The Practice of Social Research

Part 1 Introduction to inquiry: human inquiry and science; paradigms, theory, and research; the nature of causation. Part 2 The structuring of inquiry: research design; conceptualization and measurement; operationalization; indexes, scales, and typologies; the logic of sampling. Part 3 Modes of observation: experiments; survey research; field research; unobtrusive research; evaluation research. Part 4 Analysis of data: quantifying data; elementary analyses; the elaboration model; social statistics. Part 5 The social context of research: the ethics and politics of social research; the uses of social research. Appendices: using the library; social research in cyberspace; the research report; GSS household enumeration questionnaire; random numbers; distribution of Chi Square; normal curve areas; estimated sampling error; a learner's guide to SPSS; 20 questions a journalist should ask about poll results.