Social Research


Book Description

`This is an impressively detailed, clearly written book.... It is a book that I would like students to read′ - Clive Seale, Goldsmiths College, London Social Research: Theory, Methods and Techniques presents an understanding of social research practice through appreciation of its foundations and methods. Stretching from the philosophy of science to detailed descriptions of both qualitative and quantitative techniques, it illustrates not only `how′ to do social research, but also `why′ particular techniques are used today. The book is divided into three parts: Part One: Illustrates the two basic paradigms - quantitative and qualitative - of social research, describing their origins in philosophical thought and outlining their current interpretations. Part Two: Devoted to quantitative research, and discusses the relationship between theory and research practice. It also presents a discussion of key quantitative research techniques. Part Three: Examines qualitative research. Topics range from classical qualitative techniques such as participant observation, to more recent developments such as ethnomethodological studies. Overall, the author offers an engaging contribution to the field of social research and this book is a reminder of the solid foundations upon which most social research is conducted today. As a consequence it will be required reading for students throughout the social sciences, and at various levels.




Research Methodology


Book Description

Social research is a necessary academic activity for explaining, analyzing, and understanding a problem, as well as for finding a solution. A systematic approach of collecting, organizing, and analyzing information relating to a problem is adopted. This type of research aims to discover new facts or verify old ones, and analyze their sequence, inter-relationship, and causal explanation in order to understand human behavior. In social research, the laboratory is the society and the objects are human beings. This book explains the methodology of social research. Based on research conducted in India, the book is divided into two sections, describing the various theoretical issues related to research, while also being devoted to quantitative and other techniques, to reach meaningful conclusions to understand and solve social problems.




Place in Research


Book Description

Bridging environmental and Indigenous studies and drawing on critical geography, spatial theory, new materialist theory, and decolonizing theory, this dynamic volume examines the sometimes overlooked significance of place in social science research. There are often important divergences and even competing logics at work in these areas of research, some which may indeed be incommensurable. This volume explores how researchers around the globe are coming to terms - both theoretically and practically - with place in the context of settler colonialism, globalization, and environmental degradation. Tuck and McKenzie outline a trajectory of critical place inquiry that not only furthers empirical knowledge, but ethically imagines new possibilities for collaboration and action. Critical place inquiry can involve a range of research methodologies; this volume argues that what matters is how the chosen methodology engages conceptually with place in order to mobilize methods that enable data collection and analyses that address place explicitly and politically. Unlike other approaches that attempt to superficially tag on Indigenous concerns, decolonizing conceptualizations of land and place and Indigenous methods are central, not peripheral, to practices of critical place inquiry.




Theories of Research Methodology


Book Description

Mastering research methods and designs should be a top priority of all students and scholars who are driven by curiosity and strive to acquire and advance knowledge.




Basics of Qualitative Research


Book Description

The Second Edition of this best-selling textbook continues to offer immensely practical advice and technical expertise that will aid researchers in analyzing and interpreting their collected data, and ultimately build theory from it. The authors provide a step-by-step guide to the research act. Full of definitions and illustrative examples, the book presents criteria for evaluating a study as well as responses to common questions posed by students of qualitative research.




Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction


Book Description

Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction is a comprehensive guide to performing research and is essential reading for both quantitative and qualitative methods. Since the first edition was published in 2009, the book has been adopted for use at leading universities around the world, including Harvard University, Carnegie-Mellon University, the University of Washington, the University of Toronto, HiOA (Norway), KTH (Sweden), Tel Aviv University (Israel), and many others. Chapters cover a broad range of topics relevant to the collection and analysis of HCI data, going beyond experimental design and surveys, to cover ethnography, diaries, physiological measurements, case studies, crowdsourcing, and other essential elements in the well-informed HCI researcher's toolkit. Continual technological evolution has led to an explosion of new techniques and a need for this updated 2nd edition, to reflect the most recent research in the field and newer trends in research methodology. This Research Methods in HCI revision contains updates throughout, including more detail on statistical tests, coding qualitative data, and data collection via mobile devices and sensors. Other new material covers performing research with children, older adults, and people with cognitive impairments. Comprehensive and updated guide to the latest research methodologies and approaches, and now available in EPUB3 format (choose any of the ePub or Mobi formats after purchase of the eBook) Expanded discussions of online datasets, crowdsourcing, statistical tests, coding qualitative data, laws and regulations relating to the use of human participants, and data collection via mobile devices and sensors New material on performing research with children, older adults, and people with cognitive impairments, two new case studies from Google and Yahoo!, and techniques for expanding the influence of your research to reach non-researcher audiences, including software developers and policymakers




