Understanding the Social World: Research Methods for the 21st Century

by Russell K. Schutt

Overview

The author is a proud sponsor of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop.

Understanding the Social World: Research Methods for the 21st Century is a concise and accessible introduction to the process and practice of social science research. Fast-paced and visually engaging, the text crosses disciplinary and national boundaries, pays special attention to concern for human subjects, and focuses on the application of results. As it rises to the requirements of a world shaped by big data and social media, Instagram and avatars, blogs and tweets, the text also confronts the research challenges posed by cell phones, privacy concerns, linguistic diversity, and multicultural populations. 

The Second Edition discusses newly-popular research methods, highlights the fascinating work being conducted by contemporary social researchers, and includes enhanced tools for learning in the text and online.


Included with this title:

The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781544358499
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	12/20/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	67 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

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/.

Table of Contents

About the Author
Preface
Acknowledgments
Section I. Foundations for Social Research
Chapter 1. Science, Society, and Social Research
The Value of Social Research
Avoiding Errors in Reasoning About the Social World
Research in the News: Social Media Use Is Linked to a Fear of Crime
Types of Social Research
Quantitative and/or Qualitative Methods
Careers and Research: Jessica LeBlanc, Research Assistant
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Chapter 2. The Process and Problems of Social Research
Social Research Questions
Social Research Preparation
Social Theories
Social Research Strategies
Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Designs
Social Research Standards
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Careers and Research: Kristin M. Curtis, M.A., Senior Research Program Coordinator, the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers University—Camden
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Chapter 3. Research Ethics
Historical Background
Ethical Principles
The Institutional Review Board
Research in the News: The Tricky Ethics of Using YouTube Videos for Academic Research
Careers and Research: Manan Nayak, Senior Project Director
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Section II. Fundamentals of Social Research
Chapter 4. Conceptualization and Measurement
Concepts
From Concepts to Indicators
From Observations to Concepts
Measurement Alternatives
Research in the News: Are You Really as Happy as You Say You Are?
Levels of Measurement
Careers and Research: Camila Mejia, Market Researcher
Units of Analysis
Evaluating Measures
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Chapter 5. Generalizability and Sampling
Sample Planning
Sampling Methods
Research in the News: Department of Justice Requests Citizenship Questions Be Added to Census
Careers and Research: Tyler Evans, Account Supervisor
Generalizability in Qualitative Research
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Chapter 6. Causation and Experimental Design
Causal Explanations and Experimental Design
Meeting the Criterion of Nonspuriousness
Careers and Research: Amanda Aykanian, Research Associate
Research in the News: Jeff Sessions Claims the ACLU Caused a Spike in Chicago Homicides
Validity in Experimental Designs
Ethical Issues in Experimental Research
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Section III. Basic Social Research Designs
Chapter 7. Survey Research
Survey Research in the Social Sciences
Writing Survey Questions
Designing Questionnaires
Careers and Research: Rebecca Hooper, Population Health and Quality Analytics Coordinator
Research in the News: Why Expanding Health-Care Access Must Include Immigrants
Errors in Survey Research
Organizing Surveys
Ethical Issues in Survey Research
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Chapter 8. Qualitative Methods
Fundamentals of Qualitative Methods
Careers and Research: Evan Stewart, Assistant Professor of Sociology&Editor of Sociological Images
Research in the News: What Katrina Taught Us About Disaster Mental Health
Primary Qualitative Methods
Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Chapter 9. Unobtrusive Methods
Unobtrusive Measures of Behavior
Secondary Data Analysis
Research in the News: Should There Be Cameras in Courtrooms?
Careers and Research: Isaac Yablo, Data&Statistics Coordinator
Big Data
Historical and Comparative Research Methods
Content Analysis
Ethical Issues in Unobtrusive Methods
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Section IV. Analysis and Reporting of Social Research
Chapter 10. Quantitative Data Analysis
Introducing Statistics
Displaying Univariate Distributions
Summarizing Univariate Distributions
Research in the News: Through a Data Set, Darkly
Crosstabs
Careers and Research: Claire Wulf Winiarek, Director, Federal Agency Division
Data Ethically
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Chapter 11. Qualitative Data Analysis
Features of Qualitative Data Analysis
Techniques of Qualitative Data Analysis
Alternatives in Qualitative Data Analysis
Visual Sociology
Careers and Research: Laura Golden, Research Project Director
Systematic Observation
Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis
Ethics In Qualitative Data Analysis
Research in the News: Offering Health Check-Ups in Barbershops Could Transform Health Care for Black Men in America
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Chapter 12. Summarizing and Reporting Research
Writing Research
Research in the News: How Scientists Contribute to Bad Science Reporting
Careers and Research: Julia Schutt, Project Manager
Presenting Research
Ethics, Politics, and Research Reports
Plagiarism
Conclusions
Key Terms
Highlights
Chapter Questions
Practice Exercises
Appendix A: Questions to Ask About a Research Article
Appendix B: How to Read a Research Article
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
On the Study Site
edge.sagepub.com/schuttusw2
Appendix C: Table of Random Numbers
Appendix D: How to Use a Statistical Package
Appendix E: Annotated List of Web Sites