Social Research Methods - Softcover

Alan Bryman is to Research Methods as Paganini to the violin: he makes a daunting, complex field accessible, informative, enlarging and pleasurable. This is already "required reading" in the field. The new edition is so good that it is now "required reading" on pain of death. (Chris Rojek, Professor of Sociology and Culture, Brunel University)

Perfectly organised and precisely written, Bryman's Social Research Methods remains the essential text for anyone interested in how to do social research. The book will continue to underpin research methods teaching across the social sciences, and to shape, guide, and spur on the work of current and future generations of social researchers. (Richard Giulianotti, Professor of Sociology, Durham University)

Alan Bryman is one of the very few working social researchers who are as comfortable with qualitative research as quantitative. That he can communicate clearly his enthusiasm and expertise in decent prose, with a sensitive eye to the student experience, is a bonus. This new, fourth edition of Social Research Methods can only enhance the reputation of its predecessors. As a one-stop, authoritative handbook, there are no serious competitors. (Richard Jenkins, Professor of Sociology, University of Sheffield)

Studying a social science degree? Need to know how to develop your research methods and write up your results more effectively? In the fourth edition of this lively and engaging textbook, Alan Bryman presents students with an updated and all-encompassing guide to the principle techniques and methodology in the field of Social Research.

Adopting a coherent and student-friendly format, the book offers an encyclopaedic introduction to social research methodology, and considers a broad range of qualitative and quantitative methods to help students identify and evaluate the best approach for their research needs. Building on the success of the previous editions, this book is concerned with the ways that social researchers approach their craft. Bryman guides the reader through all aspects of the research process including formulating objectives, choosing research methods, securing research participants, as well as advice on how to effectively collect, analyse and interpret data and disseminate those findings to others. This fourth edition features a new 'supervisor experience' feature, which offers helpful tips from the supervisor's perspective on successful research, as well as a new chapter which tackles the sampling issues faced by qualitative researchers in a more consolidated fashion than in previous editions. Substantial updates have also been made to the existing material, particularly the internet research section, which has been fully revised to accommodate the extensive developments in this area.