Book picks similar to
Approaches to Social Research by Royce A. Singleton Jr.
sociology
research-methods
nonfiction
textbooks
Principles and Applications of Assessment in Counseling
Susan C. Whiston - 1999
With cases studies found throughout, you will easily learn to apply principles to real life.
Research Methods in Psychology
John J. Shaughnessy - 1985
Offers students with the tools necessary to do ethical research in psychology and to understand the research they learn about in psychology courses and in the media.
Marriages & Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints
Nijole V. Benokraitis - 1993
The text's major theme "Changes, Choices, and Constraints" explores: Contemporary "changes "in families and their structure Impacts on the "choices "that are available to family members ""Constraints ""that often limit our choices Through this approach, students are better able to understand what the research and statistics mean "for themselves"! Marriages and Families balances theoretical and empirical discussions with practical examples and applications. It highlights important contemporary changes in society and the family. This text is written from a sociological perspective and incorporates material from other disciplines: history, economics, social work, psychology, law, biology, medicine, family studies, women's studies, and anthropology. "More about the themes: " "Changes"Examines how recent profound structural and attitudinal changes affect family forms, interpersonal relationships, and raising children. It reaches beyond the traditional discussions to explore racial-ethnic families, single-parent families and gay families as well as the recent scholarship by and about men, fathers, and grandfathers. Contemporary American marriages and families vary greatly in structure, dynamics, and cultural heritage. Thus, discussions of gender roles, social class, race, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation are integrated throughout this book. To further strengthen students understanding of the growing diversity among today's families, the author included a series of boxes that focus on families from many cultures. "Choices"On the individual level, family members have many more choices today than ever before. People feel freer to postpone marriage, to cohabit, or to raise children as single parents. As a result, household forms vary greatly, ranging from commuter marriages to those in which several generations live together under the same roof. "Constraints"Although family members choices are more varied today, we also face greater macro- level constraints. Our options are increasingly limited, for example, by government policies. Economic changes often shape family life and not vice versa. Political and legal institutions also have a major impact on most families in tax laws, welfare reform, and even in defining what a family is. Because laws, public policies, and religious groups affect our everyday lives, the author has framed many discussions of individual choices within the larger picture of the institutional constraints that limit our choices.To learn more about the new edition, click here to visit the showcase site.
Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications
Lorraine R. Gay - 1976
The reorganized text reflects a more balanced coverage of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Unique features of this revised edition include an approachable text your students won't mind reading and will want to keep; the accessible writing style, clear and concise explanations, and humorous tone demystify the research process; eleven cumulative Tasks throughout the text provide practice and skill development in doing research, step by step; expanded coverage of qualitative research and mixed methods Chapter 16 covering Narrative Research, and Chapter 17 covering Ethnographic Research, are new to this edition. Chapter 19, Mixed Methods, is also new to this edition. There is an expanded coverage of technology and an increased coverage of how to use technology in the research process. The 39 articles provided in the package (Text, Student Study Guide, and Website) are accompanied by a variety of pedagogical aids to help students learn to read research. research.
Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory
Peter Barry - 1995
This new and expanded third edition continues to offer students and readers the best one-volume introduction to the field.The bewildering variety of approaches, theorists and technical language is lucidly and expertly unraveled. Unlike many books which assume certain positions about the critics and the theories they represent, Peter Barry allows readers to develop their own ideas once first principles and concepts have been grasped.
The Moral Life: An Introductory Reader In Ethics And Literature
Louis P. Pojman - 1999
Integrating literature with philosophy in an innovative way, editor Louis P. Pojman uses literary works to enliven and make concrete the ethical theory or applied issues addressed in each chapter. Literary works by Camus, Hawthorne, Hugo, Huxley, Ibsen, Le Guin, Melville, Orwell, Styron, Tolstoy, and many others lead students into philosophical concepts and issues such as relativism; utilitarianism; virtue ethics; the meaning of life; freedom; sex, love, and marriage; and environmental ethics. Once introduced, these topics are developed further through readings by philosophers including Aristotle, Jane English, Thomas E. Hill, Jr., Jean-Paul Sartre, and Bernard Williams. This unique anthology emphasizes the personal dimension of ethics, which is often ignored or minimized in ethics texts. The second edition offers several new selections including work by Maya Angelou, Kevin Bales, John Benson, Susan Glaspell, C. S. Lewis, R. M. MacIver, Plato, Plutarch, James Rachels, Ayn Rand, Voltaire, and Kurt Vonnegut. It also adds a new chapter on justice and the threat of terrorism featuring material from the Old Testament--in which the equivalent of a jihad occurs--followed by philosophical analyses by Martha Nussbaum and Louis P. Pojman. Featuring expanded part and chapter introductions as well as biographical sketches, abstracts, and study questions for each reading selection, The Moral Life, 2/e, is ideal for introductory ethics courses. It also provides an engaging gateway into personal and social ethics for the general reader.
