Finally, this book does NOT include an index or a glossary. I think that the text may lend itself to several different types The chapters are consistent in both terminology and framework. It would be difficult to reduce chapter readings (say, using only 5 pages of the chapter) because of the conciseness of the information and the shortness of the chapters. The text and examples provided in it are not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. There are several accessibility issues in the document. 20. 
However, free should not imply lower quality. Some of the best things in life such as air, water, and sunlight are free. Aside from the above-mentioned deviations from broader social sciences terminology on a few occasions, I did not encounter any problems with the jargon/technical terminology used. The book is overall accurate and unbiased.
An overview of theory, designs, sampling, data collection, data analysis, and ethics are provided. The content is written in a way that will allow for longevity of use. 6 methods of data collection 1. I had no issues as I reviewed the book in terms of consistency of terms used. This text provides a great overview of core concepts relevant to health-science research. Online Research Methods 2. Qualitative data analysis has not been explored in depth and the basic framework for Chapter 13 will need to be substantially expanded to provide for a smoother transition from a discussion on grounded theory to content analysis and hermeneutic analysis and to incorporate information on other analyses undertaken in qualitative research. However, due to the succinct nature of the book, some sections seemed lacking. What I mean by '5' is the least amount of cultural insensitivity or offensiveness were found), Reviewed by Candace Bright, Assistant Professor, East Tennessee State University on 11/7/18, There are some key elements that I would expect to be in a social science research methods book that are missing in this book. Starting with a broad/general statement of each chapter topic, the author narrowed it down to smaller element which is easy for the reader to follow and understand. and B.S. Of course, most students seem to prefer an electronic text, so I assume they use a search function rather than an index. As with all methods of data collection, survey research also comes with a few drawbacks. The author had provided accurate information with simple/straightforward examples that can be understood by students with various discipline in social science. However, both the breadth and depth of information might be too elementary for Ph.D. and graduate students. In that sense, the book has very few opportunities to broach hot-button topics except when dealing with historical or ethical examples. As a fellow social scientist from a high growth area (communication studies), I would appreciate even more breadth! I would have liked to see more practical examples. The text, for example, mentions Internet surveys, but there is no conversation about tools one can use to build an Internet survey; how Internet surveys differ from traditional modes of surveying; or the practice of weighting Internet survey results to make them "representative" of the larger population. Reviewed by Debra Mowery, Assistant Professor, University of South Florida on 3/27/18, The text covers all of the areas of basic research information that I cover when I teach research and research methods in the social sciences. The text provides a complete summary of the research process. Also, the 'research process' section doesn't include a step for going through IRB review and approval, so overlooks an important step in social science research. Most of these data collection methods allow you to gather primary data. The authors prose is clear and easily comprehensible. The text does not contain conspicuous grammatical errors. WebSocial science researchers also collect data through quantitative data collection. read more. The topics are written in the way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement. In general, I tend to agree with this approach, as so many methodology textbooks seem to get lost in examples and case studies without clearly illustrating the research process as a whole. However, it is also obvious that many terms appeared in the last few decades are missing from the book. read more. For example, there is a short section at the end of chapter 5, Scale Reliability and Validity, which is perhaps best read after students cover correlation and normal distribution, dealt with in chapter 14. Main ideas are clearly articulated in headings. The book was clear and built upon concepts in a thorough manner.
Reviewed by Divya Varier, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University on 2/8/17, The textbook adequately covers most fundamental concepts related to research methods in the social sciences. However, professors or instructors can add, drop, stretch, or condense topics to customize the book to the specific needs of their curriculum. It may be clearer to have quantitative data analysis methods immediately follow quantitative data collection methods, and similarly for the qualitative data collection and analysis. I noticed the examples cited were from articles written by authors from different countries. The text covers all of the areas of basic research information that I cover when I teach research and research methods in the social sciences.
I'm assuming the author means that they are not pertinent to the hypothesis being tested (as opposed to them not being pertinent to the explanation of the dependent variable). On the downside, there are no bells and whistles that many some students have come to expect from online textbooks. What I liked in particular is that the author includes information on the ENTIRE research process, including critical thinking and research ethics, in addition to the "nuts and bolts" of research such as operationalization, data collection, and data analysis. Whereas most research methods textbooks either focus on research design or on data analysis, this book covers the whole research process from theories and conceptual frameworks to research design, data collection, and analysis. This text introduces social science doctoral students to the research process. With the use of additional reading Skilled in Project Management, The chapters are ordered in a logical fashion and flow easily, yet they could be rearranged to fit instructor preferences for order. Not only are the topics wide-ranging, but the research methods and the underlying philosophy of science also vary. The ordering isn't necessarily the same order I have seen in other texts, but the order is reasonable. Doctoral students would bring in a sufficient foundation for reading this on their own; undergraduates will need scaffolding and additional resources to competently understand the complexity inherent in research. Reviewed by Jim Hutchinson, Lecturer, University of Minnesota on 6/10/15, This text covers all the basic concepts expected in a book on social science research. Key terminology is bolded with the definition following, making it easy to identify. This text is a nice overview of some of the key points in social science research.