Research Methods in Family Therapy


Book Description

Fully revised and updated, the second edition of this widely adopted text and professional reference reflects significant recent changes in the landscape of family therapy research. Leading contributors provide the current knowledge needed to design strong qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies; analyze the resulting data; and translate findings into improved practices and programs. Following a consistent format, user-friendly chapters thoroughly describe the various methodologies and illustrate their applications with helpful concrete examples. Among the ten entirely new chapters in the second edition is an invaluable research primer for beginning graduate students. Other new chapters cover action and participatory research methods, computer-aided qualitative data analysis, feminist autoethnography, performance methodology, task analysis, cutting-edge statistical models, and more.




Doing Q Methodological Research


Book Description

This book is a simple yet thorough introduction to Q methodology, a research technique designed to capture the subjective or first-person viewpoints of its participants. Watts and Stenner outline the key theoretical concepts developed by William Stephenson, the founder of Q methodology, including subjectivity, concourse theory and abduction. They then turn to the practicalities of delivering high quality Q methodological research. Using worked examples throughout, the reader is guided through: • important design issues • the conduct of fieldwork • all the analytic processes of Q methodology, including factor extraction, factor rotation and factor interpretation. Drawing on helpful conceptual introductions to potentially difficult statistical concepts and a step-by-step guide to running Q methodological analyses using dedicated software, this book enables interested readers to design, manage, analyse, interpret and publish their own Q methodological research.




RESEARCH METHODOLOGY THEORY & TECHNIQUES


Book Description

The goal of conducting research that is descriptive is to offer a description of the subject under investigation. For a product that has just been released, for example, the characteristics of consumers may be stated in terms of the degree to which product usage varies with factors such as income, age, gender, and other characteristics. In another example, the characteristics of consumers may be stated in terms of the degree to which product usage changes over time. In order to generate the most possible revenue, a descriptive study needs to collect data for a certain purpose. A single hypothesis should be used as the guiding principle whenever descriptive investigations produce varying degrees of agreement. It makes it possible to test both implicit and explicit hypotheses, however the specifics of how this is done depend on the area of study that is being conducted. For instance, a corporation that deals in petroleum would find that its sales had decreased. The company is able to draw this conclusion based on the feedback it receives from the market, which indicates that economically challenged households do not purchase the company's oil for use in the kitchen. After then, one may perhaps do descriptive research in order to put such a theory to the test. The phase of research described as "the act of modifying one or more variables under the conditions, in which the data that indicates the effects will be collected" is referred to as "experimentation." The term "experimentation" refers to this phase of research. Experiments will create artificial situations in order to supply the researcher with the precise data required for the study as well as the methods to properly measure that data. This will be accomplished by fabricating fictitious conditions. Experiments are considered to be artificial due to the fact that the conditions in which they are conducted are frequently constructed for the sole purpose of carrying out the experiment. Because doing so grants the researchers a greater degree of control over the factors that are the subject of their investigation, the experimental places a heavy emphasis on the use of artificial components. They will be in a position to gather more convincing evidence of the cause-and-effect linkages that exist between the variables if they are able to exercise control over those factors that are components of a particular scenario. Therefore, the ability to create a scenario with the express purpose of observing and accurately recording the effect that a deliberate change in another factor has on a first factor enables researchers to accept or reject hypotheses with an absolute certainty that is beyond the realm of reasonable doubt.




Theories of Research Methodology


Book Description