The SAGE Handbook of Innovation in Social Research Methods

Malcolm Williams is Professor and Director of the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. Prior to joining Cardiff in 2010, he was Professor of Social Research Methodology and Head of the School of Psychosocial Sciences at the University of Plymouth where he taught for 16 years. Malcolm has designed and taught modules in the philosophy of social research for 18 years at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. In these he has introduced a number of innovative pedagogic techniques, such as Problem Based Learning and 'Concept Speed Dating', in which students take a key idea and move from table to table attempting to build conceptual links between ideas.Additionally he has taught many modules and short courses in social theory, research design, questionnaire design, scaling, sampling, scientific method and history of science. Williams has an extensive publishing record in philosophy of social research, including: Introduction to Philosophy of Social Research (with Tim May, Routledge, 1996), Knowing the Social World (with Tim May, OUP, 1998), Science and Social Science (Routledge, 2000), Making Sense of Social Research (SAGE, 2003), Philosophical Foundations of Social Research (SAGE, 2006), Teaching Quantitative Methods (with Geoff Payne, SAGE, 2011) Objectivity and Subjectivity in Social Research (with Gayle Letherby and John Scott, SAGE, 2012) and The SAGE Handbook of Innovations in Social Research (with W Paul Voght, SAGE, 2014). W. Paul Vogt is Emeritus Professor of Research Methods and Evaluation at Illinois State University where he won both teaching and research awards. He specializes in methodological choice and program evaluation and is particularly interested in ways to integrate multiple methods. His other books include: Tolerance & Education: Learning to Live with Diversity and Difference (Sage Publications, 1998); Quantitative Research Methods for Professionals (Allyn & Bacon, 2007); Education Programs for Improving Intergroup Relations (coedited with Walter Stephan, Teachers College Press, 2004). He is also editor of four 4-volume sets in the series, Sage Benchmarks in Social Research Methods: Selecting Research Methods (2008); Data Collection (2010); Quantitative Research Methods (2011); and, with Burke Johnson, Correlation and Regression Analysis (2012).His most recent publications include the coauthored When to Use What Research Design (2012) and Selecting the Right Analyses for Your Data: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2014).

PART ONE: THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF RESEARCH Introduction - Malcolm Williams and W Paul Vogt Objectivity: A Reconceptualization - Martyn Hammersley Setting Up Sociological Research - Geoff Payne Feminist Methodology - Gayle Letherby What Is an Effect? Coming at Causality Backwards - David Byrne PART TWO: DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION Introduction - Malcolm Williams and W Paul Vogt Narratives of the Future: Complexity, Time and Temporality - Emma Uprichard Mapping Pathways - Wendy Dyer Correspondence Analysis: A Case for Methodological Pluralism? - Ian Rees-Jones Case-Oriented Theory-Building and Theory-Testing - Charles C Ragin and Garrett Andrew Schneider Investigating Human Communication and Language from Traces Left on the Web - Mike Thelwall Innovative Qualitative Data-Collection Techniques for Conducting Literature Reviews/Research Syntheses - Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L Leech and Kathleen M T Collins Grounded Theory - Antony Bryant and Kathy Charmaz Back to Likert: Towards the Conversational Survey - Giampietro Gobo Mixed Methods for Construct Validation - John H Hitchcock and Bonnie K Nastasi Researching with Peer/Community Researchers: Ambivalences and Tensions - Rosalind Edwards and Claire Alexander Innovations in Program Evaluation: Comparative Case Studies as an Alternative to RCTs - W Paul Vogt et al PART THREE: INTEGRATING THE ANALYSIS OF NEW DATA TYPES Introduction - W. Paul Vogt and Malcolm Williams Advances in Combining Regression Results in Meta-Analysis - Ariel M Aloe and Betsy Jane Becker Toward a New Era for Conducting Mixed Analyses: The Role of Quantitative Dominant and Qualitative Dominant Cross-Over Mixed Analyses - Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L Leech and Kathleen M T Collins Optimal Matching Analysis - Peter Martin and Richard D Wiggins Quantitative Narrative Analysis - Roberto Franzosi Lexicographic Index: A New Measurement of Resemblance among Sequences - Ivano Bison Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Analysis - Elizabeth Griffiths PART FOUR: SAMPLING, INFERENCE AND MEASUREMENT Introduction - W Paul Vogt and Malcolm Williams Respondent-Driven Sampling: Operational Procedures, Evolution of Estimators and Topics for Future Research - Cyprian Wejnert and Douglas Heckathorn Analyzing Longitudinal Studies with Non-Response: Issues and Statistical Methods - James Carpenter and Ian Plewis Statistical Inference for Causal Effects, with Emphasis on Applications in Psychometrics and Education - Donald B Rubin Automatic Item Generation: An Innovation for Developing Complex Cognitive Tests - Susan E Embretson and Heather H. McIntyre Convergence of Structural Equation Modeling and Multilevel Modeling - Rex B Kline Hierarchical Linear and Structural Equation Modeling Approaches to Mediation Analysis in Randomized Field Experiments - Keenan Pituch and Laura Stapleton

This book speaks to researchers across the social sciences, irrespective of their methodological persuasion. It brings fresh new perspectives to some of the core concerns of social science research methods; it challenges conventions and accepted wisdoms and provides pointers to an exciting future. The editors have produced a collection of papers that bring together some of the most original and innovative thinking about research methods. The chapters run the gamut of the research process whilst moving seamlessly across methodological boundaries. The book provides new ways of thinking about research and new ways of doing research, providing the reader with valuable pointers to their own research. -- Angela Dale This is a wonderful collection of interesting, novel and practically useful discussions of a wide variety of methodological topics in the social sciences. -- Harold Kincaid