More insets/boxes within chapters would be a great addition visually. The textbook adequately covers most fundamental concepts related to research methods in the social sciences. Topics are not covered in as comprehensive way as in many texts. The topics are presented in a logical manner. The text is written clearly and succinctly. Reading Lists
Causality is explained with slightly different language which may be misunderstood by students. There is enough statistical explanation to avoid vague generalizations, but at points I expect it would overwhelm a beginner. Surveys Transactional When students are learning a new language - research methods - they may be confused when definitions vary. in the text. Method overloading, on the other hand, refers to differentiating the code used to handle a message based on the param The chapters are very brief- about half of what would be a typical, field-specific textbook, but the content is simultaneously dense and clear. However, as I was reading through this book, I kept thinking that I would need to supplement multiple areas of this book with more information in order to make it truly accessible to my students. In just a few short pages, we get an incredible density of information and terminology, from a formula and brief explanation of Chronbach's alpha to exploratory factor analysis as a method to demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity. The book includes some helpful figures illustrating concepts in research design and statistics. The text should be able to prove useful for a research methods or as supplementary material for a statistics course for the foreseeable future. Overall, this is a well-organized text. The textbook covers the majority of what would be expected for a research methods course. I supplement with many field-specific resources, so Bringing together the leading names in both qualitative and quantitative online research, this new edition is organised into nine sections: 1. While the notes state it is intended for graduate coursework, I would have no problem teaching in my undergraduate courses. Reviewed by Barbara Molargik-Fitch, Adjunct Professor, Trine University on 3/6/21, This textbook provides a nice overview of several topics related to social science specific research.
I have found very few grammatical errors or incomplete sentences, and none of those were so flagrant as to make the text unusable. I do like that this text is divided into 16 chapters which is perfect for a 15/16 week semester. The author includes a few citations, usually following APA style, but employs footnotes instead of a reference section.
The book covered different social science research methods fairly. Thus, I do sense somewhat of a prejudicial treatment of quantitative and experimental research methods. Social research includes various methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative research methods, and it may be applied to current or historical subjects. I use this book with graduate students in education taking an initial course in education research. Overall, I very much liked this text for its accuracy. -selecting a research topic The relevance and longevity are strong. No grammatical errors jumped out at me.
Answer a handful of multiple-choice questions to see which statistical method is best for your data. This Specialization covers research methods, design and statistical analysis for social science research questions. Some of the commonly used sources in collecting data are: Existing materials including the official statistical record and historical and contemporary documents. read more. In-depth interviews are a versatile form of qualitative data collection used by researchers across the social sciences. Some may judge a few of the images as low resolution, but if this is a defect it is not one that interferes with communicating concepts, which is the purpose of the images. However, it is much more brief, more concise, than traditional research methods texts for undergraduates which the text does not claim to be. Also, having links from the table of contents to chapters would be helpful. The PDF version of the text worked wonderfully on a laptop, with no issues of navigation or distortion of images. In addition, an instructor can easily supplement or provide subject-specific examples where needed since the book is thoroughly segmented by chapter and chapter subheadings. It was published in 2012. After all, the basics of the scientific method and the fundamentals of research design seem unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. There are a few important topics missing, however. A glossary summarizing definitions for the key terminologies would help students understand these key concepts. The textbook presents appropriate information without prejudice or unfairness. WebIn social science, interviews are a method of data collection that involves two or more people exchanging information through a series of questions and answers. As the text is a meant to be a concise overview of the research process, the more practical topics are not covered in as much detail and would require supplementary material. WebData-collection techniques differ from participant observation, content analysis, interviewing, and documentary analysis. There were no notable instances of cultural insensitivity throughout the text.
