Methodological Thinking

Methodological Thinking: Basic Principles of Social Research Design focuses on the underlying logic of social research and encourages students to understand research methods as a way of thinking. The book provides an overview of the basic principles of social research, including the foundations of research (data, concepts, theory), the characteristics of research questions, the importance of literature reviews, measurement (conceptualization and operationalization), data generation techniques (experiments, surveys, interviews, observation, document analysis), and sampling. The text is organized to help students become good consumers and producers of research by developing skills to design small-scale research projects and evaluate research done by others. The author highlights the relationships among various components of research; she also explains that it is not possible to argue that one form of research is better than any other and that good researchers understand the differences among and appreciate the capabilities of different tools. Key Features Takes an interdisciplinary approach, with examples in criminology/criminal justice, sociology, political science/international relations, and social work Offers a balanced account of theoretical perspectives, providing students with an unbiased presentation Minimizes technical details of social research design to emphasize logic and general principles Explore the open-access Student Study Site, which features the full versions of the journal articles that are referenced throughout the book.

Donileen R. Loseke is a professor in the department of sociology at the University of South Florida. She received her BA and MA in psychology (California State University, Dominguez Hills) and her PhD in sociology (University of California, Santa Barbara). Her books include The Battered Woman and Shelters, which won the Charles Horton Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, and Thinking About Social Problems. She also is the editor of Current Controversies on Family Violence (with Richard Gelles) and Social Problems: Constructionist Readings (with Joel Best). Numerous journal articles and book chapters report the findings of her empirical research projects, which have been on a variety of topics including evaluation research, social problems, criminal justice, social service provision, occupations, emotion, identity, and narrative and have used a variety of data generation techniques including field experiment, written survey, in-depth interview, ethnography, and document analysis. Among her editorial positions include editor of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, advisory editor for Social Problems and Deputy Editor for Social Psychology Quarterly.  She received the Mead Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction and will be the 2017 President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.