This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.

This book has been replaced by Becoming a Behavioral Science Researcher, Second Edition, ISBN 978-1-4625-3879-9.

Ethics in Social Science Research: Becoming Culturally Responsive provides a thorough grounding in research ethics, along with examples of real-world ethical dilemmas in working with vulnerable populations. Author Maria K. E. Lahman aims to help qualitative research students design ethically and culturally responsive research with communities that may be very different from their own. Throughout, compelling first person accounts of ethics in human research—both historical and contemporary—are highlighted and each chapter includes vignettes written by the author and her collaborators about real qualitative research projects.

In highlighting the unique features of focus groups, Cyr explains how they can help social science researchers effectively answer certain research questions.

Offering an engaging and entertaining introduction to research methods, this is a practical and easy-to-use companion for all new researchers and students in the social sciences. Covering all the key stages of the research process, this book guides students in navigating some of the biggest challenges in developing a research project. This book: Uses real-life everyday examples, connecting research methods to your experiences Includes dedicated chapters on identifying a research question, ethics and writing up your findings Comprises an array of activities, tips, illustrations and international case studies Covers qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research Bringing methods to life for students across the social sciences, this book will provide you with the confidence you need to get your research off the ground.

Recently, social science has had numerous episodes of influential research that was found invalid when placed under rigorous scrutiny. The growing sense that many published results are potentially erroneous has made those conducting social science research more determined to ensure the underlying research is sound. Transparent and Reproducible Social Science Research is the first book to summarize and synthesize new approaches to combat false positives and non-reproducible findings in social science research, document the underlying problems in research practices, and teach a new generation of students and scholars how to overcome them. Understanding that social science research has real consequences for individuals when used by professionals in public policy, health, law enforcement, and other fields, the book crystallizes new insights, practices, and methods that help ensure greater research transparency, openness, and reproducibility. Readers are guided through well-known problems and are encouraged to work through new solutions and practices to improve the openness of their research. Created with both experienced and novice researchers in mind, Transparent and Reproducible Social Science Research serves as an indispensable resource for the production of high quality social science research.

This clear, straightforward textbook embraces the practical reality of actually doing fieldwork. It tackles the common problems faced by new researchers head on, offering sensible advice and instructive case studies from the author’s own experience. Barbara Czarniawska takes us on a master class through the research process, encouraging us to revisit the various facets of the fieldwork research and helping us to reframe our own experiences. Combining a conversational style of writing with an impressive range of empirical examples she takes the reader from planning and designing research to collecting and analyzing data all the way to writing up and disseminating findings. This is a sophisticated introduction to a broad range of research methods and methodologies; it will be of great interest to anyone keen to revisit social research in the company of an expert guide.

Unlike other athletes, the rock climber tends to disregard established norms of style and technique, doing whatever she needs to do to get to the next foothold. This figure provides an apt analogy for the scholar at the center of this unique book. In Rocking Qualitative Social Science, Ashley Rubin provides an entertaining treatise, corrective vision, and rigorously informative guidebook for qualitative research methods that have long been dismissed in deference to traditional scientific methods. Recognizing the steep challenges facing many, especially junior, social science scholars who struggle to adapt their research models to narrowly defined notions of "right," Rubin argues that properly nourished qualitative research can generate important, creative, and even paradigm-shifting insights. This book is designed to help people conduct good qualitative research, talk about their research, and evaluate other scholars' work. Drawing on her own experiences in research and life, Rubin provides tools for qualitative scholars, synthesizes the best advice, and addresses the ubiquitous problem of anxiety in academia. Ultimately, this book argues that rigorous research can be anything but rigid.

Featuring over 900 entries, this resource covers all disciplines within the social sciences with both concise definitions & in-depth essays.

Focusing on the integral role of the researcher, Qualitative Research for the Social Sciences uses a conversational writing style that draws readers into the excitement of the research process. Lichtman offers a balanced and nuanced approach, covering the full range of qualitative methodologies and viewpoints about the field, including coverage of social media as a tool to facilitate research or as a venue for study. After presenting theoretical concepts and a historical overview, Lichtman guides readers, step by step, through the research process, addressing issues of analyzing data, presenting completed research, and evaluating research. Real-world examples from across the social sciences provide both practical and theoretical information, helping readers understand abstract ideas and apply them to their own research.