Download or read book A Practical Guide to Theoretical Frameworks for Social Science Research written by Andrea J. Bingham and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-02-13 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This practical book offers a guide to finding, choosing, and applying theoretical frameworks to social sciences research, and provides researchers with the scaffolding needed to reflect on their philosophical orientations and better situate their work in the existing landscape of empirical and theoretical knowledge. Using a multifaceted approach, the book provides clear definitions, primary tenets, historical context, highlights of the challenges and contemporary discussion and, perhaps more importantly, concrete and successful examples of studies that have drawn on and incorporated each theoretical framework. The authors define and explain the connections among such concepts as ontology, epistemology, paradigm, theory, theoretical frameworks, conceptual frameworks, and research methodology; describe the process of finding and effectively using theoretical and conceptual frameworks in research; and offer brief overviews of particular theories within the following disciplines: sociology, psychology, education, leadership, public policy, political science, economics, organizational studies, and business. The book also has a dedicated chapter on critical theories, and for each theory, provides a definition, explores how the theory is useful for researchers, discusses the background and foundations, outlines key terms and concepts, presents examples of theoretical applications, and gives an overview of strengths and limitations. This book offers a useful starting point for any researcher interested in better situating their work in existing conceptual and theoretical knowledge, but it will be especially useful for graduate students and early career researchers who are looking for clear definitions of complex terms and concepts, and for an introduction to useful theories across disciplines.
Download or read book Find the Theory in Your Research written by Janet E. Salmons and published by SAGE Publications Limited. This book was released on 2019-09-11 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most crucial foundational steps in any research project surrounds understanding and choosing an appropriate theory to frame the research question. Theoretical frameworks don’t just impact design, they impact how the entire study is interpreted, contextualized, and discussed. There are lots of resources about epistemologies and ontologies, but most focus on the philosophical and historical dimensions that can quickly overwhelm students. They need something quick that helps them understand the practical connection between theory and the purpose/nature of the study and, more importantly, decide which theory is best suited to their particular study. This Little Quick Fix covers questions like: What is theory? How does theory relate to research design? What is a theoretical framework? What is a theoretical contribution? How do I choose which theory (or theories) fits my research? What practical steps should I take to integrate theory into my research? Little Quick Fix titles provide quick but authoritative answers to the problems, hurdles, and assessment points students face in the research course, project proposal, or design - whatever their methods learning is. Lively, ultra-modern design; full-colour, each page a tailored design. An hour's read. Easy to dip in and out of with clear navigation enables the reader to find what she needs - quick. Direct written style gets to the point with clear language. Nothing needs to be read twice. No fluff. Learning is reinforced through a 2-minute overview summary; 3-second summaries with super-quick Q&A DIY tasks create a work plan to accomplish a task, do a self-check quiz, solve a problem, get students to what they need to show their supervisor. Checkpoints in each section make sure students are nailing it as they go and support self-directed learning. How do I know I’m done? Each Little Quick Fix wraps up with a final checklist that allows the reader to self-assess they’ve got what they need to progress, submit, or ace the test or task.
Download or read book Theory Construction and Model Building Skills written by James Jaccard and published by Guilford Publications. This book was released on 2019-12-19 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This accessible, hands-on text has now been revised and updated, with expanded coverage of topics including how theory may emerge from exploratory data analysis. The book prepares graduate students, new researchers, and even seasoned investigators to develop their own theories and build on existing ones. Concrete strategies are provided to help readers generate ideas, define constructs, and think through relationships and processes that link constructs. Compelling examples from multiple disciplines illustrate the use of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods orientations to theory construction. The text also offers practical advice for writing effectively about theories in papers and grant applications. Readers learn by doing via application and concept exercises, demonstration boxes, and practical guidelines. The extensive companion website (www.theory-construction.com) includes PowerPoint slides of all of the book’s figures, primers on advanced topics, video demonstrations, supplemental exercises, and other resources. New to This Edition *Emergent theory is now covered in mixed methods as well as qualitative approaches, plus in a new chapter on exploratory quantitative methods that can help generate new theory through data mining. *Chapter on whether and how to revise a theory when faced with disconfirmatory data. *Two chapters on the theoretical underpinnings of measurement practices. *New or expanded discussions of what constitutes a theoretical contribution, conceptual logic models, thought experiments, and more. Pedagogical Features *Application and concept exercises in every chapter. *Lists of key terms and engaging topical boxes. *Annotated suggestions for further reading. *New companion website with rich resources for students and instructors. *Chapters stand on their own and can be used in any order.
Download or read book Reason Rigor written by Sharon M. Ravitch and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2016-01-04 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Designed for novice as well as more experienced researchers, Reason & Rigor by Sharon M. Ravitch and Matthew Riggan presents conceptual frameworks as a mechanism for aligning literature review, research design, and methodology. The book explores the conceptual framework—defined as both a process and a product—that helps to direct and ground researchers as they work through common research challenges. Focusing on published studies on a range of topics and employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, the updated Second Edition features two new chapters and clearly communicates the processes of developing and defining conceptual frameworks.
