Includes bibliographical references (pages 698-725), glossary and indexes.

The nature and process of social research -- Social research strategies : quantitative research and qualitative research -- Research designs -- Planning a research project and formulating research questions -- Getting started : reviewing the literature -- Ethics and politics in social research -- The nature of quantitative research -- Sampling in quantitative research -- Structured interviewing -- Self-administered questionnaires -- Asking questions -- Structured observation -- Content analysis -- Using existing data -- Quantitative data analysis -- Usng IBM SPSS statistics -- The nature of qualitative research -- Sampling qualitative research -- Ethnography and participant observation -- Interviewing in qualitative research -- Focus groups -- Language in qualitative research -- Documents as sources of data -- Qualitative data analysis -- Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis : using NVivo -- Breaking down the quantitative/qualitative divide -- Mixed methods research : combining quantitative and qualitative research -- Writing up social research.

Now in its fifth edition, this textbook continues to provide students with explanation and demonstration of the main approaches and techniques in social research methods. It shows students how to assess the contexts within which different research methods may be used, and how they should be implemented.