Essentials of Research Methods

Janet M. Ruane is Associate Professor of Sociology at Montclair State University. She is co-author of Second Thoughts: Seeing Conventional Wisdom Through the Sociological Eye (with Karen Cerulo, third edition, 2004). She has taught research methods to undergraduates for more than fifteen years.

• List of Figures and Tables. Preface.Acknowledgements.1. When Should We Trust What We Know? Why Research Methods?.2. Ethics: It’s the Right Thing To Do.3. Some Perfectly Valid Points: Measurement, Internal, and External Validity.4. Measure By Measure—Making the Abstract Concrete.5. If It Glitters Is It Gold? Assessing Measures.6. One Thing Leads to Another: Causal Analysis.7. Designing Ideas: Research Strategies.8. An Informative Few:Sampling.9. Our Inquisitive Nature: The Questionnaire.10. Talking Heads: The Interview.11. Watch and Learn: Field Research.12. Getting Organized: Descriptive Statistics.13. Beyond Description: Inferential Statistics.References.Web Resources.Index

“Janet Ruane has written the most lively and lucid introductory methods book I’ve ever read. The book is filled with contemporary examples that will engage the beginning student while providing a thorough and memorable grounding in the conduct of social research.” Edward J. Hackett, Arizona State University “Finally a well written, non-intimidating, down-to-earth beginners methods textbook. Ruane truly fills a void in the literature. Her book will delight both teachers and students.” Sophia P. Tsakraklides, Temple University “Essentials provides a basis for making research methods accessible and, more important, interesting to students. Ruane’s no-nonsense approach, real-life examples, and avoidance of jargon-laden explanations allow students to learn, understand, and appreciate research methods in spite of themselves …Great book!” Maureen Outlaw, Providence College