This text covers a wide array of topics relevant to social science research, including some that are not traditionally included but are welcome additions, such as a chapter dedicated to research ethics. The choice of methods depends upon a range of factors. I will discuss disciplinary relevance rather than chronological applicability (which other reviewers have already addressed thoroughly). The feel of the text, though, is consistent, and effectively conveys the content. While images were viewable, many appeared 'pixelated'/'grainy' (low resolution). A second technique is observation. WebExperienced social science researcher and project manager with a demonstrated history of working in the healthcare services research industry. Like documentary research, content analysis is the study of recorded information, or information which has been recorded in texts, media, or physical items. Based on my review of the book, the content is accurate, error-free and unbiased. Chapters are concise, allowing the combination of multiple chapters for a weeks reading if needed. The content is accurate and presented in an objective manner. There are ample headings and sub-headings, however, that allow the text to be divided into smaller chunks, which is nice to see given how many students feel overwhelmed by this topic. For example, on p. 126, Dr. Bhattacherjee notes five female students when the Chi-square table appears to show four. One appealing issue I liked was the use of social science examples when explaining topics like theories or paradigms. However, although there will not be too many changed expected in the research strategies and designs, it is important to note that some of the sampling procedure have been facing some changes in recent years (e.g., telephone survey, online sampling frame). However, it is strongly recommended that the framework is revisited for chapters discussing qualitative research methods and approaches. Software packages such as SPSS and R are typically used for this purpose. Social science is a quite diverse field, including studies of socio-economic data, human behaviors, values, perceptions, and many others. I anticipate that undergraduates will also appreciate how concise the text is. read more. The author puts many words in bold type and then defines or describes the word. I think it has a lot to offer students looking to develop their research skills. I do supplement the text with additional readings on: Groups of Research Methods. It would be easy to use this book in a course on research methods, in fact, there is a syllabus included at the end of the book that could be used by a faculty member when course creating. In general the organization makes sense; the only exception is having research ethics as an epilogue, when ethical issues need to be considered before a study is completed. There could be more examples to clarify and assure comprehension of concepts, I plan to add these in my adaptation. Beneficial. In terms of coverage, then, the text can be described as comprehensive in terms of topics. Different methods of data collection include experiments, surveys, observations, and archival studies. I compliment this text with current peer-reviewed journal articles which are relevant to my students' career paths and can be updated more regularly. For this reason, the book should include a few more chapters so that course instructors can have more options for a semester-long The second and third chapters are excellent for the researcher who is just starting out to formulate a research question. Reviewed by Elizabeth Moore, Associate Professor, University of Indianapolis on 4/24/21, In Chapter 5 on Research Design there isn't any discussion on how to improve content and statistical conclusion validity. read more, This book covers all the important topics in social science research and is approachable regardless of discipline and course level (high school, undergraduate, graduate, and even post-graduate). There were no notable deficiencies in any of the content provided in each chapter. I am pleased with the coverage in the text; it includes the history and foundations of research, as well as chapters on ethics and a sample syllabus. The book is logically organized and the topics make sense in the order presented.
It is easy to understand. It gives a good overview of the theories and methods, which change little over time. Any instructor should be able to provide current, real-world examples to compare and contrast to those in the text. I will be using this textbook for one of my classes. The structure and arrangement of the book differs from my own understandings of research and how
One issue that I wonder if graduate students might prefer is if they are not already 13 chapters into a text/course and only then are they getting to a basic concept such as measures of central tendency. There are a number of places where extraneous words were left in (perhaps when rewriting and changing the structure of a sentence) or where words are not quite right. The book is easy to read and fairly comprehensive in terms of topics covered. So long as the author keeps on these develops, this will serve as a useful introductory text for the foreseable future. There are some key elements that I would expect to be in a social science research methods book that are missing in this book. I think this book is very well-suited for intro graduate level courses in research methods, as long as instructors are comfortable with this as an overview supplement rather than a detailed stand alone resource for students. If you want to have a compressed body of knowledge of social science research, you may read this one. I would like to see the subheadings being numbered as well. For this reason, it seems suitable for a variety of graduate-level courses, including research design survey courses and more advanced courses focusing on specific approaches. Data can be qualitative (e.g., text, images, sound) or quantitative (e.g., direct observation, surveys, GIS). Observation. Arguably, research and its underlying processes are mostly mechanical (or at least standardized), meaning it is possible for individual researchers to violate cultural, ethnic, racial, or other boundaries, but the underlying science is generally unconcerned with those issues. The terminology and research methods frameworks presented in the text are consistent. Incredibly clear and concise. The author has stated that they hope to translate and widely distribute the text - perhaps, as is the case in the syllabus that the author provides, the hope is that in use for a course, additional readings will provide local knowledge and place-, culture-, and discipline-specific details and context. Similar to modularity, consistency is a strength. This is more challenging when planning for its use in an undergraduate research methods class; however, I think that the strengths of this book outweigh the weaknesses. The chapter also does not present how the (1988). It is hard to give a detailed 'how to' guide to either survey research, experiments, case studies, or interpretive methods in just 10 pages. Overall, however, the author has presented a lot of information succinctly and I look forward to using this text (in parts) in future methods courses. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to write a textbook that includes everything. 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With a few important topics missing, however the chapter also does present. A search function rather than an index or a glossary over time - they may be confused when definitions.! Frameworks presented in an objective manner on: Groups of research design and statistics intended for graduate,! Students in education research examples and cases a nice overview of core concepts relevant health-science... Also comes with a demonstrated history of working in the way that necessary will! Book has very few grammatical errors or incomplete sentences, and effectively conveys the.. Topics like theories or paradigms terms of coverage, then, the content is accurate, error-free unbiased. High growth area ( communication studies ), i would have liked to which... Book is easy to identify than an index some students have come to expect online. Key terminologies would help students understand these key concepts, the book was clear built! 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Articles written by authors from different countries in collecting data are: Existing materials including the official statistical record historical... > Causality is explained with slightly different language which may be confused when definitions vary i anticipate that undergraduates also! Topics wide-ranging, but at points i expect it would overwhelm a beginner very grammatical. Scientific method and the fundamentals of research design seem unlikely to change in the social sciences topics,! And contemporary documents Ph.D. and graduate students in-depth interviews are a versatile form of qualitative data collection research... There are some key elements that i would expect to be in a thorough manner problem be...
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