Efnisyfirlit

• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• About the Author
• Preface to the Third Edition
• Online Resources
• PART I ORIENTATION
• 1 Why Social Research?
• What is Social Research?
• The Tasks of Social Research
• What Can You Achieve with Social Research?
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research
• Doing Research On Site, Doing it Online or Combining the Two
• Why and How Research Can Be Fun
• What you Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 2 Worldviews in Social Research
• Positivism
• Critical Rationalism
• Interpretative Paradigm
• Constructionism
• Social Research between Fundamentalism and Pragmatism
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 3 Ethical Issues in Social Research
• Principles of Ethically Acceptable Research
• Informed Consent
• Confidentiality, Anonymity and Data Protection
• How to Avoid Causing Harm to Participants
• Codes of Ethics
• Ethics Committees
• Rules of Good Scientific Practice
• Research Ethics: Cases and Mass Research
• Research Ethics in Digital and Online Research
• Data Protection: Regulations in the European Union
• Conclusion
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 4 From Research Idea to Research Question
• Starting Points for Research
• Origins of Research Questions
• Characteristics of Research Questions
• Good Research Questions, Bad Research Questions
• The Use of Hypotheses
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• PART II PLANNING AND DESIGN
• 5 Reading and Reviewing the Literature
• The Scope of a Literature Review
• What Do We Mean by ‘Literature’?
• Finding Literature
• Areas of Literature
• Reading Empirical Studies
• How to Construct and Write a Literature Review
• Referencing the Literature
• Plagiarism and How to Avoid It
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 6 Steps in the Research Process
• Overview of the Research Process
• The Research Process in Quantitative Research
• The Research Process in Qualitative Research
• Comparing the Processes of Quantitative and Qualitative Research
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 7 Designing Social Research
• Writing a Proposal for a Research Project
• Developing a Timescale
• Designing a Study
• Research Designs in Quantitative Research
• Qualitative Research Designs
• Sampling
• Sampling Strategies in Quantitative Research
• Sampling Strategies in Qualitative Research
• Sampling and Access in Online Research
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• PART III METHOD SELECTION
• 8 Deciding on Your Methods
• Decisions in the Research Process
• Decisions in Planning a Quantitative Study
• Decisions in Planning a Qualitative Study
• Decisions within Quantitative and Qualitative Research
• Deciding between Qualitative and Quantitative Research
• Deciding between Doing Research On Site or Online
• Deciding on Specific Approaches to Research
• Reflection Halfway through the Process
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 9 Triangulation and Mixed Methods
• Combining Different Approaches
• Mixed Methods
• Triangulation
• Digital Research as a Complementary Strategy
• Pragmatism and the Issue as Points of Reference
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• PART IV WORKING WITH DATA
• 10 Using Existing Data
• What Does Existing Data Mean?
• Why Use Existing Data?
• Information and Data
• Secondary Analysis
• Working with Documents
• Visual Data as Documents: Photo and Film
• Analyzing Internet Documents and Interactions
• Social Media for Doing Research
• Problems with Using Digital Data
• Big Data
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 11 Collecting New Data
• Surveys and Interviews
• Quantitative Surveys: Questionnaires
• Qualitative Inquiries: Interviews and Focus Groups
• Online Surveys, Interviews and Focus Groups
• Observation
• Obtaining and Documenting Information
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 12 Analyzing Data
• Quantitative Data Analysis
• Quantitative Content Analysis
• Quantitative Analysis of other Forms of Data
• Qualitative Analysis
• Transcription of Interview Data
• Qualitative Content Analysis
• Grounded Theory Coding
• Thematic Coding
• Thematic Analysis
• Interpretative Methods: Analyzing Narratives
• Formal Approaches: Talk in (Inter-) Action
• Interpretative Methods of Analyzing Qualitative Data
• Case Studies and Typologies
• Data Analysis in Mixed Methods and Triangulation Research
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• PART V REFLECTION AND WRITING
• 13 What is Good Research? Evaluating Your Research Project
• Evaluating Empirical Studies
• Quality and Evaluation of Quantitative Research
• Reliability
• Validity
• Objectivity
• Representativeness
• Quality and Evaluation of Qualitative Research
• Reformulation of Traditional Criteria
• Method-appropriate Criteria
• Generalization
• Standards and Quality in Digital Research
• Limits of Research Approaches
• Limits of Quantitative Research
• Limits of Qualitative Research
• Limits of Triangulation and Mixed Methods in Social Research
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• 14 Writing Up Research and Using Results
• Goals of Writing Up Social Research
• Writing Up Quantitative Research
• Writing Up Qualitative Research
• Issues of Writing
• Outlets for Writing
• Feeding Back Results to Participants
• Using Data in Debate
• What You Need to Ask Yourself
• What You Need to Succeed
• What You Have Learned
• What’s Next
• Glossary
• References
• Name Index
• Subject Index