Research Methodology: A Step-By-Step Guide for Beginners
Ranjit Kumar - 1999
Written specifically for students with no previous experience of research and research methodology, the writing style is simple and clear and the author presents this complex subject in a straightforward way that empowers readers to tackle research with confidence. The book has been revised and updated to include extended coverage of qualitative research methods in addition to existing comprehensive coverage of quantitative methods. There are also brand new learning features such as reflective questions throughout the text to help students consolidate their knowledge.
America: A Concise History, Volume 2: Since 1865
James A. Henretta - 1986
History survey because of the uncommon value it offers instructors and students alike. The authors' own abridgement preserves the analytical power of the parent text, America's History, while offering all the flexibility of a brief book. The latest scholarship, hallmark global perspective, and handy format combine with the best full-color art and map program of any brief text to create a book that students read and enjoy.
Invitation to the Life Span
Kathleen Stassen Berger - 2009
But that does not even begin to convey what the Berger experience is: What makes these bestselling textbooks so distinctive is the unmistakable presence of KATHLEEN STASSEN BERGER on every page, in writing that continually draws on the author’s teaching and family life to demonstrate a remarkable understanding not just of the field, but of students’ questions, their concerns, and their lives.The distinctive, definitive BERGER touch is evident throughout her new textbook, Invitation to the Life Span. This brief, original, 15-chapter textbook was created from page 1 to address the challenges teachers and students face when covering the entire life span in a semester (or even a quarter!). The hallmark Berger qualities are all here—the relatable presentation of research, the inclusive approach to world cultures, the study help that builds critical thinking and observational skills, the outstanding media and supplements—and all held together with Berger’s skill in bringing students and the science together.
The Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills - 1959
Wright Mills is best remembered for his highly acclaimed work The Sociological Imagination, in which he set forth his views on how social science should be pursued. Hailed upon publication as a cogent and hard-hitting critique, The Sociological Imagination took issue with the ascendant schools of sociology in the United States, calling for a humanist sociology connecting the social, personal, and historical dimensions of our lives. The sociological imagination Mills calls for is a sociological vision, a way of looking at the world that can see links between the apparently private problems of the individual and important social issues.
Career Theory and Practice: Learning Through Case Studies
Jane L. Swanson - 1999
Each chapter applies a different theory to case examples and - to provide continuity - to a fictitious client' constructed from many past clients of the authors.
Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies
Robert Stuart Weiss - 1995
It draws on Robert Weiss's thirty years of experience in interviewing and teaching others how to do it. The most effective interviews, says Weiss, rely on creating cooperation -- an open and trusting alliance between interviewer and respondent, dedicated to specific and honest accounts of both internal and external events. Against the eclectic background of his work in national sample surveys, studies based on semi-structured interviewing, and participant observation, Weiss walks the reader through the method of qualitative interview studies: sample selection, development of an interview guide, the conduct of the interview, analysis, and preparation of the data. Weiss gives examples of successful and less successful interviews and offers specific techniques and guidelines for the practitioner.
The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology
Kerry O. Ferris - 2008
With a clever mix of popular culture, everyday life, and extensive student activities, The Real World fully realizes sociology's unique ability to stimulate students intellectually as well as resonate with them personally.
The Foundations of Social Research: Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process
Michael J. Crotty - 1998
How can you be sure which methodology is appropriate, or whether your chosen combination of methods is consistent with the theoretical perspective you want to take? This book links methodology and theory with great clarity and precision, showing students and researchers how to navigate the maze of conflicting terminology. The major epistemological stances and theoretical perspectives that colour and shape current social research are detailed and the author reveals the philosophical origins of these schools of inquiry and shows how various disciplines contribute to the practice of social research as it is known today.
Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes
Robert M. Emerson - 1995
Using actual unfinished, "working" notes as examples, they illustrate options for composing, reviewing, and working fieldnotes into finished texts. They discuss different organizational and descriptive strategies, including evocation of sensory detail, synthesis of complete scenes, the value of partial versus omniscient perspectives, and of first person versus third person accounts. Of particular interest is the author's discussion of notetaking as a mindset. They show how transforming direct observations into vivid descriptions results not simply from good memory but more crucially from learning to envision scenes as written. A good ethnographer, they demonstrate, must learn to remember dialogue and movement like an actor, to see colors and shapes like a painter, and to sense moods and rhythms like a poet.The authors also emphasize the ethnographer's core interest in presenting the perceptions and meanings which the people studied attach to their own actions. They demonstrate the subtle ways that writers can make the voices of people heard in the texts they produce. Finally, they analyze the "processing" of fieldnotes—the practice of coding notes to identify themes and methods for selecting and weaving together fieldnote excerpts to write a polished ethnography.This book, however, is more than a "how-to" manual. The authors examine writing fieldnotes as an interactive and interpretive process in which the researcher's own commitments and relationships with those in the field inevitably shape the character and content of those fieldnotes. They explore the conscious and unconscious writing choices that produce fieldnote accounts. And they show how the character and content of these fieldnotes inevitably influence the arguments and analyses the ethnographer can make in the final ethnographic tale.This book shows that note-taking is a craft that can be taught. Along with Tales of the Field and George Marcus and Michael Fisher's Anthropology as Cultural Criticism, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes is an essential tool for students and social scientists alike.