Summary
Contents
Subject index
‘This is an impressively detailed, clearly written book.. It is a book that I would like students to read’ - Clive Seale, Goldsmiths College, London. Social Research: Theory, Methods and Techniques presents an understanding of social research practice through appreciation of its foundations and methods. Stretching from the philosophy of science to detailed descriptions of both qualitative and quantitative techniques, it illustrates not only ‘how’ to do social research, but also ‘why’ particular techniques are used today. The book is divided into three parts: Part One: Illustrates the two basic paradigms - quantitative and qualitative - of social research, describing their origins in philosophical thought and outlining their current interpretations. Part Two: Devoted to quantitative research, and discusses the relationship between theory and research practice. It also presents a discussion of key quantitative research techniques. Part Three: Examines qualitative research. Topics range from classical qualitative techniques such as participant observation, to more recent developments such as ethnomethodological studies. Overall, the author offers an engaging contribution to the field of social research and this book is a reminder of the solid foundations upon which most social research is conducted today. As a consequence it will be required reading for students throughout the social sciences, and at various levels.
Qualitative Techniques
The next three chapters deal with a new sector of social research techniques. In reality, this topic is not completely new to our reader, as it harks back to the issue of qualitative research, which was introduced in Chapter 2. Nevertheless, the present section is clearly distinct from the previous chapters, particularly in view of the fact that qualitative research not only involves completely different techniques from those used in quantitative research, but also requires a radically different cast of mind and basic philosophy. This is inevitably the case; between these two approaches there is a paradigm shift, from the positivist to the interpretative.
From the conceptual and terminological points of view, clear distinctions cannot be made among the techniques of qualitative analysis. ...
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