<p style="margin: 0pt;">The textbook emphasizes the critical interpretation and practical application of research findings, and covers many cutting-edge issues and methods including:</p><ul style="list-style-type: disc;"><li style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10pt; color: black;">a more in-depth, contemporary focus on causation the logic and use of control variables with non-experimental data </li><li style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10pt; color: black;">the use of visual path diagrams to better understand both causation and the use of control variables </li><li style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10pt; color: black;">a fuller, more innovative treatment of quasi and natural experiments </li><li style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10pt; color: black;">a focus on data collection for performance measurement </li><li style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10pt; color: black;">a discussion of cutting-edge issues in sampling and survey research </li><li style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10pt; color: black;">an integrated treatment of qualitative methods that appears throughout the book and emphasizes the integration of qualitative with quantitative methods. </li></ul>