In addition to hundreds of new references features new to this edition include: a comprehensive introduction to qualitative methods including a review of existing computer applications for collecting and analyzing data; the latest information about the use of computers and online research techniques, including the use of the Internet to locate actual research instruments and journal articles; updated coverage on new scales, internal and external validity, and new analytic techniques with extensive references on each; abstracts, citations and subject groupings by measurement tool of the last five years of the American Sociological Review, Social Psychology Quarterly, and the American Journal of Sociology; extensive coverage of how to prepare manuscripts for publication, including a list of all journals covered by Sociological Abstracts along with the editorial office address and URL for each entry; new coverage of ethical issues; expansion of social indicators to include international coverage; discussion of the importance of policy research with presentation and discussion of specific models as an adjunct to both applied and basic research techniques; and the addition of an index to facilitate the reader's ability to quickly locate a topic.

The Role of Models in Research Design

Model building is an integral part of the social sciences because models guide both theory development and research design. Model building has been accentuated and accelerated by many forces in contemporary life. Models seem appropriate to the worlds of computers, biotechnology, and automation, and they have conferred new status on the scientist in government, industry, and the military. Models are also very important to social scientists because they provide a framework through which important questions are investigated.

To further emphasize the importance of this activity in the social sciences, the act of ...

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