Making Sense of the Social World

Methods of Investigation

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

• A new chapter on Unobtrusive Measures has been added to cover non-reactive measures, with many new examples of “creative” sources of data, as well as integrating content analysis, historical, and comparative methods.
• New material on social media relevance to research has been added to extend discussions of how media, such as smartphones and the Web, modify research techniques both in survey and in qualitative methods.
• Coverage of macro forms of research has been expanded to broaden the scope of the book.
• Demonstrations of the advantages of using mixed methods has been added to help readers balance the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.
• Coverage of quantitative methods and examples have been updated and expanded, including new kinds of research such as audit studies.
• Chapter 8 has been updated to include major new sections on Big Data and Secondary Data Analysis.
• Famously difficult topics such as units and levels of analysis, basic statistical analyses, and quantitative analyses variables, operationalization, types of reliability, causal mechanisms, and context, have been rewritten and clarified to increase readers comprehension.
• New end-of-chapter materials include revised discussion questions that promote in-class discussion and new questions on research ethics.
• Careers in Research features have been added to each chapter to help students see how what they learn can actually be used in today’s job markets.
• Research That Matters features have also been added to each chapter showing how important social research figures in many of the major issues of the day.