Download or read book Creative Research Methods in the Social Sciences written by Helen Kara and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2015-04-10 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Creative research methods can help to answer complex contemporary questions that traditional methods alone cannot; they can also be more ethical, helping researchers to address social injustice in new ways. This accessible book is the first to identify and examine the four pillars of creative research methods: arts-based research, research using technology, mixed-method research, and transformative research frameworks. Written in a practical and jargon-free style, it offers numerous examples from around the world of creative methods in practice in the social sciences, arts, and humanities. Spanning the gulf between ideas and practice, this useful book will inform and inspire researchers by demonstrating why, when, and how to use creative methods in their research.
Download or read book Theory and Credibility written by Scott Ashworth and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-20 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A clear and comprehensive framework for bridging the widening gap between theorists and empiricists in social science The credibility revolution, with its emphasis on empirical methods for causal inference, has led to concerns among scholars that the canonical questions about politics and society are being neglected because they are no longer deemed answerable. Theory and Credibility stakes out an opposing view—presenting a new vision of how, working together, the credibility revolution and formal theory can advance social scientific inquiry. This authoritative book covers the conceptual foundations and practicalities of both model building and research design, providing a new framework to link theory and empirics. Drawing on diverse examples from political science, it presents a typology of the rich set of interactions that are possible between theory and empirics. This typology opens up new ways for scholars to make progress on substantive questions, and enables researchers from disparate traditions to gain a deeper appreciation for each other's work and why it matters. Theory and Credibility shows theorists how to create models that are genuinely useful to empirical inquiry, and helps empiricists better understand how to structure their research in ways that speak to theoretically meaningful questions.
Download or read book Applied Social Science Methodology written by John Gerring and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-24 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This textbook provides a clear, concise, and comprehensive introduction to methodological issues encountered by the various social science disciplines. It emphasizes applications, with detailed examples, so that readers can put these methods to work in their research. Within a unified framework, John Gerring and Dino Christenson integrate a variety of methods - descriptive and causal, observational and experimental, qualitative and quantitative. The text covers a wide range of topics including research design, data-gathering techniques, statistics, theoretical frameworks, and social science writing. It is designed both for those attempting to make sense of social science, as well as those aiming to conduct original research. The text is accompanied by online practice questions, exercises, examples, and additional resources, including related readings and websites. An essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in communications, criminal justice, economics, business, finance, management, education, environmental policy, international development, law, political science, public health, public policy, social work, sociology, and urban planning.
Download or read book Research Methods written by Bob Matthews and published by Longman. This book was released on 2010 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text provides an essential resource for the social researcher. It offers a comprehensive introduction for first time researchers right through to thorough and practical advice for those undertaking more advanced work.
Download or read book Theory and Methods in Social Research written by Bridget Somekh and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2011-01-28 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previous ed.: Research methods in the social sciences, 2005.
Download or read book Approaches and Processes of Social Science Research written by Tshabangu, Icarbord and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the social sciences, the approach and processes in research are quite different. The type of evidence that social scientists can collect is often very dependent on the method that has been used to gather the data. The type of findings that can be discussed are often not straightforward at all, and no easy comparison can be made with the natural sciences, although this is not impossible. The methodology in the social sciences has the same role as technology and lab techniques in the natural sciences as these need to be developed rapidly to account for the increasing complexity of the natural objects to be studied. The methodologies in the social sciences need to go through an intense period of critique, reflection, and reformulation to consider the complexity of social issues under investigation. Therefore, the area of social sciences research and methodologies should continually be studied to advance the field. Approaches and Processes of Social Science Research presents new research methodologies in the social science field and aims at providing a broad introduction to the methodology of social research in its main theoretical foundations as well as in its practical applications. Readers will develop a critical thinking attitude about social problems which in turn will sharpen their analytic approach to research. This book includes four main parts: philosophical perspectives, strategies for conducting research, common approaches for handling and collecting data, and critical aspects of research writing throughout the process. While highlighting topics such as critical theory in research, ethical issues, research processes, data analysis, and more, this book is ideal for researchers in the social sciences and practitioners, stakeholders, academicians, and students interested in deepening their understanding of the ideas and the practices of social science research.
Download or read book Methods for Social Theory written by Jan Ch. Karlsson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes a practical guide to the important skills of both theorizing and writing in social scientific scholarship, focusing on the importance of identifying relations between concepts that are useful for explaining social entities and of producing a text that convincingly advances the theory that has been constructed. Taking as its point of departure the distinction between the research process and the reporting process – between clarifying one’s ideas to oneself and writing to express these ideas clearly to others – this volume concentrates on writing when theorizing as a way of thinking, emphasizing the series of relations that exist between ontology, epistemology and rhetoric upon which successful theoretical writing depends. Richly illustrated with practical examples, the book is divided into two parts, the first of which presents techniques for theorizing based upon visualized and logical connections of ideas, concepts and empirical patterns in both free and systematic ways, and the second part providing techniques for structuring and presenting arguments in essays, papers, articles or books.As such, Methods for Social Theory offers a toolbox for the development and presentation of social thought, which will prove essential for students and teachers across the social sciences.
