Planning: Research Design and Methods Reading List

This new edition of the best-selling Case Study Research has been carefully revised, updated, and expanded while retaining virtually all of the features and coverage of the Second Edition. Robert Yin's comprehensive presentation covers all aspects of the case study method--from problem definition, design, and data collection, to data analysis and composition and reporting. Yin also traces the uses and importance of case studies to a wide range of disciplines, from sociology, psychology and history to management, planning, social work, and education.

While heated arguments between practitioners of qualitative and quantitative research have begun to test the very integrity of the social sciences, Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba have produced a farsighted and timely book that promises to sharpen and strengthen a wide range of research performed in this field. These leading scholars, each representing diverse academic traditions, have developed a unified approach to valid descriptive and causal inference in qualitative research, where numerical measurement is either impossible or undesirable. Their book demonstrates that the same logic of inference underlies both good quantitative and good qualitative research designs, and their approach applies equally to each. Providing precepts intended to stimulate and discipline thought, the authors explore issues related to framing research questions, measuring the accuracy of data and uncertainty of empirical inferences, discovering causal effects, and generally improving qualitative research. Among the specific topics they address are interpretation and inference, comparative case studies, constructing causal theories, dependent and explanatory variables, the limits of random selection, selection bias, and errors in measurement. Mathematical notation is occasionally used to clarify concepts, but no prior knowledge of mathematics or statistics is assumed. The unified logic of inference that this book explicates will be enormously useful to qualitative researchers of all traditions and substantive fields.

The Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods shows how to make intelligent and conscious decisions so that researchers can refine and hone their research questions as new knowledge is gained, unanticipated obstacles are encountered, or contextual shifts take place - all key elements in the iterative nature of applied research. With examples and illustrations from the authors' own experiences, this book gives readers a practical guide to conducting applied research.

"If a student researcher had only one handbook on their bookshelf, Miller and Salkind's Handbook would certainly have to be it. With the updated material, the addition of the section on ethical issues (which is so well done that I'm recommending it to the departmental representative to the university IRB), and a new Part 4 on "Qualitative Methods", the new Handbook is an indispensable resource for researchers." Dan Cover, Department of Sociology, Furman University The book considered a "necessity" by many social science researchers and their students has been revised and updated while retaining the features that made it so useful. The emphasis in this new edition is on the tools with which graduate students and more advanced researchers need to become familiar as well as be able to use in order to conduct high quality research.  

Illustrated evidence-based building and open space case studies demonstrate E-B’s continuing design impact. Fundamental theory and practical research methods are presented for planning, programming, designing, and evaluating the effects of physical environments in use. Part I describes how designers and researchers employ a similar creative process that promotes collaboration and yields greater design creativity and research effectiveness. Part II focuses on research methods to understand how buildings and spaces work: observing behavior and the physical environment, asking questions in interviews and surveys, and employing archival records that include data and physical plans.

Drawing on Weiss's thirty years' experience interviewing and teaching others, Learning from Strangers is the definitive work on qualitative research interviewing. The author of many successful books, Dr. Weiss provides examples and running commentary on how each interaction either inhibits or promotes trust and alliance. Used as a reference, handbook, or text, this book is appropriate for novices and professionals.

This groundbreaking book explores the implications of postmodernist ideas within the research context. The text relates debates in postmodernism directly to current thinking and practice in both qualitative and quantitative research. The engaging book is split into two parts: Part One offers a critical discussion of recent philosophical debates and emerging trends within the field of postmodernism, while Part Two breaks down the research process into its constituent parts and reflects on the changing aspects of postmodern thought and their implications for the researcher. This timely and thought-provoking textbook will engage directly with the relationship between postmodern theory within a research context. The book's practical approach is strengthened by the inclusion of student friendly features, including a glossary and a number of illustrative examples and case studies. Its interdisciplinary approach means it will be invaluable reading for postgraduate students and researchers across the social sciences.

The fifth edition of 'Proposals That Work' continues to cover all aspects of the proposal process, from the most basic questions about form and style to the task of seeking funding.

The latest edition of this bestselling textbook by Miles and Huberman not only is considerably expanded in content, but is now available in paperback. Bringing the art of qualitative analysis up-to-date, this edition adds hundreds of new techniques, ideas and references developed in the past decade to the corpus contained in the first. The increase in the use of computers in qualitative analysis is also reflected in this volume. There is an extensive appendix on criteria to choose from among the currently available analysis packages. Through examples from a host of social science and professional disciplines, Qualitative Data Analysis remains the most comprehensive and complete treatment of this topic currently available to scholars and applied researchers.

Qualitative Research Methods for Community Development teaches the basic skills, tools, and methods of qualitative research with special attention to the needs of community practitioners. This book teaches students entering planning, community development, nonprofit management, social work, and similar applied fields the core skills necessary to conduct systematic research designed to empower communities and promote social change. Focusing on the basic elements of qualitative research, like field observation, interviewing, focus groups, and content analysis, Qualitative Research Methods for Community Development provides an overview of core methods and theoretical underpinnings of successful research. The book provides examples from past research used in transformative community projects across multiple disciplines. From housing, community organizing, neighborhood planning, and urban revitalization, this book gives students the skills they need to undertake their own projects, and provides professionals a valuable reference for their future research. The book serves as a primary text for courses in applied qualitative research, and as a reference book for professionals and community-based researchers. In addition to content detailing core methods used in qualitative research, it includes a chapter which provides guidance for the dissemination of qualitative results to a spectrum of audiences applying qualitative methods to action research and community empowerment.

In this illuminating volume, Robert P. Abelson delves into the too-often dismissed problems of interpreting quantitative data and then presenting them in the context of a coherent story about one's research. Unlike too many books on statistics, this is a remarkably engaging read, filled with fascinating real-life (and real-research) examples rather than with recipes for analysis. It will be of true interest and lasting value to beginning graduate students and seasoned researchers alike. The focus of the book is that the purpose of statistics is to organize a useful argument from quantitative evidence, using a form of principled rhetoric. Five criteria, described by the acronym MAGIC (magnitude, articulation, generality, interestingness, and credibility) are proposed as crucial features of a persuasive, principled argument. Particular statistical methods are discussed, with minimum use of formulas and heavy data sets. The ideas throughout the book revolve around elementary probability theory, t tests, and simple issues of research design. It is therefore assumed that the reader has already had some access to elementary statistics. Many examples are included to explain the connection of statistics to substantive claims about real phenomena.