A Short Introduction to Social Research

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SAGE Publications, 2006 - Social Science - 285 pages
A Short Introduction to Social Research introduces students and researchers to the key ideas and issues that inform research practice. Henn, Weinstein and Foard provide a clear and easy-to-understand route-map to help the reader plan their research project from beginning to end. This book is perfect for use on introductory methods courses and is also an invaluable guide for the first time researcher embarking on their own small-scale research project. It provides answers to the following questions: What is social research, and why do we conduct it? What is and what is not acceptable knowledge about the social world? What are and what are not acceptable methods for acquiring social knowledge? What are the primary debates about the relative merits and weaknesses of quantitative and qualitative research styles? To what extent is it possible to combine methods in a single research study? Can - and should - social research ever be objective and value-free?

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Contents

Combining methods
7
Critical Social Research
28
The Research Process
45
Copyright

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