Research Methods and Society: Foundations of Social Inquiry [Hardcover]

Research Methods and Society, Third Edition is designed to help undergraduate students acquire basic skills in methods of social science research. These skills provide a foundation for understanding research findings in the social sciences and for conducting social research. Just as important, such skill-sets and principles can be applied to everyday situations to make sense of the endless stream of claims and counterclaims confronted daily in print and electronic forms, including social media.

Key features of this book include:

• Straightforward prose, including key concepts and tools.
• Concrete and everyday examples and hands-on practice activities and Applications designed to be interesting and useful to students.
• Organization to accommodate term-length research projects.
• Chapter Summaries and Review Sheets.
• Assignments to meet specific learning goals:

• Evaluation of key excerpts from research reports published in professional journal articles and popular press.
• Analysis of secondary data (e.g., from the General Social Survey).
• Analysis of primary data from miniresearch projects.
• Combinations of methods applications using more than one activity (e.g., evaluating published reports and completing secondary data analysis or mini-projects).

• New to Third Edition:

• New chapter, Ethics and Social Science Research.
lóÉ