The SAGE Handbook of Innovation in Social Research Methods

Malcolm Williams, W Paul Vogt, Malcolm Williams, W Paul Vogt, Author

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781446295830
  9781412946483
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781446209639
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Research & Methodology
• Index: Social Sciences

Social research is a bourgeoning field. Of course it has many traditions and approaches, but there is a high premium upon thinking differently and thinking anew because social life is never static or wholly predictable.

The Handbook, edited by internationally recognized scholars, provides a comprehensive, pitch-perfect critical assessment of the field. The main features of the Handbook are:

• Clear organization into 4 parts dealing with The Social Context of Research; Design and Data Collection; Integrating The Analysis of New Data Types; Sampling, Inference and Measurement
• Clear, cutting edge chapters on Objectivity; Causation; Organizing Social Research; Correspondence Analysis; Grounded Theory; Conversational Surveys; Mixed Methods; Meta-Analysis; Optimal Matching Analysis; GIS Analysis; Quantitative Narrative Analysis; Longitudinal Studies; SEM; MLM; Qualitative Comparative Analysis; Respondent Driven Sampling
• Brings together a glittering assembly of the key figures working in the field of research methods
• Demonstrates the continuities and productive tensions between classical traditions and real world research.

The result is a superbly organized text which will be required reading for anyone interested in the routes and future of social research. It is an unparalleled teaching resource and a ?must have? for serious social researchers.

Table of contents

• COVER
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of Contributors
• Introduction
• PART 1 - The Social Context of Research
• Introduction
• 1 Objectivity: A Reconceptualisation
• 2 Setting Up Sociological Research
• 3 Feminist Methodology
• 4 What is an Effect? Coming at Causality Backwards
• PART 2 - Design and Data Collection
• Introduction
• 5 Narratives of the Future: Complexity, Time and Temporality
• 6 Mapping Pathways
• 7 Correspondence Analysis: A Case for Methodological Pluralism?
• 8 Case-Oriented Theory Building and Theory Testing
• 9 Investigating Human Communication and Language from Traces Left on the Web
• 10 Innovative Qualitative Data Collection Techniques for Conducting Literature Reviews/Research Syntheses
• 11 Grounded Theory
• 12 Back to Likert:Towards the Conversational Survey
• 13 Mixed Methods for Construct Validation
• 14 Researching with Peer/Community Researchers –Ambivalences and Tensions
• 15 Innovations in Program Evaluation:Comparative Case Studies as an Alternative to RCTs
• PART 3 - Integrating the Analysis of New Data Types
• Introduction
• 16 Advances in Combining Regression Results in Meta-Analysis
• 17 Toward a New Era for Conducting Mixed Analyses
• 18 Optimal Matching Analysis
• 19 Quantitative Narrative Analysis
• 20 Lexicographic Index: A New Measurement of Resemblance Among Sequences
• 21 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Analysis
• PART 4 - Sampling, Inference and Measurement
• Introduction
• 22 Respondent-Driven Sampling:Operational Procedures, Evolution of Estimators, and Topics for Future Research
• 23 Analysing LongitudinalStudies with Non-response:Issues and Statistical Methods
• 24 Statistical Inference for Causal Effects, with Emphasis on Applications in Psychometrics and Education
• 25 Automatic Item Generation: An Innovation for Developing Complex Cognitive Tests
• 26 Convergence of Structural Equation Modeling and Multilevel Modeling
• 27 Hierarchical Linear and Structural Equation Modeling Approaches to Mediation Analysis in Randomized Field Experiments
• Author Index
• Subject Index