Book Description

Winner of the 2006 outstanding book award (for books published in 2004-2005) from the International Association for Conflict Management at their annual meeting held in Montreal! An award-winning book, Doing Research is a must read. Designed for students across a variety of social science disciplines, it is the first research methods text devoted to conflict analysis and resolution. It begins with a discussion of the philosophical foundations for doing research, providing guidelines on how to develop research questions and how these questions can be addressed with various methodologies. The book presents a wide-ranging treatment of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to the design and analysis of problems of conflict. The approaches covered include experiments, simulations and models, surveys, single and comparative case studies, ethnographies, content analysis, narrative analysis, evaluation research, action research, and research consulting. These approaches come alive in a variety of applications culled from the published literature. A concluding chapter provides an integration of the various methodologies, including their complementary strengths. Throughout the book, author Daniel Druckman illustrates the value of a multi-method approach to doing research on conflict analysis and more generally across the social sciences. Key Features Guides readers through how to do literature reviews and ask research questions, easing students into the research process Weaves together qualitative and quantitative, as well as deductive and inductive, approaches to analysis, allowing for the widest possible diversity in methodology Includes numerous examples from published articles and dissertations and a discussion of research consulting Doing Research is perfectly suited as a text for research methods courses across the social sciences, especially those dealing with conflict analysis in departments of political science, communication, psychology, sociology, and management. Professional researchers and consultants will also want to add this book to their libraries for guidance on multi-method techniques. "This is an extremely important book for our field because it is the first research methods book that focuses on techniques that are common in this area but transcends disciplines. I am confident that the book will be used widely in our field because it is both practical and engaging." -- William A. Donohoe, Michigan State University "Doing Research is a gem. It provides multiple research methods and models focusing on conflict analysis and resolution that can be used by any student in a variety of social science disciplines or fields of study. I wish this book had been written 20 years ago." —Brian Polkinghorn, Salisbury State University "Doing Research is the most widely acclaimed book on research methods for conflict resolution students to appear in recent years. The book provides a wonderfully rich array of ideas about ways to do research for both the scholar and practitioner--pracademic--enriching the analysis and practice in the conflict resolution field. The author has a diverse intellectual background and his wide-ranging research experience informs the contributions made by this book to conflict analysis and resolution and to related social-science fields." —Sean Byrne, University of Manitoba