The Art of Empirical Investigation (eBook, PDF)

Redaktion: Simon, Julian

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

Julian Simon was known for his methodical, and often controversial, writings challenging conventional beliefs about overpopulation, pollution, disappearing farmland, and the scarcity of energy sources and raw materials. But throughout his works is a common theme: that responsible, unbiased research and examination of the data is indispensable to formulating a well-informed and accurate opinion. The Art of Empirical Investigation teaches student, professor, researcher, and those interested in ascertaining the truth about social issues just how to proceed.

The Art of Empirical Investigation is a textbook on the basics of social-scientific research. It discusses all the important empirical methods used in social science, and its examples, drawn from a wide variety of academic and applied fields, illustrate the use of each method in its most appropriate context. The actual decisions a researcher must make at every stage of a project are emphasized, as well as obstacles to knowledge--such as observer bias, deception, unreliability of data, and sampling costs--and how to overcome them. Presupposing nothing, the book introduces the reader to the foundations of empirical social-science research, regardless of a specific field. It also makes an important contribution to beginning researchers' understanding of an operational definition of causality, which cuts through philosophical obscurity and teaches the researcher how to decide whether or not a given relationship is causal.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 558
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. Juli 2017
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781351305631
• Artikelnr.: 48959404

Autorenporträt

Julian Simon

Inhaltsangabe

Basic Research Methods in Social Science
1: Introduction
I: Part One the Process of Social-Science Research
2: The Language of Research: Definitions and Validitg
3: Basic Concepts of Research
4: Types of Empirical Research
5: Theory, Model, Hypothesis, and Empirical Research
6: Choosing Appropriate Proxies for Theoretical Variables
II: Part Two Research Decisions and Procedures
7: The Steps in an Empirical Research Study
8: How to Assess the Potential Value of Research Projects
9: Sampling
10: Experiments: Pro, Con, and how to do them
11: Designing Experiments
12: Non-Experimental Designs Far Studying Relationships
13: Surveys: Pro, Can, and how to do them
14: Same Other Qualitative and Quantitative Techniques
15: Classifying, Measuring, and Scaling
16: Scaling Human Responses
17: Data Handling, Adjusting, and Summarizing
III: Part Three the Obstacles to Social-Science Knowledge and Wags to Overcome them
18: The Concept of Obstacles in the Search for Ernpical Knowledge
19: Obstacles Created by the Humanness of the Observer: Appendix on Interviewing
20: Complexities and Intractability of the Human Mind: Appendix an Questionnaire Construction
21: Obstacles to Obtaining Adequate Subject Matter
22: Obstacles to The Study of Changes Aver Time
23: Obstacles to the Search for Causal Relationships
24: The Master Obstacle: Cost
IV: Part Four Extracting the Meaning of Data
25: Analysis of Simple Data: Association and Regression
26: Searching for Relationships: Analysis of Complex Data
27: Inferential Statistics: Introduction
28: Probability and Hypothesis Testing by the Monte Carlo Method
29: Hypothesis Testing with Measured Data
30: Correlation and other Statistical Issues
31: How Big a Sample?
32: The Concept of Causality in Social Science, with Notes on Prediction, Law, Explanation, and Function
V: Part Five Epilogue
33: The Nature, Powers, and Limits of Social Science