Research Methods in the Social Sciences is a comprehensive yet compact A-Z for undergraduate and postgraduate students undertaking research across the social sciences, featuring 71 entries that cover a wide range of concepts, methods, and theories.
Each entry begins with an accessible introduction to a method, using real-world examples from a wide range of academic disciplines, before discussing the benefits and limitations of the approach, its current status in academic practice, and finally providing tips and advice for readers on when and how to apply the method in their own research. Wide ranging and interdisciplinary, the text covers both well-established concepts and emerging ideas, such as big data and network analysis, for qualitative and quantitative research methods.
All entries feature extensive cross-referencing, providing ease of navigation and, pointing readers to related concepts, and to help build their overall understanding of research methods.
0: Introduction
1: Chloé Brière: Archival Research
2: Yannis Panagis: Automated Text Analysis
3: Arnaud Dufays: Bayesian Inference
4: Olga Herzog: Behaviourism
5: Aysel Küçüksu and Stephanie Anne Shelton: Bias
6: Yannick Dufresne and Brittany Davidson: Big Data
7: Jasmin Hasic: Boolean Algebra
8: Laura Gelhaus and Dirk Leuffen: Case Selection
9: Jessica Luciano Gomes and Miriam Gomes Saraiva: Case Study
10: Vivien Sierens and Ramona Coman: Causation
11: Céline C. Cocq and Ora Szekely: Comparative Analysis
12: Louis Bélanger & Pierre-Marc Daigneault: Concept Construction
13: Holli A. Semetko: Content Analysis
14: Auke Willems: Contextual Analysis
15: Shunsuke Sato: Counterfactual Analysis
16: Virginie Van Ingelgom and Alban Versailles: Covariance
17: Dominik Giese and Jonathan Joseph: Critical Realism
18: Andrew Bell: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Studies
19: Dominik Giese and Kai-Uwe Schnapp: Deductive, Inductive, and Retroductive Reasoning
20: Louis Imbeau, Sule Tomkinson and Yasmina Malki: Descriptive, Explanatory, and Interpretive Approaches
21: François Depelteau: Determinism, Predictions, and Probabilism
22: Elisa Narminio and Caterina Carta: Discourse Analysis
23: Elena Avramovska: Endogeneity
24: Gianfranco Pellegrino: Epistemology
25: Laurence Marquis and Mark Daku: Ethics in Research
26: Chowra Makaremi: Ethnography
27: Damien Bol: Experiments
28: Ulf Liebe: Factor Analysis
29: Brian D. Earp: Falsification
30: Andrew Parker and Jonathan Tritter: Focus Groups
31: Érick Duchesne and Arthur Silve: Formal Modelling
32: Frederik Ponjaert: Grand Theory and Middle Range Theory
33: Mélanie Samson: Hermeneutics
34: Onna Van Den Broek and Adam William Chalmers: Hypotheses
35: Roberto Carrillo and Lidia Núñez: Interdisciplinary
36: Marta Matrakova: Interview Techniques
37: Mauro Caprioli and Claire Dupuy: Levels of Analysis
38: Mathieu Ouimet and Pierre-Olivier Bédard: Literature review
39: Noémie Laurens: Meta-Analysis
40: Suzan Gibril: Methodological Individualism and Holism
41: Manfredi Valeriani and Vicki L. Plano Clark: Mixed Methods
42: Johann Wolfschwenger and Kevin Lloyd Young: Multi-causality and Equifinality
43: Amal Tawfik and Stephan Davidshofer: Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Geometric Data Analysis
44: Nicky Hayes: Nomothetic and Idiographic Methods
45: Christian Olsson: Observational Methods
46: Eric Fabri: Ontology
47: Anne-Laure Mahé and Theodore Mclauchlin: Operationalization
48: Julien Pomarède: Oral History and Life History
49: Andreas Dimmelmeier and Sheila Dow: Paradigms and Research Programmes
50: Patrick Thaddeus Jackson and Lucas Dolan: Positivism, Post-positivism, and Social Science
51: Seda Gürkan and Jochem Rietveld: Process Tracing
52: Jacob A. Hasselbalch and Leonard Seabrooke: Prosopography
53: Kevin Kalomeni and Claudius Wagemann: Qualitative Comparative Analysis
54: Kamil Marcinkiewicz and Kai-Uwe Schnapp: Regression Analysis
55: Stefan Schmidt: Replication and Reproducibility
56: Irene Wieczorek and Piergiuseppe Parisi: Research Question
57: Emilie Van Haute: Sampling Techniques
58: Heikki Patomäki: Scientific Realism
59: Mathilde Gauquelin: Scope Conditions
60: Thomas Collas and Philippe Blanchard: Sequence Analysis
61: Nicholas Haagensen and Lasse Folke Henriksen: Social Network Analysis
62: Kenneth Bertrams and Anne Weyembergh: Source Criticism
63: Olesya Tkacheva: Statistical Significance
64: Lior Gideon and Kevin Barnes-Ceeney: Survey Research
65: Guillaume Beaumier and Didier Wernli: Systems Analysis
66: Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke: Thematic Analysis
67: Nina Baur and Jannis Hergesell: Time Series
68: Sabine Caillaud and Uwe Flick: Triangulation
69: Juraj Halas: Typology
70: Kimberly A. Neuendorf: Unit Analysis and Observation
71: Jean-Frédéric Morin and Alessandra Bonci: Variables
