Social Research Methods 4th Edition by Alan Bryman, ISBN-13: 978-0199588053

Social Research Methods 4th Edition by Alan Bryman, ISBN-13: 978-0199588053

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• Publisher: ‎ Oxford University Press; 4th edition (March 21, 2012)
• Language: ‎ English
• 766 pages
• ISBN-10: ‎ 0199588058
• ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0199588053

In the fourth edition of this lively and engaging textbook, Alan Bryman presents students with an updated and all-encompassing guide to the principle techniques and methodology in the field of social research.

Adopting a coherent and student-friendly format, the book offers an encyclopaedic introduction to social research methodology, and considers a broad range of qualitative and quantitative methods to help students identify and evaluate the best approach for their research needs. Building on the success of the previous editions, this book is concerned with the ways that social researchers approach their craft. Bryman guides the reader through all aspects of the research process including formulating objectives, choosing research methods, securing research participants, as well as advice on how to effectively collect, analyse and interpret data and disseminate those findings to others. This fourth edition features a new “supervisor experience” feature, which offers helpful tips from the supervisor’s perspective on successful research, as well as a new chapter which tackles the sampling issues faced by qualitative researchers in a more consolidated fashion than in previous editions. Substantial updates have also been made to the existing material, particularly the internet research section, which has been fully revised to accommodate the extensive developments in this area.

Online supplements

For students:
* A student researcher’s toolkit, providing guidance and advice on every aspect of social research
* Student experience podcasts
* Self-marking multiple choice questions for revision
* Annotated web links to useful articles, reviews, models and research guides
* A guide to using Excel in data analysis

For instructors:
* A lecturer’s guide including lecture outlines, reading lists and teaching activities
* A suite of customisable PowerPoint slides
* Figures and tables from the text
* Case studies

Table of Contents:

