Research Methods in Practice: Strategies for Description and Causation (NULL)

A new third edition of Research Methods in Practice is available here!

The Second Edition of Research Methods in Practice: Strategies for Description and Causation sets an entirely new standard for presenting and learning research methods. The perspective gained from this text makes it a truly necessary tool for such applied disciplines as public affairs and administration, public policy, psychology, urban affairs, education, sociology, social work, business, public health, political science, economics, communications and criminal justice.

Imbued with a deep commitment to make social and policy research methods accessible and meaningful, the Second Edition of Research Methods in Practice: Strategies for Description and Causation compels and inspires students to truly grasp the logic―and limits―of the latest research appearing in academic journals, government reports, and the media. Authors Dahlia K. Remler and Gregg G. Van Ryzin cover the most pertinent issues and methods, emphasizing the critical interpretation and practical application of research findings. Both causation and description―and the distinction between them―are emphasized and maintained thematically throughout the text. Concepts are taught through in-depth examples, such as “Fighting Malaria in Kenya,” “The U.S. Poverty Measure,” “The Fallout from Hurricane Katrina,” “Family Dinners and Teenage Substance Abuse,” and “The Effect of Poverty on Mental Health.” The realistic trade-offs, uncertainties, habits, and excitement of the research experience come through on every page.

Praise for Research Methods in Practice

“The organization is the most straightforward and accessible of any research methods text I know…The depth of presentation is a perfect balance between the fundamentals and an introduction to advanced topics.” - Richard Tardanico, Florida International University

“I really like this book and so do my students.  It fills a much-needed gap in available textbooks on research methods, by speaking to practical and applied research without ‘dumbing it down’…It strikes a nice balance between accessible and rigorous – a balance that I haven’t seen in other books.” - Jennifer Shea, San Francisco State University

“The clear language and carefully organized examples (e.g., boxes of information) of various concepts, and the real-life examples (Hurricane Katrina, poverty in the US, the flu epidemic, recent economic downturn) that provide a context for the topics are the greatest strengths of the textbook.” - Dr. Sevil Sonmez, University of North Carolina Greensboro

“I believe this is the best text available for teaching students the fundamentals of research design and statistics, and introducing them to the difficulties inherent in evaluation research and causal inference.” - Dave E. Marcotte, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)

“Clear to the point and detailed, just makes fairly complex points in a very understandable manner…and explains things in ways students new to research can understand.  I like the organization as it blends stats and methods better than most textbooks.” - Glenn A Zuern,  Albany State University

“It includes all the crucial bits that standard research methods textbooks leave out: what happens after all the data collection and analysis – and why do it at all? The authors write in a friendly and accessible style, very much in the real world, and so well structured that it is easy to dip in and out, to take exactly what the researcher want from it.” - Prof. Osarumwense Iguisi, London Millennium College / University of Benin, Nigeria

“If students are looking to purchase one text that will provide sound coverage of research methods coupled with examples that provide clarity of application this is it.” - Matthew Cooper, Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College

Available with  Perusall―an eBook that makes it easier to prepare for class
Perusall is an award-winning eBook platform featuring social annotation tools that allow students and instructors to collaboratively mark up and discuss their SAGE textbook. Backed by research and supported by technological innovations developed at Harvard University, this process of learning through collaborative annotation keeps your students engaged and makes teaching easier and more effective. Learn more. 

Dahlia K. Remler is Professor at the School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, and the Department of Economics, Graduate Center, both of the City University of New York. She is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Dahlia has been in an unusual mix of disciplinary and interdisciplinary settings. She received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, a DPhil in physical chemistry from Oxford University―while a Marshall Scholar―and a PhD in economics from Harvard University. During the Clinton administration’s health care reform efforts, Dahlia held a fellowship at the Brookings Institution to finish her dissertation on health care cost containment. She then held a postdoctoral research fellowship at Harvard Medical School, followed by assistant professorships at Tulane’s and Columbia’s Schools of Public Health, prior to joining the faculty at Baruch. She enjoys comparing and contrasting how different disciplines see the same issues.

Dahlia has published widely in a variety of areas in health care policy, including health care cost containment, information technology in health care, cigarette tax regressivity, simulation methods for health insurance take-up, and health insurance and health care markets. She has also recently started working on higher education and media issues. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Health Affairs, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the American Journal of Public Health, Medical Care Research and Review, and many other journals. She blogs on health care policy, higher education and other topics at DahliaRemler.com.

Dahlia lives with her husband, Howard, in New York City, where they enjoy the city’s theaters, restaurants, and parks―and Dahlia enjoys being a complete amateur dancer in some of the city’s superb dance studios.

Gregg G. Van Ryzin is Professor at the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University―Newark. He received his BA in geography from Columbia University and his PhD in psychology from the City University of New York. During his doctoral training, he worked as a planner for a nonprofit housing and community development organization in New York City, and he completed his dissertation on low income housing for the elderly in Detroit. He next worked in Washington, D.C., for ICF Inc. and later Westat, Inc. on surveys and program evaluations for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies. In 1995, he joined the faculty of the School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, where he directed their Survey Research Unit for 8 years. In that role, he helped develop and direct the New York City Community Health Survey, a large-scale behavioral health survey for the city’s health department, and also played a key role in shaping and conducting the city’s survey of satisfaction with government services. He has spent time in Madrid, collaborating with researchers there on the analysis of surveys about public attitudes toward Spanish government policy.

Gregg has published many scholarly articles on housing and welfare programs, survey and evaluation methods, and public opinion about government services and institutions. His work has appeared in the International Review of Administrative Sciences, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, the Journal of Urban Affairs, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Public Administration Review, Public Management Review, Public Performance and Management Review, Urban Affairs Review, and other journals.

Gregg lives in New York City with his wife, Ada (a history professor at NYU), and their daughters Alina and Lucia. They enjoy life in their Greenwich Village neighborhood, escaping on occasion to Spain, Miami, Maine, Cuba, and other interesting places in the world.