Research Methods: A Practical Guide for the Social Sciences

Description

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. Cover Research Methods Brief Contents Contents List of figures, screenshots and tables Guided tour of the book Guided tour of the Companion Website About the authors Acknowledgements Publisher’s acknowledgements Introduction Part A: Thinking about research What is research? The ‘what’ of research Definitions of research The ‘why’ of research Characteristics of research Quality in research Who are social researchers? The way forward References and further reading Knowledge, theories, paradigms and perspectives Where do we start? What is the nature of the subject matter of social research – what is the ‘social world’? As part of the social world ourselves, what do we and what can we ‘know’ about it? What is there in the social world to study, to find out about? And why do people see things differently? What ways are there of ‘looking’ at the social world that can help us to think about what we want to study and how we can do it? What are we trying to do when we do social research? How do theories help us in our social research? What does this mean for me as a student social researcher? References and further reading The nature of data Characteristics of data Using data as a representation of social reality Is the data good enough? What sort of data will you gather and work with? References and further reading Research questions, hypotheses and operational definitions What are research questions? Asking and designing research questions Types of research questions Developing research questions and operational definitions Developing your research questions References and further reading Research as an ethical and cultural issue Ethical approval Informed consent Power relationships Protection from harm (participant) Vulnerable groups Ownership of data Illegal behaviour Cultural considerations and diversity in research Protection from harm (researcher) Ethics and your research References and further reading Part B: Preparing for research Planning a research project Defining Practicalities Be holistic References and further reading Reviewing the literature Why is a review of the literature part of the preparation for research? What is literature? Critically evaluating the literature Searching for literature The practicalities of reviewing the literature The process of reviewing the literature References and further reading Research design Similarities and differences Relationships Qualitative or quantitative? Level and unit of study Research quality checks Research designs Research strategies Which research design is for you? References and further reading Choosing methods Choosing methods Qualitative v. quantitative: the debate Mixed methods Choosing methods References and further reading Sampling Approaches to sampling Choosing a sampling approach References and further reading Research proposals What is a research proposal and what does it do? Structure of a research proposal Summary References and further reading Part C: Data collection Collecting data Collecting data – a practical activity A: Structured/semi-tructured/unstructured data B: Present/absent researcher C: Active/passive researcher Using the three continua to help in the design of research tools References and further reading Data collection skills Keeping records Creating formats Note-taking Communication Interviews Recording audio and video Reflective skills Questionnaires What is a questionnaire? Using questionnaires in social research Selecting participants for questionnaire surveys Questionnaires and ethical issues Practicalities The nature of questionnaire data and analysis Research quality References and further reading Semi-structured interviews What is an interview? Using semi-structured interviews to collect social research data Settings and contexts where interviews can be used Sampling Ethical issues relating to semi-structured interviews The researcher as the ‘primary instrument’ Designing and using an interview guide Conducting a semi-structured interview Reflective interviewing Nature of data collected and implications for analysis References and further reading Focus groups What is a focus group? Using focus groups in social research Focus group settings Size and selecting participants for focus groups Focus groups and ethical issues Practicalities The nature of focus group data References and further reading Observation What do you observe? Types of observation Observer effects (Hawthorne effect) Practicalities The nature of observational data and implications for analysis References and further reading Narrative data What are narratives? How is narrative research different from other qualitative research? Styles of narrative Why would you want to use narrative? Practicalities The narrative data Criteria for ‘good’ narrative research Advantages and disadvantages of narrative research Unexpected findings References and further reading Documents What are documents good for in social research? Types of documents Permanence/longevity Access Context Ways of interpreting/analysis References and further reading Secondary sources of data The nature of secondary data Official statistics Using secondary data Combining primary and secondary data The nature of secondary data and implications for analysis References and further reading Collecting data using computer-mediated communication (CMC) Computer-mediated communication Using computers to gather data Why choose CMC to collect data? Survey questionnaires using CMC Interviews using CMC Focus groups using CMC Observation on the internet Sampling and recruitment for online questionnaires, interviews and focus groups The ethical issues of using CMC in social research References and further reading Part D: Data analysis Beginning to analyse Analysis features A brief note about findings References and further reading Working with data Nature of the data and working with data Preparing to analyse data References and further reading Statistical analysis Analysing quantitative data Using statistical analysis to summarise and describe your data Developing the analysis Using statistical analysis to address research questions Testing relationships: chi-squared test Testing relationships: correlation coefficient – Pearson’s r Statistical analysis as a process Presenting a statistical analysis References and further reading Thematic analysis Working with qualitative data What is a thematic analysis? The process of analysis Presenting a thematic analysis References and further reading Analysing narrative Transcription Analysis References and further reading Discourse analysis What is discourse? Theoretical background What is discourse analysis? Using discourse analysis References and further reading Content analysis What is content analysis? How is content analysis used? References and further reading Grounded Theory How is Grounded Theory different from other analysis methods? Doing Grounded Theory analysis Sorting and writing Summary References and further reading Using computers in data analysis What you can do with computers Statistical analysis Creating variables and entering your data using SPSS Producing a range of statistics using SPSS Using SPSS to present results in different formats Qualitative analysis software Data sources and NVivo Coding and NVivo Using memos in NVivo References and further reading So what? Drawing conclusions Contents of the conclusion Part E: Data presentation and reports The importance of audience Audience and clarity References and further reading Writing for research: reports and dissertations Why do we write? What does writing do? The process of writing Planning and structure ‘Rules’ for writing Word limits Drafting When writing is difficult Reports Dissertations A final warning: plagiarism References and further reading Data presentation What is data presentation? Why present data in different ways? Processing data for presentation General considerations Other presentation methods Poster presentations Oral presentations References and further reading Dissemination and further research What is dissemination? Why disseminate? Ethical issues Deciding on a process Further research References and further reading Glossary INDEX