A Handbook for Social Science Field Research : Essays and Bibliographic Sources on Research Design and Methods

A Handbook for Social Science Field Research: Essays & Bibliographic Sources on Research Design and Methods provides both novice and experienced scholars with valuable insights to a select list of critical texts pertaining to a wide array of social science methods useful when doing fieldwork. Through essays on ethnography to case study, archival research, oral history, surveys, secondary data analysis, and ethics, this refreshing new collection offers "tales from the field" by renowned scholars across various disciplines.

Key Features:

• Offers real life guidance: Personal "tales from the field" by renowned social science scholars exemplify how fieldwork requires adaptation, adoption, and flexibility with regards to methodological approaches. In addition, thoughtful commentaries on how to conduct research and pursue a research career in the social sciences offer guidance on making difficult research and career choices.
• Highlights vital bibliographic references: Bibliographies of critical texts help guide researchers as they broaden their methodological approaches and develop their research skills. This is not your ordinary reference list, but a compilation of the top classics and current, but soon-to-be classics, in the field of social science research.
• Addresses ethical concerns: Discussions of ethical concerns are presented throughout the collection, as well as a stand-alone essay on ethical considerations in field-based research. Explicit attention throughout the collection to ethical concerns is rare among methodology texts, but required as field work becomes more complex and concerns about human subjects′ safety grow.

Intended Audience:
Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate social science methods courses, where there is a growing demand for multiple methods or mixed methods training; as well as a perfect, lightweight handbook for all researchers and professionals interested in having a comprehensive collection of bibliographic information for social science research

Ellen Perecman is Executive Director of the Council for Canadian-American Relations in New York City and President of Perecman & Samuels Consulting in New York. She has published numerous articles and book chapters as well as several edited volumes in the field of neurolinguistics and behavioral neurology. With her father, she is currently writing his memoir, tentatively titled One by One: Memoirs of a Dachau Watchmaker. A professional actress, Perecman trained with Julie Bovasso and Vivian Matalon and has appeared on the New York stage most recently in staged readings of classic Yiddish plays. Perecman received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the Graduate Center CUNY in 1980.

Sara Curran is Associate Professor of International Studies and Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Her interests include family demography, development, and population and environment. Curran is completing a book for Princeton University Press titled Shifting Boundaries, Transforming Lives: Globalization, Gender and Family Dynamics in Thailand.  And has published in Ambio, Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of Sociology, Demography, International Migration Review, Journal of International Women′s Studies, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Population and Development Review, Rural Sociology, Social Science Research and Teaching Sociology. Curran was the recipient of the 2001 Sociologists for Women in Society Mentoring Award and the 2002 Graduate Mentoring Award for Princeton University.