Social Research

An Introduction

'By far the very best treatment of this topic in the field today ' -
Norman Denzin, University of Illinois

'The second edition of Social Research: An Introduction firmly establishes this book as a standard amongst introductory methods books. It is comprehensive and covers the whole range of frequently used methods. It is clearly built on solid pedagogic and conceptual foundations. David and Sutton write from the position of experienced, theoretically informed researchers with a genuine commitment to pluralism in research methods. It is clearly written, yet sophisticated and is a valuable resource for both students and professionals new to social research and more experienced researchers who wish to expand their methodological repertoire' -
Malcolm Williams, Director of the School of Social Sciences, University of Cardiff

Praise for the first edition:

'… a valuable addition to the social research literature because it provides practical and detailed support to undergraduates who are conducting research for the first time' - Professor Tim May, University of Salford

'… balanced, user-friendly and timely' - Norman Denzin, University of Illinois

Insightful and helpful book for undergraduate students

A well written book that is accessible for students from the start of research t the end. Students will find the hint and tips particularly helpful.

An comprehensive resaerch book

An outstanding textbook that offers both comprehensive and accessible coverage of key theories and practices within social science methods.

This research methods book is a good source for the undergraduate and master's level student. It can also be considered a good help for the PhD student at the early stages of his research.

A good basic textbook for research methods at undergraduate level. Simple to read and follow, students should have no trouble using it.

This is clearly written reference book for research methods, that could be used as an introductory text for undergraduates as well as being a useful resource for postgrads. I particulary like the 'consider this' 'stop and think' and 'hints and tips' boxes as a way of highlighting important points to readers. I also like that individual chapters are provided for analysis of quantitative and qualitative data as so often research methods books gloss over the analysis of the data.

Thank you for letting me inspect this book. There is no doubt that it is an excellent book in that it provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of social research methods. To some extent, this is why this book could not be recommended as a core text on my course as the level of student knowledge (and knowledge requirement) is rather low at this stage and could only be considered as a foundation unit. I think the unit requires a simpler text. This book provides a level of detail that is beyond that required for 1st year nursing students. However, I could see that as their course progresses, they may wish to look at some very interesting chapters on (for example) Survey Design and focus groups, both of which are popular with undergraduate nurses as methods of data collection. However, the book is probably best used for final year students when they are undertaking their dissertation. I am not responsible for that unit of learning but I will certainly forward this book to my colleague. The commencement of the dissertation unit will be in 2 years time.
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Once again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to consider this book.
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BW
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Ian Davidson

Excellent book which breaks down research methods in a clear way and is applicable across different levels