The art and science of social research / Deborah Carr, Boston University, Elizabeth Heger Boyle, University of Minnesota, Benjamin Cornwell, Cornell University, Shelley Correll, Stanford University, Robert Crosnoe, University of Texas at Austin, Jeremy Freese, Stanford University, Mary C. Waters, Harvard University.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carr, Deborah (Deborah S.), author.

Boyle, Elizabeth Heger, 1962- author.

Cornwell, Benjamin, author.

Correll, Shelley Joyce, author.

Crosnoe, Robert, author.

Freese, Jeremy, author.

Waters, Mary C., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social sciences--Research.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

xxix, 706 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., [2018]

Contents:

Note continued: Focus Groups

Sampling for Focus Groups

Running and Analyzing the Focus Group

Conclusion

End-of-Chapter Review

ch. 12 Materials-Based Methods

Why Use Materials Rather Than People to Answer Sociological Questions?

From The Field To The Front Page: Blacks In Hollywood: "Are We Making Sure That Everyone Is Getting A Fair Shot?"

Materials Used in Materials-Based Methods

Expert Analyses

Reports

Records

News Media

Other Media

Individual Accounts of Events

Physical Materials

Maps

Data Sets

Primary versus Secondary Information

Where Do Researchers Find Materials for Analyses?

Governments

Organizations

Individuals

Historical and Comparative Methods

History versus Historical Sociology

Steps in the Historical-Comparative Research Process

Content Analysis

Quantitative Content Analysis

Critical Content Analysis

Quantitative Data Analysis in Materials-Based Research

Conversations From The Front Lines: Hollie Nyseth Brehm

Steps in Materials-Based Research with Secondary Quantitative Data Sets

Limitations of Materials-Based Methods

Barriers to Access

Potential Shortcomings in Materials

ch. 13 Social Network Analysis

What Is a Social Network?

Social Network Concepts

Network-Structural Characteristics

Network Actor Characteristics

Network Tie Characteristics

Social Network Study Design Issues

Boundary Specification

Sociocentric and Egocentric Designs

Data Organization

One- and Two-Mode Designs

Collecting Social Network Data

Direct Observation

Archival Data

Surveys

Online Social Networks

Network Analysis Software

Respondents as Social Network Informants

Name Generators

Conversations From The Front Lines: Edward O. Laumann

Free-Choice versus Fixed-Choice Generators

Visual Aids

Name Interpreters

Sources of Bias in Social Network Studies

Instrument Bias

Recall Bias

Projection Bias

Respondent and Interviewer Fatigue

From The Field To The Front Page: Is Divorce Contagious?

Selection Bias

Pseudo-Network Data

Position and Resource Generators

Social Network Indices

Assessing Social Network Change

ch. 14 Univariate and Bivariate Analysis of Quantitative Data

Statistics and Quantitative Data Analysis

Univariate Analysis

Distributions

Measures of Central Tendency

Variation across Observations

Margin of Error

From The Field To The Front Page: How To Use Statistics To Root Out Cheating

Bivariate Analysis

Cross-Tabulating Categorical Variables

Comparing Conditional Means

Regression Analysis

Describing Trends

Repeated Cross-Sectional Surveys and Panel Surveys

Age Effects and Period Effects

Conversations From The Front Lines: Tom W. Smith

Putting Numbers in Context: Which Statistics Should You Believe?

ch. 15 Multivariate and Advanced Quantitative Methods

Significance Testing

Association (Correlation)

The Null Hypothesis and p-Values

Determining Statistical Significance

Statistical Significance and Samples

Statistical Significance versus Practical Significance

Concerns about Significance Testing

Confounding Factors

Using Elaboration to Address Confounding

Using Regression Analysis with a Control Variable

Regression Analysis with Many Control Variables

Conversations From The Front Lines: David Grusky

How Do Researchers Choose Control Variables?

Suppression

The Problem of Unmeasured and Incorrectly Measured Differences

Reverse Causality

From The Field To The Front Page: The United States: A Lonely Society?

Moderators and Mediators

Moderating Variables

Mediating Variables

Mediation versus Confounding

ch. 16 Analysis of Qualitative Data

Qualitative Data Analysis: Product and Process

Types of Qualitative Research

Approaches to Causality in Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Processes and Mechanisms

Induction, Abduction, and Deduction

Inductive Approaches: Grounded Theory

Alternatives to Grounded Theory: Abductive Research and the Extended Case Study Approach

