Making Sense of Social Research Methodology

A Student and Practitioner Centered Approach

Pengfei Zhao, Karen Ross, Peiwei Li, Barbara Dennis

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781506378688
• eBook ISBN: 9781506378671
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Experimental Methods in Education
• Index: Social Sciences

Making Sense of Social Research Methodology: A Student and Practitioner Centered Approach introduces students to research methods by illuminating the underlying assumptions of social science inquiry. Authors Pengfei Zhao, Karen Ross, Peiwei Li, and Barbara Dennis show how research concepts are often an integral part of everyday life through illustrative common scenarios, like looking for a recipe or going on a job interview. The authors extrapolate from these personal but ubiquitous experiences to further explain concepts, like gathering data or social context, so students develop a deeper understanding of research and its applications outside of the classroom. Students from across the social sciences can take this new understanding into their own research, their professional lives, and their personal lives with a new sense of relevancy and urgency.

This text is organized into clusters that center on major topics in social science research. The first cluster introduces concepts that are fundamental to all aspects and steps of the research process. These concepts include relationality, identity, ethics, epistemology, validity, and the sociopolitical context within which research occurs. The second and third clusters focus on data and inference. These clusters engage concretely with steps of the research process, including decisions about designing research, generating data, making inferences. Throughout the chapters, Pause and Reflect open-ended questions provide readers with the space for further inquiry into research concepts and how they apply to life. Research Scenario features in each chapter offer new perspectives on major research topics from leading and emerging voices in methods. Moving from this dialogic perspective to more actionable advice, You and Research features offer students concrete steps for engaging with research. Take your research into the world with Making Sense of Social Research Methodology: A Student and Practitioner Centered Approach.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Brief Contents
• Detailed Contents
• Preface
• About the Authors
• 1 Our Research Story: A Prelude
• Cluster 1 Understanding Research: Making Sense of Underlying Assumptions
• 2 How Do We Know? That Is the Question
• 3 Research, Identity, and Relational Processes
• 4 Ethical Considerations Across the Spectrum of Research
• 5 Knowledge and Meaning in Research
• 6 Sociopolitical Conditions of Research
• 7 Validity in the Context of Research
• Cluster 2 What is the Meaning of “Data”?
• 8 What Am I Looking For?
• 9 Defining Data
• 10 Generating and Acquiring Data
• 11 How Do I Know I Have “Enough” Data? How Do I Know I Have “Good” Data?
• Cluster 3 How Do We Conceptualize “Inference”?
• 12 Understanding Inference as a Process
• 13 Description and Inference in the Research Sphere
• 14 Making Inferences About Trends and Experiences
• 15 Writing Up Research
• 16 Coming Back Full Circle: Implications of the Inferential Process
• 17 Postlude
• Appendix A: Statistical Tests Used to Establish Causal Inferences
• Appendix B: Statistical Tests Used to Establish Correlational Inferences
• Appendix C: Getting Clarity About the Vision of Your Project
• Appendix D: A Generic Rubric for Evaluating Empirical Research Articles
• Glossary of Terms
• About the Contributors
• References
• Index