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

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

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• 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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