Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A new edition of this book is now available at: http:/www.uk.sagepub.com/textbooksProdDesc.nav'prodId=Book231777

Praise for the First Edition:

`... an ideal primary text for an undergraduate course in social research methods′ - Teaching Sociology

`This is a very impressive book. It is admirably written in clear, straightforward language, so that I can easily imagine undergraduates responding well to its use as a core text′ - Geoff Payne, Professor of Social Research, University of Plymouth

`Provides an excellent introductory methods text that covers every stage of quantitative and qualitative research′ - Journal of Social Policy

`an ideal text for undergraduates in a variety of disciplines who are taking research methods courses′ - Health Promotion International

The Second Edition of this widely adopted textbook for undergraduate research methods courses has been fully revised and updated to include an even broader range of methods.

Key features of this outstanding text are that it:

- outlines the main ways in which social scientists gather data, reviewing each method′s strengths and weaknesses

- shows how data may be collated, managed and analysed

- demonstrates the necessary links between sociological theory and data

- provides stimulating annotated examples of social research using a variety of methods

- offers signposts to more advanced texts which discuss specific methods in more detail.

The Second Edition of Researching Social Life considers a comprehensive range of research methods including those that are emerging as a result of the adoption of new technologies and media, such as the use of the Internet, the analysis of multimedia and especially visual materials, and the secondary analysis of longitudinal datasets. As with the first edition, the text aims to help break down the artificial distinction between so-called `quantitative′ and `qualitative′ research.

This is an ideal textbook for undergraduate courses in social research methods across the social sciences.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Conceptualizing Social Life
• Research, Theory and Method
• Research and the Policy-Making Process
• Part 1 Beginnings
• The Ethics of Social Research
• Designing Samples
• Part 2 Into The Field
• Questionnaires
• Measuring Attitudes
• Qualitative Interviewing
• Ethnography
• Focus Groups
• Exemplar
• The Environmental Concerns of Disadvantaged Groups
• Using Documents
• Exemplar
• Investigating the Investigators Studying Detective Work
• Part 3 Back Home
• Coding and Managing Data
• Analyzing Survey Data
• Secondary Analysis of Survey Data
• Exemplar
• Privatizing Pensions: New Options and New Risks for Women
• Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis
• Analyzing Factual Accounts
• Analyzing Visual Materials
• Part 4 Endings
• Writing about Social Research