Download or read book Making Sense of Social Theory written by Charles H. Powers and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2010 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Making Sense of Social Theory opens by carefully exploring what it means to follow the scientific method in a field like sociology. The author goes on to analyze sociology as a genuine science with a body of explanatory insights. It does this by (a) considering the major insights of key thinkers (including Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and Mead, among others), (b) distinguishing different analytical frameworks (especially exchange, symbolic interactionism, conflict, and structural-functionalism) in terms of their underlying assumptions, and (c) revealing compelling social science explanatory insights in the form of predictive principles that can be applied in understanding processes of change at work in the social world (from face-to-face encounters to major historical trends). Sociological theory is applied in ways that make its relevance and power apparent. In reading this book, theory no longer stands divorced from real-world research or practice. Making Sense of Social Theory clearly establishes the pertinence of sociology's great theoretical insights for all social science researches and practitioners. Book jacket.
Download or read book The Art of Social Theory written by Richard Swedberg and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-10 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical guide to the art of theorizing in the social sciences In the social sciences today, students are taught theory by reading and analyzing the works of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and other foundational figures of the discipline. What they rarely learn, however, is how to actually theorize. The Art of Social Theory is a practical guide to doing just that. In this one-of-a-kind user's manual for social theorists, Richard Swedberg explains how theorizing occurs in what he calls the context of discovery, a process in which the researcher gathers preliminary data and thinks creatively about it using tools such as metaphor, analogy, and typology. He guides readers through each step of the theorist’s art, from observation and naming to concept formation and explanation. To theorize well, you also need a sound knowledge of existing social theory. Swedberg introduces readers to the most important theories and concepts, and discusses how to go about mastering them. If you can think, you can also learn to theorize. This book shows you how. Concise and accessible, The Art of Social Theory features helpful examples throughout, and also provides practical exercises that enable readers to learn through doing.
Download or read book The SAGE Handbook of Social Research Methods written by Pertti Alasuutari and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2008-02-25 with total page 649 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The SAGE Handbook of Social Research Methods is a must for every social-science researcher. It charts the new and evolving terrain of social research methodology, covering qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods in one volume. The Handbook includes chapters on each phase of the research process: research design, methods of data collection, and the processes of analyzing and interpreting data. The volume maintains that there is much more to research than learning skills and techniques; methodology involves the fit between theory, research questions research design and analysis. The book also includes several chapters that describe historical and current directions in social research, debating crucial subjects such as qualitative versus quantitative paradigms, how to judge the credibility of types of research, and the increasingly topical issue of research ethics. The Handbook serves as an invaluable resource for approaching research with an open mind. This volume maps the field of social research methods using an approach that will prove valuable for both students and researchers.
Download or read book Social Science Concepts written by Gary Goertz and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To develop theories and research designs requires concepts. Gary Goertz provides advice on the construction and use of social science concepts and their use in case selection and theories. He also cites examples from political science and sociology to illustrate the theoretical and practical issues of concept construction and use.
Download or read book Understanding Social Research written by George McKenzie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-08-04 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1991 the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) published "Postgraduate Taining Guidelines". Throughout the document emphasis is placed on the need for universities to make postgraduate research students aware of the methodological issues that affect their work.; This text explores the relationship between knowledge, methodology and research practice across the broad spectrum of the social sciences in langage that is accessible to researchers at all levels of their research careers. It follows the themes that there is no single practice or correct methodology, and that the diversity and variety in terms of methodology and disciplinary focus are a sign of the sophistication and complexity of the proceses of social research. The text examines socio-cultural contexts of social research and relates them to contemporary shifts in focus such as feminism, critical theory and postmodernism. The importance of selecting the research methodology most appropriate to the subject discipline concerned is emphasized.
Download or read book Developing a Mixed Methods Proposal written by Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Developing a Mixed Methods Proposal by Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby and Paul A. Schutz is a practical, hands-on guide helps beginning researchers create a mixed methods research proposal for their dissertations, grants, or general research studies. The book intertwines descriptions of the components of a research proposal (introduction, literature review, research methods, etc.) with discussions of the essential elements and steps of mixed methods research. Examples from a real-world, interdisciplinary, mixed methods research study demonstrate concepts in action throughout the book, and an entire sample proposal appears at the end of the book, giving readers insight into every step up to completion. Readers who complete the exercises in each chapter will have an individualized, detailed template for their own mixed methods research proposal. Developing a Mixed Methods Proposal is Volume 5 in the SAGE Mixed Methods Research Series.
