Becoming a Social Science Researcher

Quest and Context
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-0-472-07598-0
Verlag: University of Michigan Press

Buch, Englisch, 336 Seiten, Hardback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Becoming a Social Science Researcher is designed to help aspiring social scientists, including credentialed scholars, understand the formidable complexities of the research process. Instead of explaining specific research techniques, it concentrates on the philosophical, sociological, and psychological dimensions of social research. These dimensions have received little coverage in guides written for social science researchers, but they are arguably even more important than particular analytical techniques. Truly sophisticated social science scholarship requires that the researcher understand the intellectual and social contexts in which they collect and interpret information. While social science training in US graduate schools has become more systematic over the past two decades with numerous publications aimed at instruction, training and guidance still fall short in addressing the fundamental needs of this field.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Schreiben und Publizieren, Kreatives Schreiben

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Preface
- List of Tables and Illustrations
- I. Preview
- Why You Should Read This Book
- Chapter Summaries
- II. The Context of Your Quest
- 1. Perception and Misperception in Life and Scholarship
- 2. Social Science and History
- 3. Scholarship as Social Process and as Politics
- 4. Progress in Social Science—Real and Imaginary
- 5. Dimensions of Social Science
- III. Your Quest: Weighing Intellectual Choices
- 6. Building Faculty Relationships and Preparing for Your Doctoral Exams
- 7. Choosing Research Problems: Personal Values and Disciplinary Agendas
- 8. Concept Formation—The Heart of Analytical Thought
- 9. Hypotheses, Theories, and Research Designs
- 10. Case Studies and Comparative Methods
- 11. The Logics of Explanation
- IV. Your Quest: From Planning to Finishing
- 12. Planning the Project and Writing Your Prospectus
- 13. Mapping Research Resources and Gathering Evidence
- 14. Producing a Draft
- 15. Through the Jungle: Guiding Your Reader (and Yourself)
- 16. Getting to Go: Revising and Defending
- 17. Your Choices and Your Futures
- “On the Meaning of Education”
- Information on the Supplementary Website
- Acknowledgments