Research Methods: A Practical Guide for the Social Sciences is an essential resource for the social researcher. It offers a comprehensive introduction for first time researchers right through to thorough and practical advice for those undertaking more advanced work. The book draws on real life experiences from a wide variety of disciplines to show how theory translates into practice, and offers a rigorous analysis of why researchers choose the methods they use. Think about it boxes throughout the text offer questions and ideas to help the researcher to focus on core issues and practical considerations, whilst your research summaries present questions, activities and checklists to help the researcher to develop their ideas.
The book is supported by a fantastic companion website that contains learning materials, interactive exercises, videos, questionnaires, datasets and much more. The website can be found at: www.pearsoned.co.uk/matthews
Written to reflect the breadth of the social sciences, Research Methods is essential for anyone conducting research in sociology, health policy, social work, criminology, social policy, cultural studies, political studies, public policy and related fields.
Introduction
PART A: Thinking About Research
A1: What is Research?
A2: Knowledge, Theories, Paradigms and Perspectives
A3: The Nature of Data
A4: Research Questions, Hypotheses and Operational Definitions
A5: Research as an Ethical and Cultural Issue
PART B: Preparing for Research
B1: Planning a Research Project
B2: Reviewing the Literature
B3: Research Design
B4: Choosing Methods
B5: Sampling
B6: Research Proposals
PART C: Data Collection
C1: Collecting Data
C2: Data Collection Skills
C3: Questionnaires
C4: Semi-structured Interviews
C5: Focus Groups
C6: Observation
C7: Narrative Data
C8: Documents
C9: Secondary Sources of Data
C10: Collecting Data Using Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)
PART D: Data Analysis
D1: Beginning to Analyse
D2: Working With Data
D3: Statistical Analysis
D4: Thematic Analysis
D5: Analysing Narrative
D6: Discourse Analysis
D7: Content Analysis
D8: Grounded Theory
D9: Using Computers in Data Analysis
D10: So What? Drawing Conclusions
PART E: Data Presentation and Reports
E1: The Importance of Audience
E2: Writing for Research: Reports and Dissertations
E3: Data Presentation
E4: Dissemination and Further Research
Glossary
