Social Research Methods

Offering an interdisciplinary balance between experimental and nonexperimental methods, this text organizes material around the core concept of validity, and incorporates a level of self-contained coverage on statistics. Topics discussed include: Needleman's work on the effect of lead on IQ; measuring reliability by kappa coefficient; recent measures such as MMPI-2 and PET; the Literary Digest Poll; new examples of inferential problems with correlational designs; qualitative methods and the ethics of unobtrusive research; meta-analytic review; and evaluation methods and the uses of evaluations to influence law and social policy.

This text presents an overview of social research methods, organizes all material around the core concept of validity, and incorporates an appropriate amount and level of self-contained coverage on statistics.