About the author xxiv
Introducing the students xxv
Guide to the book xxxi
Guided tour of textbook features xxxvi
Guided tour of the ORC: lecturer resources xxxviii
Guided tour of the ORC: student resources xxxix
Abbreviations xl
Part One 1
Chapter 1 The nature and process of social research 3
Introduction 4
What is meant by ‘social research’? 4
Why do social research? 5
The context of social research methods 5
Elements of the process of social research 8
Literature review 8
Concepts and theories 8
Research questions 9
Sampling cases 11
Data collection 12
Data analysis 13
Writing up 14
The messiness of social research 15
Key points 16
Questions for review 16
Chapter 2 Social research strategies 18
Introduction 19
Theory and research 20
What type of theory? 21
Deductive and inductive theory 24
Epistemological considerations 27
A natural science epistemology: positivism 27
Interpretivism 28
Ontological considerations 32
Objectivism 32
Constructionism 33
Relationship to social research 34
Research strategy: quantitative and qualitative research 35
Influences on the conduct of social research 39
Values 39
Practical considerations 41
Key points 42
Questions for review 42
Chapter 3 Research designs 44
Introduction 45
Criteria in social research 46
Reliability 46
Replication 47
Validity 47
Relationship with research strategy 48
Research designs 50
Experimental design 50
Cross-sectional design 59
Longitudinal design(s) 63
Case study design 66
Comparative design 72
Bringing research strategy and research design together 76
Key points 77
Questions for review 77
Chapter 4 Planning a research project and formulating
research questions 79
Introduction 80
Getting to know what is expected of you by your
institution 80
Thinking about your research area 81
Using your supervisor 81
Managing time and resources 82
Formulating suitable research questions 85
Criteria for evaluating research questions 90
Writing your research proposal 92
Preparing for your research 92
Doing your research and analysing your results 93
Checklist 94
Key points 95
Questions for review 95
Chapter 5 Getting started: reviewing the literature 97
Reviewing the existing literature 98
Getting the most from your reading 98
Systematic review 102
Narrative review 110
Searching the existing literature 113
Electronic databases 113
Keywords and defi ning search parameters 118
Referencing your work 120
The role of the bibliography 123
Avoiding plagiarism 124
Checklist 127
Key points 127
Questions for review 128
Chapter 6 Ethics and politics in social research 129
Introduction 130
Ethical principles 135
Harm to participants 135
Lack of informed consent 138
Invasion of privacy 142
Deception 143
Ethics and the issue of quality 143
The diffi culties of ethical decision-making 148
New media and diffi cult decisions 149
Politics in social research 149
Checklist 153
Key points 154
Questions for review 154
Part Two 157
Chapter 7 The nature of quantitative research 159
Introduction 160
The main steps in quantitative research 160
Concepts and their measurement 163
What is a concept? 163
Why measure? 164
Indicators 164
Using multiple-indicator measures 166
Dimensions of concepts 167
Reliability and validity 168
Reliability 168
Validity 170
Refl ections on reliability and validity 173
The main preoccupations of quantitative researchers 175
Measurement 175
Causality 175
Generalization 176
Replication 177
The critique of quantitative research 178
Criticisms of quantitative research 178
Is it always like this? 179
Reverse operationism 180
Reliability and validity testing 180
Sampling 181
Key points 181
Questions for review 182
Chapter 8 Sampling 183
Introduction to survey research 184
Introduction to sampling 186
Sampling error 188
Types of probability sample 190
Simple random sample 190
Systematic sample 191
Stratifi ed random sampling 192
Multi-stage cluster sampling 193
The qualities of a probability sample 195
Sample size 197
Absolute and relative sample size 197
Time and cost 198
Non-response 199
Heterogeneity of the population 200
Kind of analysis 201
Types of non-probability sampling 201
Convenience sampling 201
Snowball sampling 202
Quota sampling 203
Limits to generalization 205
Error in survey research 205
Key points 206
Questions for review 206
Chapter 9 Structured interviewing 208
Introduction 209
The structured interview 209
Reducing error due to interviewer variability 210
Accuracy and ease of data processing 211
Other types of interview 212
Interview contexts 213
More than one interviewee 213
More than one interviewer 214
In person or by telephone? 214
Computer-assisted interviewing 216
Conducting interviews 217
Know the schedule 217
Introducing the research 217
Rapport 218
Asking questions 219
Recording answers 219
Clear instructions 219
Question order 220
Probing 223
Prompting 224
Leaving the interview 225
Training and supervision 225
Problems with structured interviewing 227
Characteristics of interviewers 227
Response sets 227
The problem of meaning 228
The feminist critique 228
Key points 229
Questions for review 230
Chapter 10 Self-completion questionnaires 231
Introduction 232
Self-completion questionnaire or postal questionnaire? 232
Evaluating the self-completion questionnaire in relation to the
structured interview 233
Advantages of the self-completion questionnaire over the
structured interview 233
Disadvantages of the self-completion questionnaire in
comparison with the structured interview 234
Steps to improve response rates to postal questionnaires 236
Designing the self-completion questionnaire 237
Do not cramp the presentation 237
Clear presentation 237
Vertical or horizontal closed answers? 237
Clear instructions about how to respond 239
Keep question and answers together 239
Diaries as a form of self-completion questionnaire 239
Advantages and disadvantages of the diary as a method of
data collection 243
Key points 243
Questions for review 243
