Understanding Research
Review Summary“This section is extremely important.  Information in this section would be reiterated in lecture.”Karen BentonUrbana University Learning from History“This section is useful and would serve as a ink to changes in modern day, ethical research practice.”Karen BentonUrbana University Tips for the Wise Consumer“This section reinforces the need for students to look critically at the research process. This would be reinforced weekly in the article reviews.”Karen BentonUrbana University “This is a great addition for those students who don’t foresee themselves conducting social research and is often neglected in other text books, which is a shame considering that most social science students don’t necessarily go on to produce social research of their own.”Molly GeorgeUniversity of California at Santa Barbara Strengths:“Students will be able to apply the course concepts to other courses or in the workforce.”Karen BentonUrbana University “Great examples are provided throughout the chapters.”Karen BentonUrbana University “This is a very comprehensive, user-friendly text.”John A. LewisUniversity of Southern Mississippi “The text is fluid and in-depth, but written at the appropriate level.”John A. LewisUniversity of Southern Mississippi ContentChapter 8: Research with Nonreactive Members“This chapter was thorough, used great examples, and provided a balanced assessment of the strengths and weaknesses associated with using nonreactive measures.  I was impressed with the extensive descriptions the author provided to illustrate the key concepts related to this topic.”Molly GeorgeUniversity of California at Santa Barbara Chapter 9: Making Sense of Numbers“The author did an excellent job introducing this chapter and presenting the fundamentals of quantitative research.  I know this is often the most intimidating and most difficult topic for most of my students.  I feel that the author’s use of examples and clear explanations works well.”Molly GeorgeUniversity of California at Santa Barbara Chapter 10: Field Research and Ethnography“This is one of the strongest, most comprehensive explanations of field research that I have encountered in a social research text book.  As an ethnographer, I am often disappointed with the superficial description of this approach.  More specifically, I appreciated the inclusion fo contemporary qualitative research to illustrate key issue/concerns with this approach.”Molly GeorgeUniversity of California at Santa Barbara Features'Making It Practical'“I think Making it Practical provides a very useful, straight-forward explanation of how to put field work principles into practice.”Molly GeorgeUniversity of California at Santa Barbara 'Example Study'“The study chosen as an example in Chapter 10’s study is excellent!  It is one of my favorite studies produced this past year and using various elements f the project to illustrate different issues and abstract concepts in field work is a great idea.”Molly GeorgeUniversity of California at Santa Barbara Writing Style“The author’s writing style is clear and well-organized.”Molly GeorgeUniversity of California at Santa Barbara “The writing style was excellent”John A. LewisUniversity of Southern Mississippi