Evidence / Howard S. Becker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Becker, Howard S. (Howard Saul), 1928-2023, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Methodology.

Social sciences.

Social sciences--Research.

Social sciences--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

x, 223 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, [2017]

Summary:

When you read in the newspaper that "research has shown X, Y and Z," do you ever ask yourself how research has done that? It's not as simple as it may seem. In fact, Howard S. Becker argues, it's the hardest thing to do. You can easily dream up new ideas, but scientific studies can't just state new ideas. They have to produce evidence, data that show that a new idea is supported by observations gathered in a rigorous way. But the biggest problems in social science arise when the facts offered have explanations other than the one the scientist is hoping to prove. Becker is a master of his discipline and he has for seventy years been mulling over the problems of evidence. His reputation as a teacher, as well as a sociologist, is supported by his best-selling quartet of sociological guidebooks and readers will find this newest guidebook a valuable tool, useful for social scientists of every variety. Book jacket.

Contents:

What it's all about: data, evidence, and ideas. Models of inquiry: some historical background

Ideas, opinions, and evidence

How the natural scientists do it

Who collects the data and how do they do it? Censuses

Data gathered by government employees to document their work

Hired hands and nonscientist data gatherers

Chief investigators and their helpers

Inaccuracies in qualitative research

Afterword: final thoughts.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226466231

022646623X

9780226466378

022646637X

OCLC:

958780040