Basics of Social Research

This introduction to research methods covers all the major topics at a depth of detail that's thorough without being overwhelming. Using clear, accessible language and examples from real research, Lawrence Neuman discusses both qualitative and quantitative approaches to social research, emphasizing the benefits of combining various approaches. - Covers the same topics as Social Research Methods but with less technical detail. - Shows students that social research is a highly important enterprise, and one that is not beyond their abilities. - Uses many examples from real research in major studies to show students the origins of the findings and information used in textbooks or the media. - Emphasizes that social research is not a matter of following fixed procedures and routines, but something that requires creativity, mature judgment, personal integrity, and a commitment to free and open inquiry. - Material in 5/e on historical development of social research, philosophical assumptions for doing research in particular ways, and more sophisticated data gathering and analysis techniques has been largely eliminated.