Steps in Qualitative Data Analysis

Managing and Preparing the Data

Becoming Familiar with and Reducing the Data

Coding the Data

Coding and Analysis

Stage 1: Preparing the Data with Attribute and Index Codes

Stage 2: Applying Analytic Codes

Stage 3: Building and Testing Models

Conversations From The Front Lines: Debra Umberson

Writing the Final Report

From The Field To The Front Page: The Faces Behind Trump's Rise

ch. 17 Communicating Social Science Research Findings

Sharing Your Results with Academic Audiences

Research Reports

Research Proposals

Posters

Oral Presentations

Beyond the Academy: Reaching Out to Broader Audiences

Evaluation Reports

Monographs

Government Reports

Policy Briefs

Editorials

Blogs

The Path to Publication: The Peer-Review Process

Step 1: The Author Decides Where to Send His or Her Work

Step 2: The Editor Decides whether to Send the Written Work Out for Peer Review

From The Field To The Front Page: Predatory Journal Publishes "Study" Based On Sitcom

Step 3: Peer Reviewers, Selected by the Editor, Evaluate the Written Work

Step 4: The Author Revises and Resubmits the Work

Tips for Effective Writing

Getting Organized: Using Outlines Effectively

Conversations From The Front Lines: Jane E. Miller

The Importance of Clarity, Precision, and Readability

Academic Integrity: Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

A. Sample Consent Form

B. American Sociological Association Code of Ethics

C. Examples of Widely Used Survey Data Sets

D. Template for Reading, Summarizing, and Identifying Key Contributions of Research Articles

E. Influential Peer-Reviewed Journals in Sociology

F. Random Numbers Table

G. Chi Square Table

H. Normal Distribution.

Machine generated contents note: ch. 1 The Art and Science of Social Research: An Introduction

Sociological Perspectives: An Overview

Agency versus Structure

Adopting a Sociological Imagination

Attention to Differences and Hierarchies

How Does Sociology Resemble-and Differ from-Other Social Sciences?

Types of Social Science Research

Basic versus Applied Research

Conversations From The Front Lines: The Authors Of The Art And Science Of Social Research

Qualitative versus Quantitative Research

Cross-Sectional versus Longitudinal Study Designs

From The Field To The Front Page: Social Media Use And Social Isolation Among Young Adults

Unit of Analysis

Starting the Research Process: Choosing a Question and Setting Goals

Asking Questions

Research Goals: Description, Exploration, and Explanation

Overview of This Book

ch. 2 Research Foundations: Linking Sociological Theory to Research

Theory within the Scientific Method

Purposes of Theory

Level of Abstraction in Theory

Commonalities among Theories

Use of Theory in Research

Conversations From The Front Lines: Barbara Schneider, Eliza Pavalko, And Gary Alan Fine

Social Science Theory

Paradigms

Scientific Paradigms

From The Field To The Front Page: When Paradigms Clash: The Rising Age At First Marriage

Selected Sociological Paradigms

Different Paradigms, Different Insights: Higher Education

The Elements of Theory

Concepts

Relations among Concepts

Goals, Hypotheses, and Questions

Measurement of the Elements of Theory

From Theory to Empirical Study and Back

Identifying an Important Question That Needs an Answer

Constructing a Hypothesis about the Answer to the Question at Hand

Gathering Data, Analyzing Data, and Drawing Conclusions

Going through the Steps

ch. 3 Ethical Issues in Social Science Research

Three Ethical Dilemmas

A Facebook Study: Accessing Friends' Data without Permission

Gang Leader for a Day: Lying to Drug Dealers

Human Terrain System: Military Studies of Local People

Defining Research Ethics

A Brief History of Ethical Problems in Research

Experiments and Torture at Nazi Concentration Camps

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment: Deliberate Harm

The 1950s to 1970s: Four Controversial Studies

The Institutional Review Board System

How the IRB Works

Assessing Risks and Benefits

Controversy over IRBs

Professional Codes of Ethics

Privacy and Confidentiality

The Challenges of Digital Data

Conversations From The Front Lines: Roberto Gonzales

The Census and Confidentiality

Genetic Material and Confidentiality

From The Field To The Front Page: Ethical Breaches At The U.S. Census Bureau

Deception in Research

Conflicts of Interest

ch. 4 From Concepts to Models: Hypotheses, Operationalization, and Measurement

Defining and Measuring Poverty: An Introduction to Conceptualization and Operationalization

Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Poverty

Which Comes First, Conceptualization or Operationalization?

