This thorough revision of Babbie's standard-setting text presents a succinct, straightforward introduction to the field of research methods as practiced by social scientists. Contemporary examples, such as terrorism, Alzheimer's disease, anti-gay prejudice and education, and the legalization of marijuana, introduce students to the "how-tos" and "whys" of social research methods. With increased emphasis on qualitative research and practical applications, this edition is authoritative yet student-friendly and engaging enough to help students connect the dots between the world of social research and the real world.
Table of Contents
Part I: AN INTRODUCTION TO INQUIRY. 1. Human Inquiry and Science. 2.
Paradigms, Theory, and Research. 3. The Ethics and Politics of Social
Research. Part II: THE STRUCTURING OF INQUIRY: QUANTITATIVE AND
QUALITATIVE. 4. Research Design. 5. Conceptualization,
Operationalization, and Measurement. 6. Indexes, Scales, and Typologies.
7. The Logic of Sampling. Part III: MODES OF OBSERVATION: QUANTITATIVE
AND QUALITATIVE. 8. Experiments. 9. Survey Research. 10. Qualitative
Field Research. 11. Unobtrusive Research. 12. Evaluation Research. Part
IV: ANALYSIS OF DATA: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE. 13. Qualitative Data
Analysis. 14. Quantitative Data Analysis. 15. Reading and Writing
Social Research. Appendix A: Using the Library. Appendix B: Random
Numbers. Appendix C: Distribution of Chi Square. Appendix D: Normal
Curve Areas. Appendix E: Estimated Sampling Error.
