A Handbook for Social Science Field Research

Ellen Perecman is Executive Director of the Council for Canadian-American Relations in New York City and President of Perecman & Samuels Consulting in New York. She has published numerous articles and book chapters as well as several edited volumes in the field of neurolinguistics and behavioral neurology. With her father, she is currently writing his memoir, tentatively titled One by One: Memoirs of a Dachau Watchmaker. A professional actress, Perecman trained with Julie Bovasso and Vivian Matalon and has appeared on the New York stage most recently in staged readings of classic Yiddish plays. Perecman received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the Graduate Center CUNY in 1980. Sara Curran is Associate Professor of International Studies and Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Her interests include family demography, development, and population and environment. Curran is completing a book for Princeton University Press titled Shifting Boundaries, Transforming Lives: Globalization, Gender and Family Dynamics in Thailand. And has published in Ambio, Blackwell's Encyclopedia of Sociology, Demography, International Migration Review, Journal of International Women's Studies, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Population and Development Review, Rural Sociology, Social Science Research and Teaching Sociology. Curran was the recipient of the 2001 Sociologists for Women in Society Mentoring Award and the 2002 Graduate Mentoring Award for Princeton University.

PART I: Selecting the Right Tools Overview 1. Archives The Past is Another Country by Robert Vitalis Bibliography 2. Case Studies Case-Based Research by Andrew Schrank: Bibliography 3. Ethnographic Methods Ethnography: Theory and Methods by Alma Gottlieb Bibliography 4. Oral Histories Oral Histories as Methods and Sources by Tamara Giles-Vernick: Bibliography 5. Focus Groups Focus Group Interviews by Susan Short Bibliography 6. Surveys and Secondary Data Sources Using Survey Data in Social Science Research in Developing Countries by Albert Park: Bibliography on Survey Research 7. Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Tools Qualitative Research: Does it Fit in Economics? by Michael Piore: Bibliography PART II: Essentials for the Conduct of Research Overview 1. Essentials for Ethnography Ethnographic Research by Stevan Harrell 2. Essentials for the Case Study Method The Case Study and Causal Research by Andrew Shrank 3. Essentials for Research Design In Search of the Holy Grail: Projects, Proposals, and Research Design, But Mostly about Why Writing a Dissertation Proposal is So Difficult by Michael Watts 4. Research Ethics are Essential Ethical Considerations for Research in Cross-Cultural Settings by Sara Curran Bibliography 5. Maintaining Perspective is Essential Bringing It All Back Home: Personal Reflections on Friends, Findings, and Fieldwork by Andrew Schrank

"This well-written book has much to recommend it. It would be interesting, useful, supplementary reading for doctoral students, and other relatively inexperienced researchers." -- Ronald R. Powell