Chapter 11 Asking questions 245
Introduction 246
Open or closed questions? 246
Open questions 246
Closed questions 249
Types of questions 253
Rules for designing questions 254
General rules of thumb 254
Specifi c rules when designing questions 255
Vignette questions 261
Piloting and pre-testing questions 263
Using existing questions 264
Checklist 265
Key points 266
Questions for review 267
Chapter 12 Structured observation 269
Introduction 270
Problems with survey research on social behaviour 270
So why not observe behaviour? 272
The observation schedule 275
Strategies for observing behaviour 276
Sampling 277
Sampling people 277
Sampling in terms of time 278
Further sampling considerations 278
Issues of reliability and validity 279
Reliability 279
Validity 280
Field stimulations as a form of structured observation 282
Criticisms of structured observation 283
On the other hand . . . 284
Checklist 285
Key points 285
Questions for review 286
Chapter 13 Content analysis 288
Introduction 289
What are the research questions? 291
Selecting a sample 293
Sampling media 293
Sampling dates 293
What is to be counted? 295
Signifi cant actors 295
Words 295
Subjects and themes 297
Dispositions 298
Coding 298
Coding schedule 298
Coding manual 299
Potential pitfalls in devising coding schemes 303
Advantages of content analysis 304
Disadvantages of content analysis 306
Checklist 307
Key points 308
Questions for review 308
Chapter 14 Secondary analysis and offi cial statistics 310
Introduction 311
Other researchers’ data 312
Advantages of secondary analysis 312
Limitations of secondary analysis 315
Accessing the Data Archive 316
Offi cial statistics 320
Reliability and validity 322
Condemning and resurrecting offi cial statistics 324
Offi cial statistics as a form of unobtrusive method 325
Key points 327
Questions for review 327
Chapter 15 Quantitative data analysis 329
Introduction 330
A small research project 331
Missing data 333
Types of variable 335
Univariate analysis 337
Frequency tables 337
Diagrams 337
Measures of central tendency 338
Measures of dispersion 339
Bivariate analysis 339
Relationships not causality 341
Contingency tables 341
Pearson’s r 341
Spearman’s rho 344
Phi and Cramér’s V 344
Comparing means and eta 344
Multivariate analysis 345
Could the relationship be spurious? 345
Could there be an intervening variable? 345
Could a third variable moderate the relationship? 346
Statistical signifi cance 347
The chi-square test 348
Correlation and statistical signifi cance 349
Comparing means and statistical signifi cance 350
Checklist 350
Key points 351
Questions for review 351
Chapter 16 Using IBM SPSS for Windows 353
Introduction 354
Getting started in SPSS 355
Beginning SPSS 355
Entering data in the Data Viewer 356
Defi ning variables: variable names, missing values, variable
labels, and value labels 357
Recoding variables 359
Computing a new variable 359
Data analysis with SPSS 361
Generating a frequency table 361
Generating a bar chart 363
Generating a pie chart 363
Generating a histogram 363
Generating the arithmetic mean, median, standard deviation,
the range, and boxplots 363
Generating a contingency table, chi-square, and Cramér’s V 366
Generating Pearson’s r and Spearman’s rho 368
Generating scatter diagrams 368
Comparing means and eta 372
Generating a contingency table with three variables 372
Further operations in SPSS 373
Saving your data 373
Retrieving your data 374
Printing output 374
Key points 374
Questions for review 374
Part Three 377
Chapter 17 The nature of qualitative research 379
Introduction 380
The main steps in qualitative research 384
Theory and research 387
Concepts in qualitative research 388
Reliability and validity in qualitative research 389
Adapting reliability and validity for qualitative research 389
Alternative criteria for evaluating qualitative research 390
Recent discussions about quality criteria for qualitative
research 393
Between quantitative and qualitative research criteria 394
Overview of the issue of criteria 397
The main preoccupations of qualitative researchers 399
Seeing through the eyes of the people being studied 399
Description and the emphasis on context 401
Emphasis on process 402
Flexibility and limited structure 403
Concepts and theory grounded in data 404
The critique of qualitative research 405
Qualitative research is too subjective 405
Diffi cult to replicate 405
Problems of generalization 406
Lack of transparency 406
Is it always like this? 407
Some contrasts between quantitative and qualitative research 407
Some similarities between quantitative and qualitative research 409
Feminism and qualitative research 410
Key points 412
Questions for review 413
Chapter 18 Sampling in qualitative research 415
Introduction 416
Levels of sampling 417
Purposive sampling 418
Theoretical sampling 418
Generic purposive sampling 422
Snowball sampling 424
Sample size 425
Not just people 427
Using more than one sampling approach 427
Key points 428
Questions for review 429
Chapter 19 Ethnography and participant observation 430
Introduction 431
Access 433
Overt versus covert ethnography 433
Access to closed settings 435
Access to open/public settings 436
Ongoing access 439
Key informants 439
Roles for ethnographers 440
Active or passive? 446
Field notes 447
Types of field notes 450
Bringing ethnographic research to an end 452
Can there be a feminist ethnography? 453
The rise of visual ethnography 455
Writing ethnography 462
The changing nature of ethnography 464
Key points 466
Questions for review 466
Chapter 20 Interviewing in qualitative research 468
Introduction 469
Differences between the structured interview and the
qualitative interview 470
Asking questions in the qualitative interview 471
Preparing an interview guide 472
Kinds of questions 476
Recording and transcription 482
Telephone interviewing 488
Life history and oral history interviewing 488
