Social research is a bourgeoning field. Of course it has many traditions and approaches, but there is a high premium upon thinking differently and thinking anew because social life is never static or wholly predictable.

The Handbook, edited by internationally recognized scholars, provides a comprehensive, pitch-perfect critical assessment of the field. The main features of the Handbook are:

• Clear organization into 4 parts dealing with The Social Context of Research; Design and Data Collection; Integrating The Analysis of New Data Types; Sampling, Inference and Measurement


• Clear, cutting edge chapters on Objectivity; Causation; Organizing Social Research; Correspondence Analysis; Grounded Theory; Conversational Surveys; Mixed Methods; Meta-Analysis; Optimal Matching Analysis; GIS Analysis; Quantitative Narrative Analysis; Longitudinal Studies; SEM; MLM; Qualitative Comparative Analysis; Respondent Driven Sampling


• Brings together a glittering assembly of the key figures working in the field of research methods


• Demonstrates the continuities and productive tensions between classical traditions and real world research.
  

The result is a superbly organized text which will be required reading for anyone interested in the routes and future of social research. It is an unparalleled teaching resource and a 'must have' for serious social researchers.

PART ONE: THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF RESEARCH
Introduction - Malcolm Williams and W Paul Vogt
Objectivity: A Reconceptualization - Martyn Hammersley
Setting Up Sociological Research - Geoff Payne
Feminist Methodology - Gayle Letherby
What Is an Effect? Coming at Causality Backwards - David Byrne
PART TWO: DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION
Introduction - Malcolm Williams and W Paul Vogt
Narratives of the Future: Complexity, Time and Temporality - Emma Uprichard
Mapping Pathways - Wendy Dyer
Correspondence Analysis: A Case for Methodological Pluralism? - Ian Rees-Jones
Case-Oriented Theory-Building and Theory-Testing - Charles C Ragin and Garrett Andrew Schneider
Investigating Human Communication and Language from Traces Left on the Web - Mike Thelwall
Innovative Qualitative Data-Collection Techniques for Conducting Literature Reviews/Research Syntheses - Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L Leech and Kathleen M T Collins
Grounded Theory - Antony Bryant and Kathy Charmaz
Back to Likert: Towards the Conversational Survey - Giampietro Gobo
Mixed Methods for Construct Validation - John H Hitchcock and Bonnie K Nastasi
Researching with Peer/Community Researchers: Ambivalences and Tensions - Rosalind Edwards and Claire Alexander
Innovations in Program Evaluation: Comparative Case Studies as an Alternative to RCTs - W Paul Vogt et al
PART THREE: INTEGRATING THE ANALYSIS OF NEW DATA TYPES
Introduction - W. Paul Vogt and Malcolm Williams
Advances in Combining Regression Results in Meta-Analysis - Ariel M Aloe and Betsy Jane Becker
Toward a New Era for Conducting Mixed Analyses: The Role of Quantitative Dominant and Qualitative Dominant Cross-Over Mixed Analyses - Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L Leech and Kathleen M T Collins
Optimal Matching Analysis - Peter Martin and Richard D Wiggins
Quantitative Narrative Analysis - Roberto Franzosi
Lexicographic Index: A New Measurement of Resemblance among Sequences - Ivano Bison
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Analysis - Elizabeth Griffiths
PART FOUR: SAMPLING, INFERENCE AND MEASUREMENT
Introduction - W Paul Vogt and Malcolm Williams
Respondent-Driven Sampling: Operational Procedures, Evolution of Estimators and Topics for Future Research - Cyprian Wejnert and Douglas Heckathorn
Analyzing Longitudinal Studies with Non-Response: Issues and Statistical Methods - James Carpenter and Ian Plewis
Statistical Inference for Causal Effects, with Emphasis on Applications in Psychometrics and Education - Donald B Rubin
Automatic Item Generation: An Innovation for Developing Complex Cognitive Tests - Susan E Embretson and Heather H. McIntyre
Convergence of Structural Equation Modeling and Multilevel Modeling - Rex B Kline
Hierarchical Linear and Structural Equation Modeling Approaches to Mediation Analysis in Randomized Field Experiments - Keenan Pituch and Laura Stapleton