Note: Each chapter includes:
- Chapter overview
- Introduction
- Key points
- Review questions
- Interactive classroom activities
- Relevant websites
Introduction
Part I
1. General Research Orientations
Theory and Research
Deductive and
Inductive Approaches
Epistemological Considerations
Positivism
Interpretivism
Critical Approaches to Social Sciences
Ontological Considerations
General Orientations: Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Influences on the Conduct of Social Research
2. Research
Designs
Criteria for Evaluating Social Research
Research Designs
Bringing Research Orientation and Design Together
3. Research Ethics
General Ethical Principles
Conclusions
Part II
4. The Nature of Quantitative Research
The Main Steps in
Quantitative Research
Concepts and Their Measurement
Reliability and Measurement Validity
Reflections on Reliability and Validity
The Main Goals of Quantitative Researchers
Critiques of Quantitative Research
5. Survey Research: Structured Interviewing and
Questionnaires
The Structured Interview
Reducing Error Due to Interviewer Variability
Accuracy and Ease of Data Processing
Dealing with Interviewer Effects
Interview Contexts
Conducting Interviews
Questionnaires
Respondent Problems
The Feminist
Critique
6. Asking Questions
Open or Closed Questions?
Types of Questions
Rules for Designing Questions
Designing the Questionnaire
Vignette Questions
Pilot Studies and Pre-testing Questions
Using Existing Questions
7. Structured
Observation
Problems with Survey Research
So Why Not Just Observe Behaviour Directly?
The Observation Schedule
Strategies for Observing Behaviour
Issues of Reliability and Validity
Field Experiments as a Form of Structured Observation
Criticisms of Structured
Observation
8. Other Sources of Data
Personal Documents
Government Documents
Official Documents from Private Sources
Mass Media Outputs
Virtual Outputs and the Internet as Objects of Analysis
Introduction to Secondary Analysis
Official Statistics
Official
Statistics as an Unobtrusive Measure
Part III
9. The Nature of Qualitative Research
Theory and Concepts in Qualitative Research
Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research
The Main Goals of Qualitative Researchers
Critiques of Qualitative Research
Some
Contrasts Between Quantitative and Qualitative Research
10. Ethnography and Participant Observation
Access
Roles for Ethnographers
Field Notes
The Rise of Visual Ethnography
The End
Can There Be a Feminist Ethnography?
11. Interviewing in Qualitative
Research
Differences between Structured and Qualitative Research Interviews
Unstructured and Semi-structured Interviewing
Focus Groups: An Introduction
Conducting Focus Groups
Size of Groups and Selecting Participants
Asking Questions and Level of Moderator
Involvement
Group Interaction in Focus Group Sessions
Limitations of Focus Groups
Online Interviews and Focus Groups
Qualitative Interviewing (Without Immersion in a Social Setting) Versus Ethnography
Part IV
12. Sampling
Sampling Error
Types of
Probability Sample
The Qualities of a Probability Sample
Sample Size
Types of Non-probability Sampling
Limits to Generalization
Qualitative Sampling
Content Analysis Sampling
Reducing Non-response
Overview
13. Quantitative Data Analysis
A Small Research
Project
More Univariate Analysis
Comparing Means and Eta
Amount of Explained Variance
14. Qualitative Data Analysis
General Strategies of Qualitative Data Analysis
Part V
15. Breaking Down the Quantitative/Qualitative Divide
Quantitative Research
and Constructionism
Research Methods and Epistemological and Ontological Considerations
Problems with the Quantitative/Qualitative Contrast
Mutual Analysis
Quantification in Qualitative Research
Multi-strategy Research
Two Positions in the Debate Over Quantitative and
Qualitative Research
Approaches to Multi-strategy Research
Reflections on Multi-strategy Research
16. Content Analysis
What Things Need to Be Counted?
Coding
Qualitative Content Analysis
Readers and Audience - Active or Passive?
Two Approaches to the Study of
Language
Advantages of Content Analysis
17. Writing up Social Research
Writing up Quantitative Research: An Example
Postmodernism and its Implications for Writing
Writing up Ethnography
18. Conducting a Research Project
Know What is Expected by Your
Institution
Using a Supervisor
Managing Time and Resources: Start Thinking Early about the Research Area
Searching the Existing Literature
Preparing for Research
Writing up Research
Appendix A: Using IBM SPSS Statistics and NVivo Software
Appendix B: The Ideal Stages of
Research
Glossary
References
Index
Instructor's Manual:
For each chapter:
- Chapter overview/summary
- 5-10 learning objectives
- 3-5 suggested class activities
- 5-8 suggested assignments
- 5-8 suggested teaching aids
- Sample course outline/syllabus
- Image Bank with all the figures,
tables, and photos from the book
Test Generator:
For each chapter:
- 30-50 multiple choice questions
- 30-50 true-or-false questions
- 15-20 short answer questions
- Includes answers and page references
PowerPoint Slides:
For each chapter:
- 30-35 lecture
outline slides per chapter with figures/tables/photos from the text
Student Study Guide:
For each chapter:
- Chapter summary
- 5-10 learning objectives
- 5-10 key terms and concepts
Self-assessment quizzes with 15-20 multiple choice questions and 15-20 true-or-false
questions
- Annotated further readings and Websites
- 5-10 suggested media resources each with 3-5 questions for reflection
E-Book (ISBN 9780199009794)
Alan Bryman is a professor emeritus of organizational and social research at the University of Leicester in the UK.
Edward Bell is a professor in the division of sociology and family studies at Brescia University College at Western University, where he teaches research methods,
quantitative research, and statistics for sociology. He has published journal articles on topics as wide-ranging as personality, religion, and politics. In addition to his work as the Canadian adaptor on three editions of Social Research Methods, he has also published Social Classes and Social
Credit in Alberta, (McGill-Queen's University Press).
The Research Process - Gary D. Bouma, Rod Ling and Lori Wilkinson
Qualitative Research in Action - Deborah K. van den Hoonaard
SPSS Virtual Teaching Assistant - Hannah Scott
Approaches to Social Research - Royce A. Singleton and Bruce C. Straits
The Methods Coach - Lance W. Roberts, Karen Kampen and Tracey Peter
Making Sense in the Social Sciences - Margot Northey, Lorne Tepperman and Patrizia Albanese
Understanding Social Statistics - Lance W. Roberts, Jason Edgerton, Tracey Peter and Lori Wilkinson
The Statistics Coach - Lance W. Roberts, Tracey Peter and Karen Kampen
Simple Statistics - Terance D. Miethe and Jane Florence Gauthier