Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research

by Russell K. Schutt

The Fourth Edition of Russell Schutt′s successful social research text, Investigating the Social The Process and Practice of Research, links the "doing" of social research to important social issues, including research on the Internet and social relations, substance abuse, homelessness, and gender roles. The Fourth Edition now includes a new chapter on evaluation research (Chapter 10) and a new, comprehensive qualitative data and content analysis chapter (Chapter 13). The qualitative analysis software integrated into the text and CD is now from HyperRESEARCH and an expanded, comprehensive Instructor′s Resource CD containing PowerPoint slide sets for each chapter, test questions, illustrations from the book for transparency masters, and much more is available. Investigating the Social World is an engaging, accessible introductory text for research methods courses in sociology, criminal justice, social work, communication and journalism, and political science and public administration.        

Genres: Sociology, Research, Nonfiction, Textbooks, College, Academic, School

664 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[April Lowrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zzzzzzz. Had to read it for school.

[Atınç Gürçay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book for starters.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is decent, but not great.

[Nik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad for a methods textbook!

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this for a class. Some of the material is admittedly interesting, but there's just too much fluff. Definitely can do without 40% of the pages. I think in the beginning of the book it tells you about searching through journals online and stuff -- that just is not necessary, not to mention that most readers are likely going to be more tech-savvy than the author himself.

Some people in the class complained that some things were too rigorous in the book or something, but I disagree. They say it's "obvious" or something, and shouldn't have to be tested -- well then why are you still getting a shit grade then? Anyway, every science has to be pedantic and rigorous for it to be taken seriously. If you came into sociology thinking it'd be a walk in the park compared to a harder science like physics, think again -- each domain has its own specific challenges that are, in fact, genuinely challenging. I might even say that the book doesn't reach that level, though it does have a lot of fluff.

That said, it's not dense. It's very readable even by textbook standards. I'd give it 2.5 for that, which would make me round to 3, but the statistician in me (relevant to sociology!) tells me I should round to even. So, 2/5.

It also has a lot of example research, so there's that.

[Paige · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first few chapters of this book were pretty promising and did a good job at engaging me, but by the end he's telling you how to use WinZip. Seriously dude? There's more filler material like that towards the end, information that's basically completely worthless. I would give the first couple to first several chapters 4 stars, and then the later ones like 1 or 0. I read the book cover to cover (well, except for the table of contents and the index) and it seemed to get progressively worse. He just tries to cover so much information. Sometimes he goes into way too much detail and sometimes there is not even close to enough specific information to be useful for actually learning about the concepts or how research is really conducted. Adding to my ire is the fact that the most I'll be able to sell it back for is like $5.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is as good as any for an introduction to sociological methods at the graduate level. The text is not too simple, and the concepts are well-presented. Overall a good entry into the methodologies of the field.

[Elyas Sobhan]

Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introduction to research methods.

[Debby Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a bit unnecessarily redundant. Required reading for Research Methods.