The Practice of Social Research 15th Edition by Earl R. Babbie, ISBN-13: 978-0357360767

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The Practice of Social Research 15th Edition by Earl R. Babbie, ISBN-13: 978-0357360767

[PDF eBook eTextbook]

• Publisher: ‎ Cengage Learning; 15th edition (May 5, 2020)
• Language: ‎ English
• 592 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0357360761
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0357360767

Known as the gold standard for research methods, Babbie’s THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH gives you a definitive guide to research as practiced by social scientists. Combining a straightforward approach with the author’s renowned sense of humor, this student-friendly text equips you with the tools and knowledge to apply research concepts as both researcher and consumer. The author emphasizes the process by showing you how to design and construct projects, introducing today’s various observation modes and answering critical questions about research methods, such as how to conduct online surveys and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data. The 15th Edition includes the latest General Social Survey findings along with new coverage of the global use of social research, the emerging role of big data, demographic analysis and more.

Table of Contents:

A Note from the Author

Dedication

Contents in Brief

Contens in Detail

Boxed Features

Preface

Acknowledgments

A Letter to Students from This Book

Chapter 1: Human Inquiry and Science

Introduction

What do you think?

Looking for Reality

The Foundations of Social Science

Some Dialectics of Social Research

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 2: Paradigms, Theory, and Research

Introduction

What do you think?

Some Social Science Paradigms

Elements of Social Theory

Two Logical Systems Revisited

Deductive Theory Construction

Inductive Theory Construction

The Links between Theory and Research

The Importance of Theory in the “Real World”

Research Ethics and Theory

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 3: The Ethics and Politics of Social Research

Introduction

What do you think?

Ethical Issues in Social Research

Two Ethical Controversies

The Politics of Social Research

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 4: Research Design

Introduction

What do you think?

Three Purposes of Research

Idiographic Explanation

The Logic of Nomothetic Explanation

Necessary and Sufficient Causes

Units of Analysis

The Time Dimension

Mixed Modes

How to Design a Research Project

The Research Proposal

What do you think?…Revisited

The Ethics of Research Design

Chapter 5: Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Measurement

Introduction

Measuring Anything That Exists

What do you think?

Conceptualization

Definitions in Descriptive and Explanatory Studies

Operationalization Choices

Criteria of Measurement Quality

What do you think?…Revisited

The Ethics of Measurement

Chapter 6: Index, Scales, and Typologies

Introduction

What do you think?

Indexes versus Scales

Index Construction

Scale Construction

Typologies

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 7: The Logic of Sampling

Introduction

What do you think?

A Brief History of Sampling

Nonprobability Sampling

The Logic and Techniques of Probability Sampling

Populations and Sampling Frames

Types of Sampling Designs

Multistage Cluster Sampling

Probability Sampling in Review

The Ethics of Sampling

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 8: Experiments

Introduction

Topics Appropriate for Experiments

What do you think?

The Classical Experiment

Selecting Subjects

Variations on Experimental Design

Examples of Experimentation

Web-Based Experiments

“Natural” Experiments

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Experimental Method

Ethics and Experiments

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 9: Survey Research

Introduction

Topics Appropriate for Survey Research

What do you think?

Guidelines for Asking Questions

Questionnaire Construction

Self-Administered Questionnaires

Interview Surveys

Telephone Surveys

Online Surveys

Mixed-Mode Surveys

Comparison of the Different Survey Methods

Strengths and Weaknesses of Survey Research

Secondary Analysis

What do you think?…Revisited

Ethics and Survey Research

Chapter 10: Qualitative Field Research

Introduction

What do you think?

Topics Appropriate for Field Research

Special Considerations in Qualitative Field Research

Some Qualitative Field Research Paradigms

Conducting Qualitative Field Research

Strengths and Weaknesses of Qualitative Field Research

Ethics in Qualitative Field Research

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 11: Unobtrusive Research

Introduction

What do you think?

Content Analysis

Analyzing Existing Statistics

Comparative and Historical Research

Unobtrusive Online Research

Ethics and Unobtrusive Measures

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 12: Evaluation Research

Introduction

What do you think?

Topics Appropriate for Evaluation Research

Formulating the Problem: Issues of Measurement

Types of Evaluation Research Designs

Social Indicators Research

Ethics and Evaluation Research

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 13: Qualitative Data Analysis

Introduction

Linking Theory and Analysis

What do you think?

Qualitative Data Processing

Computer Programs for Qualitative Data

The Qualitative Analysis of Quantitative Data

Evaluating the Quality of Qualitative Research

Ethics and Qualitative Data Analysis

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 14: Quantitative Data Analysis

Introduction

Quantification of Data

What do you think?

Univariate Analysis

Subgroup Comparisons

Bivariate Analysis

Introduction to Multivariate Analysis

Sociological Diagnostics

Ethics and Quantitative Data Analysis

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 15: The Logic of Multivariate Analysis

Introduction

What do you think?

The Origins of the Elaboration Model

The Elaboration Paradigm

Elaboration and Ex Post Facto Hypothesizing

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 16: Social Statistics

Introduction

Descriptive Statistics

What do you think?

Inferential Statistics

Other Multivariate Techniques

What do you think?…Revisited

Chapter 17: Reading and Writing Social Research

Introduction

Reading Social Research

What do you think?

Writing Social Research

The Ethics of Reading and Writing Social Research

What do you think?…Revisited

Appendixe A: Using the Library

Appendixe B: Random Numbers

Appendixe C: Distribution of Chi Square

Appendixe D: Normal Curve Areas

Appendixe E: Estimated Sampling Error

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Dr. Earl Babbie is the Campbell Professor Emeritus in Behavioral Sciences at Chapman University in Southern California. He taught sociology at the University of Hawaii from 1968 through 1979, took time off from teaching and research to write full time for eight years. He then joined the Chapman University faculty in 1987. Credited with defining research methods for the social sciences, Dr. Babbie has written several texts, including THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH, as well as numerous research articles and monographs. For 25 years he has been active in the American Sociological Association, where he served on the executive committee. He also is a past president of the Pacific Sociological Association and the California Sociological Association. Dr. Babbie received his A.B. from Harvard and his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

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