Research Methods and Society: Foundations of Social Inquiry

Research Methods and Society, Third Edition is designed to help undergraduate students acquire basic skills in methods of social science research. These skills provide a foundation for understanding research findings in the social sciences and for conducting social research. Just as important, such skill-sets and principles can be applied to everyday situations to make sense of the endless stream of claims and counterclaims confronted daily in print and electronic forms, including social media.

Key features of this book include:

• Straightforward prose, including key concepts and tools.
• Concrete and everyday examples and "hands-on" practice activities and Applications designed to be interesting and useful to students.
• Organization to accommodate term-length research projects.
• Chapter Summaries and Review Sheets.
• Assignments to meet specific learning goals:

• Evaluation of key excerpts from research reports published in professional journal articles and popular press.
• Analysis of secondary data (e.g., from the General Social Survey).
• Analysis of primary data from mini–research projects.
• Combinations of methods applications using more than one activity (e.g., evaluating published reports and completing secondary data analysis or mini-projects).

• New to Third Edition:

• New chapter, "Ethics and Social Science Research."
• Many new and updated citations, including from international sources.
• References to Internet survey tools and software: how to find data online, what to consider, and how to choose.
• References to noteworthy, informative media from online sources (e.g., Annenberg Learning, universities, weblogs, YouTube).
• Supplemental Instructor Materials: Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, PowerPoint presentations.

Dr. Linda Eberst Dorsten, Professor Emerita, served as research consultant to state and community agencies across several states and for a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention five-year initiative. She publishes articles in Demography, Population Research and Policy Review, Sociology of Education, and Research in Sociology of Education and Socialization.

Dr. Lawrence Hotchkiss is a retired statistical consultant from the University of Delaware. A research scholar, he has directed numerous studies of education and learning and published many papers in refereed journals. He is an experienced user of survey data in large national datasets, and an experienced research administrator.