Table of Contents
Exhibits, Figures, and Tables vii
Preface xi
The Author xvii
1 Choosing a Topic 1
How Social Scientists Choose a Topic to Study 2
Pursuing Your Own Interests 3
Things to Consider as Your Class Chooses a Topic 5
2 Literature Review 13
An Opportunity for You to Help Humankind 14
Searching for Journal Articles 15
Conducting Your Literature Review 29
3 Refining Your Study: Concepts and Relationships 37
From Concept to Relationship 38
The Causal Model 39
Being Specific: Turning a Relationship into a Hypothesis 42
Tying Your Hypothesis Back to Your Literature Review 44
4 Developing Your Theory: Thinking Made Explicit 47
Thinking Sociologically 48
An Example 49
Logic: A Tool of the Trade 50
Assumptions of Science 55
Combining Sociological Thinking with Logic: Theorizing 55
Developing a Theory for Your Class Project 60
5 Research Design 1: Concepts and Planning 67
Validity and Reliability 68
Steps in Research Design 70
Step 1 Define Concepts 70
Step 2 Plan the Study 73
6 Research Design 2: Methods and Sampling 79
Step 3 Choose a Data Collection Method 80
Step 4 Identify Your Population and Sampling Method 86
7 The Interview Schedule: Operationalization 95
Operationalizing Variables 97
The Process of Operationalization 100
The Interview Schedule 105
8 Conducting Ethical Interviews 111
Your Own Ethical Challenge 112
Ethical Abuses in Research 113
The Development of Standards 116
9 How to Be a Good Interviewer 123
First Prep: An Attitude of Inquiry 124
A Note About Interviews 125
Critical Issues: Validity and Reliability Revisited 125
How to Collect Unreliable Data 127
How to Conduct a Great Interview 128
Reflecting on Interviews 133
10 Entering Your Data into the Computer 135
Using SPSS 136
Codebooks 137
Precoding Interviews and Surveys 140
Preparing for Data Entry 142
Entering Data: Using SPSS 142
11 Data Analysis 1: Producing Frequencies and Collapsing Variables 155
Data Analysis Begins with Asking Questions 157
Checking Your Work 175
12 Data Analysis 2: Creating Composite Variables and Cross-Tabs 179
Indices and Scales 180
Creating Cross-Tabulation Tables 191
Producing Tables to Test Your Class Hypothesis 191
13 Interpreting Your Results: Cross-Tabulation Tables 195
Reading a Cross-Tabulation Table 196
Controlling for a Third Variable 202
Controlling for a Third Variable Using SPSS 208
14 Writing Up Your Assignment 213
Doing It Right the First Time 214
Hints on Answering Questions 216
Formatting Your Paper 219
The Larger Benefits of Social Science 222
Glossary 225
Bibliography 231
Index 235
