Customer Reviews

Approaches to Social Research

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book is quite good, but it tries to do too much. The book isn't long enough to really discuss all methods in social research. The sections on survey data and sampling are decent, but there are excellent books devoted purely to survey data and to sampling. The sections on forming an hypothesis are too simplistic. They simply tell people what they already know.

However, there are chapters that serve as excellent introductions. They are the chapter on Field Research and the chapters on Experimental Methods. Yes there are plenty of boooks on devoted purely to those subjects, but Singleton and Straits do a good job introducing the novice to these methods.

The authors do an outstanding job of covering the key aspects of social research - this is one of the best textbooks I've ever bought and I'd highly recommend it to others.

Approaches to Social Research doesn't really add anything to the social research debate. It provides a bunch of approaches and information most researchers already know (and this is coming from an undergraduate student...). Almost anything you can learn from this book you can learn from just doing research yourself under the supervision of a qualified, experienced researcher.

Not worth the money. Just learn by doing instead.

I love this book and highly recommend it to all Ph.D students. One of the main reasons I ordered this edition is because I wanted the Updated Instructor's Resource CD but my book did not come with the CD. Unfortunately, due to the rigor of my Ph.D program I don't have the luxury of time to return the book and wait for another one. Too bad that CD is missing!! I could have gone for previous versions, which are much cheaper than this one!

The book was in good condition, and the description given by the seller was accurate (minor highlighting, etc). Good price too.

I purchased this book for my master's level Library Science course. It gives various examples of research on human subjects.

I was assigned this textbook for a class of Quantitative Methods of the Social Sciences. It's actually a pretty good book for those that want a clearly explained methodology on how to approach thinking about research design. Although some of the concepts seem obvious when they are explained, it is amazing how many studies exist without taking into consideration the many items that are articulated in these chapters.

The book is rich with examples as it explains the why's and hows of proper design. Many different types of analysis are introduced with the pro's and con's of their application.

Incidentally, you can probably use an older edition if you are a broke student like I was. They are more or less the same.

The authors point out that methodology is at the heart of social science, that it is what distinguishes social science from journalism and social commentary. Four approaches to social research are covered in this book: experimentation, survey research, field research, and the use of available data.
In the beginning of the book the argument is made for the book's primary subject, i.e., the question of why study research methods is addressed.
From this introduction a segue is made into the nature of science and the logical foundations of social research in particular.
After this section, there follows a discussion on research design and the elements which are found therein.
In the third section of the book, one finds a discussion of the methods of data collection.
As would be expected, this is followed by a discussion of interpreting the results and presenting the findings.
This is an effective book on how to go about conducting social research. I recommend it.

Overall, customer satifisfaction was excellent. Not only was the book in Excellent condition but the seller kept in contact via e-mail to make sure the book was delivered to my likings.

Product shipped fast and on time. In terrific condition. Very happy with transaction. Thank you!