Conceptualization

Concepts and Variables

Units of Analysis

Dimensions

Types of Variables

From The Field To The Front Page: The Fab Five And The Acting White Theory

Indicators

Operationalization

Field of Study

Mismatches between Units of Analysis: Ecological Fallacies and Reductionism

Measurement

Conversations From The Front Lines: Kathryn Edin & Peggy C. Giordano

Assessing Measurement: Reliability and Validity

Time Span

Completing the Research Process

ch. 5 Evaluating Research: Reliability and Validity

Thinking about Reliability and Validity: Measuring and Tracking Poverty

Defining Reliability and Validity

Reliability

Calculating Reliability

Reliability in Design

Conversations From The Front Lines: Krista Perreira

Precision in Design

Testing Robustness

Reliability and the Possibility of Error

Validity

Internal Validity

External Validity

Linking Internal and External Validity

From The Field To The Front Page: Milgram In The Age Of Reality Tv

Statistical Validity

ch. 6 Sampling Strategies

Using Samples to Describe Populations

A Cautionary Tale: The Literary Digest Poll

Probability Samples and Random Choice

Target Populations, Parameters, and Censuses

Advantages of Probability Sampling

Probability Sampling in Practice

Simple Random Sampling

Cluster Sampling

Stratified Sampling

Weighting

When Nonrepresentative Samples Are Useful

The Benefits of Nonrepresentative Samples

Nonrepresentative Samples and Generalizability

From The Field To The Front Page: "Do Children Of Same-Sex Parents Really Fare Worse?"

Sampling in Case-Oriented Research

Selecting Cases

Sequential Sampling

Conversations From The Front Lines: Eszter Hargittai

ch. 7 Survey Research

What Are Surveys and What Can They Do?

Respondents and Key Informants

Survey Formats

Timing of Surveys

Strengths of Surveys

Challenges of Survey Research

Types of Surveys: Modes of Administration

Face-to-Face Interviews

Telephone Surveys

Mail Surveys

From The Field To The Front Page: Researchers Use Survey Methods To Count Transgender Youth

Internet-Based Surveys

Mixed-Mode Approaches

Survey Content: What Do We Ask and How Do We Ask It?

Types of Questions

Characteristics of High-Quality Questions

"Tried and True" Questions versus Designing New Questions

Placement of Questions

Conducting the Survey

Pretesting the Survey

Conducting Preliminary Data Analysis

Conversations From The Front Lines: Pamela Herd

Going into the Field

Ethical Concerns in Survey Research

ch. 8 Experimental Research

Key Features of Experiments

Manipulation of the Independent Variable

Random Assignment of Participants to Experimental and Control Conditions

Experimental Control of Other Factors

Advantages of Experiments

Establishing Causality

Uncovering Mechanisms That Produce Discrimination

Testing Abstract Theories: How Do Status Beliefs Form?

Conversations From The Front Lines: William T. Bielby

Types of Experiments

Laboratory Experiments

Field Experiments

Population-Based Survey Experiments

From The Field To The Front Page: Audit Study Reveals Hiring Discrimination Against Muslims

Natural Experiments

Summary

Designing a Laboratory Experiment

Creating the Setting

Manipulating the Independent Variable

Measuring the Dependent Variable

Wrapping Up the Experiment

The Experimental Method: Ethical Issues and Limitations

Ethical Issues Involving Experiments

Limitations of the Experimental Method

ch. 9 Evaluation Research

What Is Evaluation Research?

Conducting Evaluation Research

Formulating the Evaluation Question

Measuring the Desired Outcome

Implementing the Intervention and Assessing Its Effects

Research Methods Used in Evaluation Research

Randomized Field Experiments

Quasi-Experimental Methods

Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches

Conversations From The Front Lines: Erin Kelly

Translating Evaluation Research into Large Social Programs

Two Examples of Evaluation Research

Tennessee Class-Size Experiment

Title V, Section

Abstinence Education Program

The Challenges of Evaluation Research: Ethical, Logistical, and Political Concerns

Ethical Concerns

Logistical Issues

From The Field To The Front Page: Is It Ethical To Deny People A Home Base?

Politics

ch. 10 Ethnography

Ethnography: Historical Roots

The Diverse Roles of the Ethnographer

Complete Participant

Participant Observer

From The Field To The Front Page: The Dark Side Of A Party Culture

Observer

Covert Observer

What Topics Do Ethnographers Study?

Theory and Research in Ethnography

Approaches to Theory in Ethnography

Validity and Reliability in Ethnographic Research

Conducting an Ethnographic Field Study

Choosing a Topic

Negotiating Access, or "Getting In"

Conversations From The Front Lines: Alice Goffman

Interacting with Subjects

Producing Data: Field Notes

Leaving the Field

Writing the Ethnography

Contemporary Developments in Ethnography

Ethnography in Business

Visual Ethnography

Team Ethnography

Cyberethnography

ch. 11 In-Depth Interviewing

What Topics Do Interviewers Study?

Types of In-Depth Interviews

Oral Histories

Life History Interviews

Cognitive Interviews

How to Conduct an Interview Study

Sampling: Deciding Whom to Interview

Conversations From The Front Lines: Christine L. Williams

Writing an Interview Schedule

Conducting the Interview

After the Interview: Writing Field Notes and Transcribing

Validity and Reliability in In-Depth Interviews

From The Field To The Front Page: Helpful Or Hurtful? Pushing Kids To Develop Competitive Capital

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 648-681) and index.

ISBN:

0393911586

9780393911589

OCLC:

994314359

Online:

http://digital.wwnorton.com/socialresearch