How can excellence in the teaching of research methods be encouraged and ensured? This question has become increasingly important following the adoption of research methodology as a core part of many postgraduate and undergraduate courses. There has, however, been little discussion about the aims and methods of teaching the subject. In this volume; a number of authors from a variety of countries and disciplines employ their knowledge and experience towards the development of a 'pedagogical culture' in research methods. Their aim is to establish the extent of common concerns and challenges and to demonstrate ways in which these are being met. Intended to provide both a stimulus and source materials for the development of a more substantial and systematic literature in the field, the book will be of great interest to all those teaching research methods courses within social science disciplines.

The author follows two chapters on the fundamentals of social science and social research with three on preparation, two on interviewing, one on scaling, and two on relative advantages and methods of participative, direct and indirect observation.

This comprehensive text is designed to help political science students learn what to research, why to research, and how to research. It integrates both the quantitative and qualitative approaches to research, including the most detailed coverage of qualitative methods currently available. The book provides specific instructions in the use of available statistical software programs such as Excel and SPSS. It covers such important topics as research design, specifying research problems, designing questionnaires and writing questions, designing and carrying out qualitative research, and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative research data. Copiously illustrated and thoroughly classroom tested, the book presents statistical methods in a conversational tone to help students surmount "math phobia."

This book integrates social science research methods and the descriptions of over 40 univariate, bivariate, and multivariate tests to include a description of the purpose, key assumptions and requirements, example research question and null hypothesis, SPSS procedures, display and interpretation of SPSS output, and what to report for each test. It is classroom tested and current with IBM SPSS 22. This expanded second edition also features companion website materials including copies of the IBM SPSS datasets used to create the SPSS output presented in the book, and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations that display step-by-step instructions on how to run popular SPSS procedures. Included throughout the book are various sidebars highlighting key points, images and SPSS screenshots to assist understanding the material presented, self-test reviews at the end of each chapter, a decision tree to facilitate identification of the proper statistical test, examples of SPSS output with accompanying analysis and interpretations, links to relevant web sites, and a comprehensive glossary. Underpinning all these features is a concise, easy to understand explanation of the material.

Visual Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Awakening Visions is an indispensable resource for students, researchers and teachers seeking to use visual sources in their research and understand how images work. This fully updated edition adds questions and activities for studies and many new images and models as well as additional exploration of social and theoretical contexts and examples of current visual and multimodal research. Due to the proliferation of image-centric social media and the growing potential for ‘fake news’, being able to critically assess media and other visual messages is more important than ever. For researchers embarking on visual research this book offers useful practical guidance and real-world examples from seasoned researchers exploring cultures as varied as: religious cults in Venezuela, the Beer Can Regatta in Darwin, Mapuche Indians in Chile and graffiti artists in Sheffield. It offers an integrated approach to visual research, building compelling case studies using a wide range of visual forms, including: archive images, media samples, maps, objects, video, photographs and drawings alongside traditional qualitative approaches. Examples of the visual construction of ‘place’, representations of social identities and different approaches to analysis are explored in the first section of the book, whilst the essays in the second section highlight the creativity and innovation of four leading visual researchers. This new edition will prove valuable for both experienced visual researchers and those embarking on visual research in the social sciences for the first time.

This book shows students the steps involved in the research process, the various strategies for conducting a valid social inquiry, and most importantly, the persuasiveness and elegance of reliable social research. It highlights the link between academic research and the real world. Included are carefully chosen examples of each of the major methodological techniques-survey, interviews, fieldwork observations, experiments, content analysis, secondary analysis and program evaluation. Also included are selections on sampling strategies, research ethics and both qualitative and quantitative data analysis.

Dissertation Research Methods: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Up Your Research in the Social Sciences focuses specifically on the methodology for planning, writing and submitting your dissertation thesis. Written by two methodology experts in the social sciences, the book provides a step-by-step guide through each stage of the dissertation process. It covers all aspects of the methodological considerations needed, from choosing a topic or research question, developing a literature review, identifying research gaps, accessing potential study participants, utilizing the right sampling strategies, analyzing data and writing up findings. Readers are introduced to the main research methods normally used in dissertations and their characteristics, and they are guided to choose an appropriate research method for their study, provide a substantial description of the selected method and articulate strong arguments in support of it. The book is filled with templates, exemplars and tools to help students write about methodology in their thesis and to equip readers to successfully troubleshoot any methodology challenges they may face. This compact book will be of use to all graduate students and their supervisors in the Social Sciences and Education and Behavioural Sciences who are looking for a guide to working with robust and defensible methodological principles in their dissertation research and theses.

Research Methodology in Social Science Research Methodology in Social Sciences is of great importance in disciplines and interested people on searching various knowledge or solution to a phenomenon. The main purpose of the book is to share scholarly knowledge about research and its complexity. This book can be used to train the basics and techniques involved on doing inquiries from different views. The experience shows that, no single cure for all diseases. So when comes to research, there is no single research methodology or technique which fits all circum-stances. Hence, the book tries to identify a family of approaches towards various research situations and distinguish their outcomes.