A Handbook for Social Science Field Research: Essays & Bibliographic Sources on Research Design and Methods provides both novice and experienced scholars with valuable insights to a select list of critical texts pertaining to a wide array of social science methods useful when doing fieldwork. Through essays on ethnography to case study, archival research, oral history, surveys, secondary data analysis, and ethics, this refreshing new collection offers ‘tales from the field’ by renowned scholars across various disciplines.
Key Features:
- Offers real life guidance: Personal ‘tales from the field’ by renowned social science scholars exemplify how fieldwork requires adaptation, adoption, and flexibility with regards to methodological approaches. In addition, thoughtful commentaries on how to conduct research and pursue a research career in the social sciences offer guidance on making difficult research and career choices.
- Highlights vital bibliographic references: Bibliographies of critical texts help guide researchers as they broaden their methodological approaches and develop their research skills. This is not your ordinary reference list, but a compilation of the top classics and current, but soon-to-be classics, in the field of social science research.
- Addresses ethical concerns: Discussions of ethical concerns are presented throughout the collection, as well as a stand-alone essay on ethical considerations in field-based research. Explicit attention throughout the collection to ethical concerns is rare among methodology texts, but required as field work becomes more complex and concerns about human subjects′ safety grow.
Intended Audience:
Ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate social science methods courses, where there is a growing demand for multiple methods or mixed methods training; as well as a perfect, lightweight handbook for all researchers and professionals interested in having a comprehensive collection of bibliographic information for social science research
विषयसूची
PART I: Selecting the Right Tools
Overview
1. Archives
The Past is Another Country by Robert Vitalis
Bibliography
2. Case Studies
Case-Based Research by Andrew Schrank:
Bibliography
3. Ethnographic Methods
Ethnography: Theory and Methods by Alma Gottlieb
Bibliography
4. Oral Histories
Oral Histories as Methods and Sources by Tamara Giles-Vernick:
Bibliography
5. Focus Groups
Focus Group Interviews by Susan Short
Bibliography
6. Surveys and Secondary Data Sources
Using Survey Data in Social Science Research in Developing Countries by Albert Park:
Bibliography on Survey Research
7. Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Tools
Qualitative Research: Does it Fit in Economics? by Michael Piore:
Bibliography
PART II: Essentials for the Conduct of Research
Overview
1. Essentials for Ethnography
Ethnographic Research by Stevan Harrell
2. Essentials for the Case Study Method
The Case Study and Causal Research by Andrew Shrank
3. Essentials for Research Design
In Search of the Holy Grail: Projects, Proposals, and Research Design, But Mostly about Why Writing a Dissertation Proposal is So Difficult by Michael Watts
4. Research Ethics are Essential
Ethical Considerations for Research in Cross-Cultural Settings by Sara Curran
Bibliography
5. Maintaining Perspective is Essential
Bringing It All Back Home: Personal Reflections on Friends, Findings, and Fieldwork by Andrew Schrank
लेखक के बारे में
Sara Curran is Associate Professor of International Studies and Public Affairs at the University of Washington. Her interests include family demography, development, and population and environment. Curran is completing a book for Princeton University Press titled Shifting Boundaries, Transforming Lives: Globalization, Gender and Family Dynamics in Thailand. And has published in Ambio, Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of Sociology, Demography, International Migration Review, Journal of International Women′s Studies, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Population and Development Review, Rural Sociology, Social Science Research and Teaching Sociology. Curran was the recipient of the 2001 Sociologists for Women in Society Mentoring Award and the 2002 Graduate Mentoring Award for Princeton University.