Researching Social Life

`... an ideal primary text for an undergraduate course in social research methods′ - Teaching Sociology

`This is a very impressive book. It is admirably written in clear, straightforward language, so that I can easily imagine undergraduates responding well to its use as a core text′ - Geoff Payne, Professor of Social Research, University of Plymouth

`Provides an excellent introductory methods text that covers every stage of quantitative and qualitative research′ - Journal of Social Policy

`an ideal text for undergraduates in a variety of disciplines who are taking research methods courses′ - Health Promotion International

The Second Edition of this widely adopted textbook for undergraduate research methods courses has been fully revised and updated to include an even broader range of methods.

Key features of this outstanding text are that it:

- outlines the main ways in which social scientists gather data, reviewing each method′s strengths and weaknesses

- shows how data may be collated, managed and analysed

- demonstrates the necessary links between sociological theory and data

- provides stimulating annotated examples of social research using a variety of methods

- offers signposts to more advanced texts which discuss specific methods in more detail.

The Second Edition of Researching Social Life considers a comprehensive range of research methods including those that are emerging as a result of the adoption of new technologies and media, such as the use of the Internet, the analysis of multimedia and especially visual materials, and the secondary analysis of longitudinal datasets. As with the first edition, the text aims to help break down the artificial distinction between so-called `quantitative′ and `qualitative′ research.

This is an ideal textbook for undergraduate courses in social research methods across the social sciences.

Nigel Gilbert is Professor of Sociology at the University of Surrey, Guildford, England. He is the author or editor of 34 books and many academic papers and was the founding editor of the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation. His current research focuses on the application of agent-based models to understanding social and economic phenomena, especially the emergence of norms, culture, and innovation. He obtained a doctorate in the sociology of scientific knowledge in 1974 from the University of Cambridge and has subsequently taught at the universities of York and Surrey in England. He is one of the pioneers in the field of social simulation and is past president of the European Social Simulation Association. He is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences and of the Royal Academy of Engineering.