Research Methods in Social Science

Research Methods in Social Science is an essential companion for all undergraduate and postgraduate students embarking on a methods course or social research project. The second edition features two new chapters as annexures: one for students of history, the other for students of biological sciences. The first chapter now includes an introduction to a very brief history of the development of modern science, including social science. This book gives a cogent exposition of the methodological issues in social research to the beginners.

The book tries to answer many of the questions that overwhelm a young researcher when confronted with diverse issues and techniques employed in social research. The book highlights the norms and the rules a research scientist ought to adhere to in a social discourse and it also delves into issues like”Why study research methodology?”to most of the conventional topics as research design, sampling, data collection techniques, scaling and measurement issues, data analysis and data storing using computer support.

Contents: Preface to the Second Edition. 1. Introduction: Why a Course in Research Methodology?. 2. In Research, Survey, Investigation and Experiments. 3. Some Fundamental Concepts in Social. 4. Logic of Inquiry. 5. Hypotheses in Social Research. 6. Planning the Social Research. 7. Ethical Issues in Social Research. 8. Experimental Designs in Social Research. 9. Sampling. 10. Types of Sample Design: Simple Random Sampling. 11. Types of Sample Design: Stratified Random Sampling. 12. Types of Sample Design: Cluster and Multi-Stage Sampling. 13: Types of Sample Design: Some Other Methods of Sampling. 14. Some More Points on Sampling. 15. Methods of Data Collection: Direct Observation. 16. Methods of Data Collection: Indirect Observation: Interview. 17. Methods of Data Collection: Indirect Observation: Schedules and Questionnaires. 18. Methods of Data Collection: Indirect Observation: Case Study and Projective Methods. 19. Data Processing, Interpretation and Presentation. 20. Error of Measurement. 21. Reliability of a Scale. 22. Validation of a Scale. 23. Attitude Scaling. 24. Attitude Scaling: Thurstone’s Scales. 25. Attitude Scaling: Likert’s Summated Rating Scale. 26. Attitude Scaling: Cumulative Scaling: Guttman Scalogram Analysis and Bogardus Social Distance Scale. 27. Concluding Remarks.Appendices. Glossary. Selected Readings. Index.