Full Description
This unique reader for research methods courses looks at how social scientists ask and answer questions. The Practice of Research presents a practical guide to doing research by excerpting well-known studies by some of the most distinguished social science researchers in the field today. The excerpts represent nine methodological approaches and are accompanied by reflections where authors reveal how they resolved some of the challenges that face almost all research projects.
Contributors include:
* Jessica Brown, University of Houston
* Shelley Correll, Stanford University
* Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University
* Michael T. Heaney, University of Michigan
* Steven Hitlin, University of Iowa; J. Scott Brown, Miami University; and Glen H. Elder, Jr., University of North Carolina
* Ziad Munson, Lehigh University
* Mario Luis Small, University of Chicago
The personal reflections written by authors of each excerpted paper were prepared specifically for this volume. Focusing on the experience of actually doing research, The Practice of Research illustrates methods in action. This volume lets students not just read exemplary papers, but also gives students access to these authors as they personally narrate their practical solutions to common research challenges.
Contents
INTRODUCTION: THE PRACTICE OF RESEARCH ; CHAPTER 1: EXPERIMENTATION ; Constraints into Preferences: gender, status, and emerging Career Aspirations ; Reflection by Shelley Correll ; CHAPTER 2: SURVEY RESEARCH ; Digital Na(t)ives? Variation in Internet Skills and Uses among Members of the "Net Generation" ; Reflection by Eszter Hargittai? ; CHAPTER 3: SURVEY RESEARCH, ANALYZING SOCIAL NETWORKS ; Partisans, Nonpartisans, and the Antiwar Movement in the United States ; Reflection by Michael Heaney ; CHAPTER 4: FIELD OBSERVATION/ETHNOGRAPHY ; How Elite Students Think about "The Staff" ; Reflection by Shamus Khan ; CHAPTER 5: FIELD INTERVIEWING ; Running an Outsourced Canvass ; Reflection by Dana R. Fisher ; CHAPTER 6: RESEARCH USING AVAILABLE DATA ; Racial Self-Categorization in Adolescence: Multiracial Development And Social Pathways ; Reflection by Steven Hitlin, Scott Brown, and Glen Elder Jr. ; CHAPTER 7: RESEARCH USING AVAILABLE DATA/HISTORICAL ANALYSIS ; Islamic Mobilization: Social Movement Theory and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood ; Reflection by Ziad Munson ; CHAPTER 8: RESEARCH USING AVAILABLE DATA/ CONTENT ANALYSIS ; "Close Your Eyes and Think of England": Pronatalism in the British Print Media ; Reflection by Jessica Brown ; CHAPTER 9: MULTIPLE METHODS/MIXED METHODS ; Why Organizational Ties Matter for Neighborhood Effects: A Study of Resource Access through Childcare Centers ; Reflection by Mario Luis Small
