This is a practical guidebook for conducting field research on cultural issues. The first third of the book describes how one constructs a research design. The rest of the book describes different methods that the author used during his own NSF sponsored cross-cultural research on romantic love in Russia, Lithuania, and the U.S. The methods described are: freelists, pile or Q sorts questionnaires, consensus analysis, interviews, process analysis, and participant observation. Participant observation is intentionally left to the end, to emphasize that it is the most difficult of all methods and also to show that participant observations is a more powerful tool when preceded by more structured and systematic methods of data collection. The strengths and weaknesses of these methods are discussed as are the 'pitfalls' that occur when a research design is implemented in the field. The book is useful for anyone who is preparing to conduct fieldwork on socio- cultural issues.

How is culture 'lived'? What are the best ways of investigating cultural life? This book offers practical guidance for researching cultural studies.

This new textbook addresses the neglect of practical research methods in cultural studies. It provides readers with clearly written overviews of research methods in cultural studies, along with guidelines on how to put these methods into operation. It advocates a multi-method approach, with students drawing from a pool of techniques and approaches suitable for their own topics of investigation.The book covers the following main areas:* Drawing on experience, and studying how narratives make sense of experience.* Investigating production processes in the cultural industries, and the consumption and assimilation of cultural products by audiences and fans.* Taking both quantitative and qualitative approaches to the study of cultural life.* Analysing visual images and both spoken and written forms of discourse.* Exploring cultural memory and historical representation.

This is a practical guidebook for conducting field research on cultural issues. The first third of the book describes how one constructs a research design. The rest of the book describes different methods that the author used during his own NSF sponsored cross-cultural research on romantic love in Russia, Lithuania, and the U.S. The methods described are: freelists, pile or Q sorts questionnaires, consensus analysis, interviews, process analysis, and participant observation. Participant observation is intentionally left to the end, to emphasize that it is the most difficult of all methods and also to show that participant observations is a more powerful tool when preceded by more structured and systematic methods of data collection. The strengths and weaknesses of these methods are discussed as are the 'pitfalls' that occur when a research design is implemented in the field. The book is useful for anyone who is preparing to conduct fieldwork on socio- cultural issues.

Many very intelligent people don't like dealing with numbers. Similarly, many gifted scientists are not especially interested in studying people and their cultural behaviour. In this book, we argue that being interested in people and their cultures, and helping students and others to use numbers to pursue these interests, are not mutually exclusive. Research methods are becoming an increasingly important requirement for students of all kinds. But many students, particularly those in the humanities, struggle with concepts drawn from the social sciences and find quantitative and statistical information inaccessible and daunting. Nonetheless, such concepts are found in nearly all areas of society, from market research and opinion polls to psychological studies of human behaviour. This book aims to provide a simple guide to the process of conducting research in the humanities, with special reference to media and culture, from the planning stage, through the data gathering, to the analysis and interpretation of results: 'planning it', 'doing it' and 'understanding it'. The book aims to show how students' own choice of research topic can be refined into a manageable research question and how the most appropriate methodologies can be applied. Each section draws on actual examples from research that the authors and their students have conducted. Topics covered include: choosing a research question and method; instrument design and pilot data; practical procedures; research with children; looking at statistics; and interpretation of results.Features:*Based on the authors' practical experience as researchers and teachers and is thus accessible, practical and 'how to'.*Includes students' own work as examples.*Bridges the 'divide' between social science and humanities research methods and will therefore appeal to a broad range of students and teachers.

Without ethnography, cross-cultural comparison would not be possible. But without cross-cultural comparison, we would know nothing of what may be universal or variable across human cultures, or why variation exists. Cross-Cultural Research Methods is an introductory teaching tool that shows students and potential researchers how to describe, compare, and analyze patterns that occur in different cultures, that is, how to form and test anthropological, sociological, psychological, medical, or political hypotheses about cultural variation.

Introduces a range of approaches and methodological tools available for undertaking critical research. This book shows how cultural studies transcend traditional divisions between qualitative and quantitative methods and between social sciences and humanities.

`This book is a goldmine for students...it is brilliantly conceptualized and brilliantly executed. With this book cultural studies finally comes of age methodologically' - Professor Norman K Denzin, Institute of Communications Research, University of Illinois Doing Research in Cultural Studies outlines the key methodological approaches to the study of lived experience, texts and social contexts within the field of cultural studies. It offers a comprehensive discussion of classical methodologies and introduces the reader to more contemporary debates that have argued for new ethnographic, poststructuralist and multi-scape research methods. Through a detailed yet concise explanation, the reader is shown how these methodologies work and how their outcomes may be interpreted. Key features of the book include: - An innovative framework - combining different methodologies and approaches. - A variety of `real-life' examples and case studies - enriches the book for the reader - A set of practical exercises in each chapter - pedagogical and student-focused throughout. The book has a flowing narrative and student-friendly structure which make it accessible to and popular with students, while the discussion of fresh approaches makes it also of interest to experienced researchers. It contains all the ingredients necessary to help the reader attain a solid grasp of analytical and practical challenges to doing effective research in cultural studies today.

Bringing together leading authorities, this unique handbook reviews the breadth of current approaches for studying how people think, feel, and behave in everyday environments, rather than in the laboratory. The volume thoroughly describes experience sampling methods, diary methods, physiological measures, and other self-report and non-self-report tools that allow for repeated, real-time measurement in natural settings. Practical guidance is provided to help the reader design a high-quality study, select and implement appropriate methods, and analyze the resulting data using cutting-edge statistical techniques. Applications across a wide range of psychological subfields and research areas are discussed in detail.

Mixed Methods Research and Culture-Specific Interventions shows practicing social scientists and graduate students how to account for cultural factors when developing and evaluating psychological and educational interventions using mixed methods research. Providing a methodological basis for handling cultural influences when engaged in intervention and/or evaluation work, the book covers a range of topics, including mixed methods research, program evaluation, ethnography, and intervention design. Throughout the book, authors Bonnie K. Nastasi and John H. Hitchcock integrate illustrative examples to make more abstract content accessible. Mixed Methods Research and Culture-Specific Interventions is Volume 2 in the SAGE Mixed Methods Research Series.