Summary

′Appreciative users of this volume will be students, faculty, and researchers in academic, special, and large public libraries, for whom it is recommended′ - Library Journal

′The compilers of this impressive, unique work claim it "brings together, in one place, authoritative essays on virtually all social science methods topics, both quantitative and qualitative" - a claim examination supports. More than 400 contributors from the US and abroad present approximately 1,000 comprehensive, in-depth, well-referenced entries that vary in length from 50 to 2,500 words. The attractively designed and produced volumes, 1,351 total pages, consist of easily legible text and figures, the front matter occupying 46 pages and the index 40.... This defining work will be valuable to readers and researchers in social sciences and humanities at all academic levels. As a teaching resource it will be useful to instructors and students alike and will become a standard reference source. Essential for general and academic collections′ - Choice

SAGE Reference is proud to announce The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods , a three-volume resource that is a first of its kind, developed by the leading publisher of social science research methods books and journals.

This unique multi-volume reference set offers readers an all-encompassing education in the ways of social science researchers. Written to be accessible to general readers, entries do not require any advanced knowledge or experience to understand the purposes and basic principles of any of the methods.

The Encyclopedia features two major types of entries: definitions, consisting of a paragraph or two, which provide a quick explanation of a methodological term; and topical treatments or essays, discussing the nature, history, application/example and implication of using a certain method. Also included are suggested readings and references for future study.

To help provide a more complete explanation than is often achieved within the scope of a single article, key terms and concepts appear in small capital letters to refer readers to related terms explained elsewhere.

In addition to epistemological issues that influence the nature of research questions and assumptions, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods tackles topics not normally viewed as part of social science research methodology, from philosophical issues such as poststructuralism to advanced statistical techniques. In covering the full range of qualitative and quantitative data analyses, this key reference offers an integrated approach that allows the reader to choose the most appropriate and robust techniques to apply to each situation.

Many entries treat traditional topics in a novel way, stimulating both interest and new perspectives. One example is the entry Econometrics, by Professor Damodar Gujarati. Following a process which many educators preach but seldom practice, Gujarati walks the reader twice through the research process from economic theory to data and models to analysis, once in principle and a second time with an example. In using the ordinary process of economic research to achieve an extraordinary impact, he leaves the reader thinking not only about methods and models but also the fundamental purpose of econometrics.

Topics Covered:

- Analysis of Variance

- Association and Correlation

- Basic Qualitative Research

- Basic Statistics

- Causal Modeling (Structural Equations)

- Discourse/Conversation Analysis

- Econometrics

- Epistemology

- Ethnography

- Evaluation

- Event History Analysis

- Experimental Design

- Factor Analysis and Related Techniques

- Feminist Methodology

- Generalized Linear Models

- Historical/Comparative

- Interviewing in Qualitative Research

- Latent Variable Model

- Life History/Biography

- Loglinear Models (Categorical Dependent Variables)

- Longitudinal Analysis

- Mathematics and Formal Models

- Measurement Level

- Measurement Testing and Classification

- Multiple Regression

- Multilevel Analysis

- Qualitative Data Analysis

- Sampling in Surveys

- Sampling in Qualitative Research

- Scaling

- Significance Testing

- Simple Regression

- Survey Design

- Time Series

Key Features:

- Over 900 entries arranged A to Z

Each entry is written by a leading authority in the field, covering both quantitative and qualitative methods

- Covers all disciplines within the social sciences

- Contains both concise definitions and in-depth essays

- Three volumes and more than 1500 pages

Choice Review

The compilers of this impressive, unique work claim it "brings together, in one place, authoritative essays on virtually all social science methods topics, both quantitative and qualitative"--a claim examination supports. More than 400 contributors from the US and abroad--a roster appears in v.1--present approximately 1,000 comprehensive, in-depth, well-referenced entries that vary in length from 50 to 2,500 words. The attractively designed and produced volumes, 1,351 total pages, consist of easily legible text and figures, the front matter occupying 46 pages and the index 40. The alphabetically arranged entries treat, besides expected topics, schools of thought, epistemological questions, and philosophical issues. Hence, the work incorporates articles on both specific data collection and analysis techniques, and on theoretical concepts. Despite its size, the work is easily navigable. In addition to a comprehensive list of entries and cross-references within articles to other entries, a "Reader's Guide" in each volume arranges entries under 34 categories to show relationships; for example, "Scaling" lists 13 entries, "Experimental Design" and "Ethnography" each list nine. The comprehensive, 55-page bibliography of about 2,400 items (books, journals, reports) appears as an appendix in each volume, the 40-page index only in v.3. Since no social science researcher can know all possible methods, the work--especially entries dealing with complex mathematical ideas ("Chi Square Tests," "Multiple Regression Analysis," "Path Analysis")--is designed for readers outside their special fields. The text for these articles, and those dealing with abstruse concepts and techniques ("Essentialism," "Feminist Research," "Narrative Analysis"), is written as clearly and simply as possible and uses many examples, making it accessible to the mathematically uninitiated. Given this significant work's many admirable qualities and the space allotted to theoretical topics, it is surprising that the unusually succinct entry "Theory" needs fuller treatment, and readers will need to look elsewhere to find full values of the t-, F-, chi-square, and other distributions. This defining work will be valuable to readers and researchers in social sciences and humanities at all academic levels. As a teaching resource it will be useful to instructors and students alike and will become a standard reference source. ^BSumming Up: Essential. General and academic collections. D. G. Davis Jr. University of Texas at Austin

Library Journal Review

The entry under "Cohort Perspectives" in Macmillan's 1992 Encyclopedia of Sociology states that it can only touch on "the diverse research designs involved in analyses of the multiple factors affecting lives of people in particular cohorts." It is good to be able to report, then, that this three-volume encyclopedia does tackle research designs, in cohort analyses as well as hundreds of other quantitative and qualitative approaches and techniques in social science disciplines. Lewis-Beck (political science, Univ. of Iowa), Alan E. Bryman (social sciences, Loughborough Univ., U.K.), and Tim Futing Liao (sociology, Univ. of Essex & Univ. of Illinois) offer 1000 alphabetically arranged entries by contributors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and a few European countries. The absence of Eastern perspectives may concern some readers, but then the emphasis is on uniform processes rather than cognitive styles that may differ from culture to culture. Each volume includes a list of works cited, and the pagination throughout the three volumes is continuous, though a complete index appears in only the third volume (a minor quibble). The covers and page layouts are serviceable if not handsome; more important, perhaps, they sit open whether you are at the front or back of a volume. Ultimately, the abundance of quantitative information in this set helps give the lie to those who accuse the social sciences of being "soft"; on the other hand, it limits the audience. While Sage describes this as accessible, the most appreciative users of this volume will be students, faculty, and researchers in academic, special, and large public libraries, for whom it is recommended.-Ellen D. Gilbert, Princeton, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.