Research Methods in the Social Sciences

The goal of the Fifth Edition o1 Research Methods in the Social Sciences, as in the previous editions, is to offer a comprehensive, systematic treatment of the sci- entific approach within the context of the social sciences. We emphasize the relationship between theory, research, and practice, and integrate research activi- ties in an orderly framework so that the reader can more easily comprehend the nature of social science research. In our view, social science research is a cyclical, self-correcting process con- sisting o1" seven major interrelated stages: definition of the research problem, state- ment of the hypothesis, research design, measurement, data collection, data analysis, and generalization. Each of these stages is interrelated with theory in that it both affects and is affected by it. The text leads the reader through each stage of this process. 17he New Edition [ he Fifth Editiun incorporates a number of significant revisions: ~ A new section on using graphics to describe distributions has been added to Chapter 15, "The Univariate Distribution." The section covers pie charts, bar charts, and histograms. ~ Each chapter preview now presents an outline of the material to be studied as well as an example that shows students a real-life application of the chapter topic. The previews arc designed to help students J:bcus attention cm the material to be covered. ~ S ummary boxes throughout the text simplify review of important concepts. ~ Appendix A, "Introduction to SPSS," has been expanded to include SPSS/ PC+ and SPSS for Windows. Appendix A serves to assist students in pre- paring and executing computerized data analysis utilizing these widely . availabl.c and often-used software packages. New computer exercises in Chapters 14-19 give students the opportunity to apply SPSS as they ana [yze a data set. ~ A new Appendix B, "Writing Research Reports," gives pointers on report writing fur the beginning and advanced student.