand the Importance of Each Element of Research Design
Think Both as a Scientist and as an Artist
Know the Appropriate Uses of Social Research Tools
Understand the Characteristics and Consequences of Methodological Diversity
Planning the Study of Research Design
Methods in Theory and in Practice
Foundations
The Components of Social Research: Data,
Concepts, and Theories
Data
Variations in Data Content: Thinking/Feeling and Behavior
Variations in Data Origins: Researcher
Produced and Naturally Occiuring
Variations in Data Form: Words and Numbers
Concepts
Theories
Direction of Reasoning Between Data and Concepts/Theories
Deductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
Logic and Research Design Decisions
Models of Social Life and Models of Social Research
Positivist Perspectives
Positivist Perspective Assumptions About Social Life
Positivist Perspective Assumptions About Social Research
Positivist Perspective Assumptions About Social Researchers
Interpretive Perspectives
Interpretive Perspective Assumptions About Social Life
Interpretive Perspective Assumptions About Social Research
Interpretive Perspective Assumptions About Social Researchers
Critical Perspectives
Critical Perspective Assumptions About Social Life
Critical Perspective Assumptions About Social Research
Critical Perspective Assumptions About Social Researchers
Research Design Decisions and Models of Social Life
Continuing Debates in Social Research Design
Natural Science Versus Humanities
Qualitative Versus Quantitative Design
Foundations and Research Design
Suggestions for Further Reading on Foundations of Social Research Design
Research Questions
Identifying Research Questions in Published Research
Constructing Research Questions
Assessing the Appropriateness of Research Questions
Thinking About Researchers
Research and Personally Meaningful Topics
Research and Personal Perspectiveson Social Life
Research and Working Styles
Thinking About Research Participants
Thinking About Practicalities
Reconstructing Research Questions
Modifying Questions to Reflect Particular Views of Social Life
Modifying Questions to Reflect Practicalities
Evaluating Research Questions
Research Questions and Research Design
Literature Reviews
Defining the Literature
Existing Knowledge as a Tool for Research Design
Previous Studies Define the Foundation for New Studies
Previous Studies Define What New Research Is Needed
Previous Studies Offer Guidelines for Research Design
Defining the Relevant Literature
Defining Boundaries for the Inclusion of Topics
Defining Boundaries of Abstraction
Thinking About the Review Task
Where to Look
How to Read
What to Read for
The Contents and Form of Literature Reviews
Literature Reviews and Research Design
Examples of Social Research Article Databases
Measurement
Conceptualization and Conceptual Definitions
Identifying and Writing Conceptual Definitions
Operationalization and Operational Definitions
Types of Operationalizations in Social Research
Operationalizations as Criteria for Classifying Tilings People Say
Operationalizations as Criteria for Classifying Behavior
Operationalizations as Criteria for Classifying the Content of Documents or Other hysical bjects
Operational Definitions and Research Logic
Operationalizations in Deductive Research
Operationalizations in Inductive Research
Measurement Problems in Social Research
The Problem of Meaning
The Problem of Multidimensionality
The Problem of Interconnectivity
The Problem of Measurement Imprecision
Evaluating Measurement
Evaluating Measurement Validity in Positivist Research
Evaluating Measurement Trastworthiness in Interpretive Research
Problems in Evaluating Measurement
Conceptualization and Operationalization and Research Design
Data Generation Techniques
Research Questions and Data
Research Questions and Data Content
Research Questions and Data Form
Data Generation Techniques
Experiments
Fixed-Question Surveys
In-Depth Interviews
Observation
Document Analysis
Variations in Data Generation Techniques
Variations to Match Research Questions
Variations to Match the Current State of Knowledge
Variations to Match Models of Research
Variations to Match Practicalities
Assessing the Appropriateness of Data Generation Techniques
Danger to Research Participants
Danger to Researchers
Problems From Practicalities
Data Generation Techniques and Research Design
Samples
Populations and Samples in Social Research
The Concept of Population in Social Research
Conceptualizing Populations in Research Design
The Concept of Sample in Social Research
The Importance of Samples in Social Research
Types of Samples
Probability Samples
Nonprobability Samples
Sampling and Sample Problems in Social Research
Problems in Probability Sampling
Problems in Non probability Samples
Practical Problems in All Sampling
Samples and Research Design
Summary: Writing and Evaluating Social Research Design
Foundations of Research Design and Evaluation: Methodological Thinking
Barriers to Critical Thinking
Variations in Criteria for Evaluating Reports of Research Design
Variations From Types of Research
Variations From Foundational Characteristics
Variations From Data Generation Techniques
Variations From Report Purposes and Audiences
Quality Within Variations
Writing Research Design: Characteristics of High-Quality Reports
Containing Appropriate Contents
Containing Adequate Information on Design Characteristics
Demonstrating the Logical Coherence of Design Components
Endings and Beginnings
Suggestions for Further Reading on Writing and
Evaluating Social Research Design
Appendix: Articles Used as Examples
Exploring the Bases of Partisanship in the American Electorate: Social Identity vs. Ideology
Ethnography of Racial Identities in Paris: Public Indicators of Social Hierarchy. A Research
The Digital Identity Divide: How Technology Knowledge Impacts College Students
Fitting In but Getting Fat: Identity Threat and Dietary Choices Among U.S. Immigrant Groups
Addicts' Narratives of Recovery From Drug Use: Constructing a Non-Addict Identity
Unassailable Motherhood, Ambivalent Domesticity: The Construction of Maternal Identity in Ladies' Home Journal in 1946
Smoking Identities and Behavior: Evidence of Discrepancies, Issues for Measurement and Intervention
Gang-Related Gun Violence: Socialization, Identity, and Self
Index
About the Author