Feminist research and interviewing in qualitative research 491
Qualitative interviewing versus participant observation 493
Advantages of participant observation in comparison to
qualitative interviewing 493
Advantages of qualitative interviewing in comparison to
participant observation 494
Overview 496
Checklist 497
Key points 498
Questions for review 498
Chapter 21 Focus groups 500
Introduction 501
Uses of focus groups 503
Conducting focus groups 504
Recording and transcription 504
How many groups? 505
Size of groups 507
Level of moderator involvement 508
Selecting participants 509
Asking questions 511
Beginning and fi nishing 513
Group interaction in focus group sessions 513
Limitations of focus groups 516
Checklist 519
Key points 519
Questions for review 520
Chapter 22 Language in qualitative research 521
Introduction 522
Conversation analysis 522
Assumptions of conversation analysis 523
Transcription and attention to detail 525
Some basic tools of conversation analysis 525
Overview 527
Discourse analysis 528
Uncovering interpretative repertoires 531
Producing facts 533
Critical discourse analysis 536
Overview 538
Key points 540
Questions for review 540
Chapter 23 Documents as sources of data 542
Introduction 543
Personal documents 544
Diaries, letters, and autobiographies 544
Visual objects 546
Offi cial documents deriving from the state 549
Offi cial documents deriving from private sources 550
Mass-media outputs 552
Virtual documents 554
The reality of documents 554
Interpreting documents 556
Qualitative content analysis 557
Semiotics 559
Hermeneutics 560
Checklist 561
Key points 562
Questions for review 562
Chapter 24 Qualitative data analysis 564
Introduction 565
General strategies of qualitative data analysis 566
Analytic induction 566
Grounded theory 567
Basic operations in qualitative data analysis 575
Steps and considerations in coding 576
Turning data into fragments 577
Problems with coding 578
Thematic analysis 578
Narrative analysis 582
Secondary analysis of qualitative data 586
Key points 587
Questions for review 588
Chapter 25 Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis:
using NVivo 590
Introduction 591
Is CAQDAS like quantitative data analysis software? 591
No industry leader 592
Lack of universal agreement about the utility of CAQDAS 592
Learning NVivo 593
Coding 595
Searching text 603
Memos 607
Saving an NVivo project 607
Opening an existing NVivo project 607
Final thoughts 608
Key points 608
Questions for review 609
Part Four 611
Chapter 26 Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide 613
Introduction 614
The natural science model and qualitative research 615
Quantitative research and interpretivism 617
Quantitative research and constructionism 618
Research methods and epistemological and ontological
considerations 618
Problems with the quantitative/qualitative contrast 619
Behaviour versus meaning 620
Theory and concepts tested in research versus theory and
concepts emergent from data 621
Numbers versus words 621
Artifi cial versus natural 621
The mutual analysis of quantitative and qualitative research 622
A qualitative research approach to quantitative research 622
A quantitative research approach to qualitative research 623
Quantifi cation in qualitative research 624
Thematic analysis 624
Quasi-quantifi cation in qualitative research 624
Combating anecdotalism through limited quantifi cation 624
Key points 625
Questions for review 625
Chapter 27 Mixed methods research: combining quantitative and
qualitative research 627
Introduction 628
The argument against mixed methods research 629
The embedded methods argument 629
The paradigm argument 629
Two versions of the debate about quantitative and qualitative
research 631
Approaches to mixed methods research 631
A content analysis of articles based on mixed methods
research 633
Approaches to combining quantitative and qualitative
research in mixed methods research 635
Reflections on mixed methods research 649
Checklist 650
Key points 651
Questions for review 651
Chapter 28 E-research: Internet research methods 653
Introduction 654
The Internet as object of analysis 654
Using the Internet to collect data from individuals 658
Online ethnography 659
Qualitative research using online focus groups 663
Qualitative research using online personal interviews 668
Online social surveys 670
Email surveys 670
Web surveys 671
Mixing modes of survey administration 672
Sampling issues 673
Overview 679
Ethical considerations in Internet research 679
The state of e-research 681
Key points 681
Questions for review 681
Chapter 29 Writing up social research 683
Introduction 684
Writing up your research 685
Start early 685
Be persuasive 685
Get feedback 686
Avoid sexist, racist, and disablist language 686
Structure your writing 686
Writing up quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research 692
Writing up quantitative research 692
Writing up qualitative research 695
Writing up mixed methods research 699
Academic writing 704
Checklist 706
Key points 707
Questions for review 707
Glossary 709
References 718
Name index 744
Index 750

Alan Bryman was Professor of Organizational and Social Research at the University of Leicester from 2005 to 2017. Prior to this he was Professor of Social Research at Loughborough University for 31 years. His main research interests were in leadership, especially in higher education, research methods (particularly mixed methods research), and the ‘Disneyization’ and ‘McDonaldization’ of modern society. Alan also co-authored Business Research Methods (Oxford University Press, 2018), helped conceive of How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation (Oxford University Press, 2019), and contributed to a range of leading journals: he was an extraordinarily well-cited and internationally renowned social scientist.

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