Investigating the Social World - International Student Edition 9/e

Russell K. Schutt, PhD, is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he received the 2007 Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Service and taught from 1979 to 2022. He is also a Clinical Research Scientist I at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Lecturer (part-time) in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. He completed his BA, MA, and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University (where he met Dan). In addition to ten editions of Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research and one of Understanding the Social World, as well as coauthored versions for the fields of social work, criminal justice, psychology, and education, his other books include Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness (2011), Social Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society (coedited, 2015), and Organization in a Changing Environment (1986). He has authored and coauthored more than 65 peer reviewed journal articles, as well as book chapters and research reports on homelessness, mental health, organizations, law, and teaching research methods. His currently a Dual Principal Investigator (with Matcheri Keshavan, MD) in randomized comparative effectiveness trial of two socially-oriented interventions to improve community functioning among persons diagnosed with serious mental illness, funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). His other recently concluded research includes co-principal investigator on a National Science Foundation-funded study of the social impact of the pandemic in Boston, and co-investigator on a Veterans Health Administration-funded study of peer support. His earlier research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Veterans Health Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Fetzer Institute, and state agencies. Details are available at https://blogs.umb.edu/russellkschutt/.

About the Author Preface Acknowledgments Section I. Foundations for Social Research 1. Science, Society, and Social Research Learning About the Social World Avoiding Errors in Reasoning About the Social World Science and Social Science Strengths and Limitations of Social Research Alternative Research Orientations Conclusions 2. The Process and Problems of Social Research Social Research Questions Social Theories Social Research Foundations Social Research Strategies Social Research Organizations Social Research Standards Conclusions 3. Research Ethics and Research Proposals Historical Background Ethical Principles The Institutional Review Board Social Research Proposals Conclusions Section II. Fundamentals of Social Research 4. Conceptualization and Measurement Concepts From Concepts to Indicators From Observations to Concepts Measurement Levels of Measurement Evaluating Measures Conclusions 5. Sampling and Generalizability Sample Planning Sampling Methods Sampling Distributions Conclusions 6. Research Design and Causation Research Design Alternatives Criteria and Cautions for Nomothetic Causal Explanations Comparing Research Designs Conclusions Section III. Basic Social Research Design 7. Experiments History of Experimentation True Experiments Quasi-Experiments Validity in Experiments Ethical Issues in Experimental Conclusions 8. Survey Research Survey Research in the Social Sciences Writing Survey Questions Combining Questions in Indexes Designing Questionnaires Organizing Surveys Ethical Issues in Survey Research Conclusions 9. Quantitative Data Analysis Introducing Statistics Preparing for Data Analysis Displaying Univariate Distributions Summarizing Univariate Distributions Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie With Statistics Cross-Tabulating Variables Regression Analysis Performing Meta-Analyses Analyzing Data Ethically: How Not to Lie About Relationships Conclusions 10. Qualitative Methods Fundamentals of Qualitative Methods Participant Observation Intensive Interviewing Interviewing Online Focus Groups Generalizability in Qualitative Research Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research Conclusions 11. Qualitative Data Analysis Features of Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques of Qualitative Data Analysis Alternatives in Qualitative Data Visual Sociology Systematic Observation Participatory Action Research Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Ethics in Qualitative Data Analysis Conclusions Section IV. Complex Social Research Designs 12. Mixed Methods History of Mixed Methods Types of Mixed Methods Strengths and Limitations of Mixed Methods Ethics and Mixed Methods Conclusions 13. Evaluation and Policy Research History of Evaluation Research Evaluation Basics Questions for Evaluation Research Design Decisions Policy Research Ethics in Evaluation Conclusions 14. Research Using Secondary Data and "Big" Data Secondary Data Sources Challenges for Secondary Data Analyses Big Data Ethical Issues in Secondary Data Analysis and Big Data Conclusions 15. Research Using Historical and Comparative Data and Content Analysis Overview of Historical and Comparative Research Methods Historical Social Science Methods Comparative Social Science Methods Demographic Analysis Content Analysis Ethical Issues in Historical and Comparative Research and Content Analysis Conclusions 16. Summarizing and Reporting Research Writing Research Displaying Research Reporting Research Ethics, Politics, and Research Reports Conclusions Appendix A: Questions to Ask About a Research Article Appendix B: How to Read a Research Article Appendix C: Table of Random Numbers Glossary Bibliography Index