Social Scientific Research

Dawn Brancati is a political scientist who has published two books and numerous academic articles on the relationship between democratic institutions and intrastate violence.

I. Introduction Chapter 1: What is Social Science Research? Chapter 2: Research Ethics Chapter 3: Identifying a Research Question Chapter 4: Conducting the Literature Review II. Argumentation Chapter 5: Building Effective Concepts Chapter 6: Making Strong Arguments III. METHOD AND CASE SELECTION Chapter 7: Method Selection Chapter 8: Mixed Methods Research Chapter 9: Case Selection IV. QUALITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS Chapter 10: Interviews Chapter 11: Focus Groups Chapter 12: Participant Observation Chapter 13: Process Tracing Chapter 14: Comparative Case Method V. QUANTITATIVE METHODS AND ANALYSIS Chapter 15: Measurement Chapter 16: Quantitative Data Chapter 17: Content Analysis Chapter 18: Surveys Chapter 19: Experiments Chapter 20: Observational Studies V. CONCLUSION Chapter 21: Social Scientific Writing Glossary Notes Index

An exceptionally broad, clear, and fair-minded treatment of social science research methodology John Gerring, Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin -- John Gerring Dawn Brancati's Social Science Research is a fun, engaging, and intelligent book about the basics of research design. I wish I had it when I was an undergraduate. Gary King is the Weatherhead University Professor at Harvard University. -- Gary King Rich with examples from across the social sciences and comprehensive in its treatment of the diverse empirical tools that social scientists use, Brancati's book will greatly help students to grow their abilities to be both consumers and producers of research. The writing is crisp and engaging throughout, and the end-of-chapter exercises work to fix key concepts in students' minds. Matthew S. Winters, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -- Matthew Winters For faculty, teaching how to conduct social science research is known to be notoriously difficult. For students, learning research methods is mind-numbing. Brancati's book offers a solution to this decades-long dilemma. Inter-weaving concepts with examples from cutting-edge research, Social Scientific Research succinctly explains what makes good social science and how to do it. Kosuke Imai, Author of Quantitative Social Science: An Introduction (Princeton University Press) -- Kosuke Imai Dawn Brancati has written a social science methods book that is, in one, the broadest and most accessible text I have seen. In addition to being a terrific stand alone text for an introductory methods course, it would be an excellent addition to an introductory course in data analysis and statistics to give students a sense of the range of other research methods available and of issues, beyond methodology, in social science research. Robert Y. Shapiro is a professor of Political Science at Columbia University ? -- Robert Shapiro Brancati's Social Scientific Research is an important book. It is readable, comprehensive, and a great starting point for those new to research in the social sciences. Brancati-a masterful mentor to both undergraduate and graduate resesearchers-covers research design, both quantitative and qualtitative methods, and provides rich practical guidance for those doing their own research projects or assessing the work of others. I highly recommend this widely to those who both want to understand and do social science. Andrew D. Martin is the current dean of the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and a Professor at the University of Michigan. -- Andrew Martin