Encyclopedia of Measurement in Social Sciences - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0124438903 ISBN 13: 9780124438903

Publisher: Elsevier, 2004

Synopsis

The Encyclopedia of Social Measurement captures the data, techniques, theories, designs, applications, histories, and implications of assigning numerical values to social phenomena. Responding to growing demands for transdisciplinary descriptions of quantitative and qualitative techniques, measurement, sampling, and statistical methods, it will increase the proficiency of everyone who gathers and analyzes data.

Covering all core social science disciplines, the 300+ articles of the Encyclopedia of Social Measurement not only present a comprehensive summary of observational frameworks and mathematical models, but also offer tools, background information, qualitative methods, and guidelines for structuring the research process. Articles include examples and applications of research strategies and techniques, highlighting multidisciplinary options for observing social phenomena. The alphabetical arrangement of the articles, their glossaries and cross-references, and the volumes' detailed index will encourage exploration across the social sciences. Descriptions of important data sets and case studies will help readers understand resources they can often instantly access.

Also available online via ScienceDirect – featuring extensive browsing, searching, and internal cross-referencing between articles in the work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract databases, making navigation flexible and easy. For more information, pricing options and availability visit www.info.sciencedirect.com.

• Introduces readers to the advantages and potential of specific techniques and suggests additional sources that readers can then consult to learn more
• Conveys a range of basic to complex research issues in sufficient detail to explain even the most complicated statistical technique. Readers are provided with references for further information
• Eleven substantive sections delineate social sciences and the research processes they follow to measure and provide new knowledge on a wide range of topics
• Authors are prominent scholars and methodologists from all social science fields
• Within each of the sections important components of quantitative and qualitative research methods are dissected and illustrated with examples from diverse fields of study
• Actual research experiences provide useful examples

About this title

About the Author

Kimberly Kempf-Leonard (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is Professor of Criminology, Sociology, and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her interests involve conceptualization and measurement, reducing inequality and improving effectiveness within systems of justice. She teaches courses on research design, social control, delinquency, criminal justice policy, and the correlates of crime and justice. Her work has brought innovation to measurement of diverse topics, including criminal career patterns, gender bias, racial disparity, insider trading, judicial decision-making, and theories of crime and justice. She is probably best known for her research aimed at understanding and improving juvenile justice system policies and procedures.

Much of her applied research to assist state and local criminal justice agencies with policy evaluation and reform has been supported by state and federal funding. Her work has appeared in leading criminology journals and several edited books. Minorities in Juvenile Justice, a co-edited volume, won the 1997 Gustavus Myers Award for Human Rights in North America. She has presented her work annually at the American Society of Criminology Meetings, and as invited speaker to the National Conference of Governors, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the National Coalition of Juvenile Justice, the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Children and Crime, the British Home Office, and the American Bar Association.

With co-author P. Tracy, she is preparing a follow-up volume to Continuity & Discontinuity in Criminal Careers (1997, Plenum) about life course patterns of the 14,000 females in the 1958 Philadelphia Birth Cohort Study, including details about self-reported victimization, offending, and other personal experiences obtained from a survey administered to a sample of the cohort in their early 20s. She also is working with the Dallas County Juvenile Department.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Encyclopedia is of use to a broad scope of students interested in learning about social science research and to scientists interested in broadening their own investigative techniques by adapting resources and skills used by colleagues in related fields

Edition details

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0124438903
• ISBN 13: 9780124438903
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 3000
• Editor: Kempf-Leonard Kimberly