Introducing Social Research Methods: Essentials for Getting the Edge is a concise and student-friendly introduction to research methods that uses examples from around the world to illustrate the centrality of social science research in our everyday lives. Explains complex, multi-faceted concepts and methodologies in straightforward prose Designed for students who are new to or skeptical of social science research methods as useful tools for approaching real-world challenges Persuasively argues that social scientific proficiency unlocks an array of personal and professional opportunities beyond the realms of academia A supplementary website features a glossary, test bank, Power Point presentations, a comprehensive list of web resources, a guide to relevant TED lectures and much more.

How Do We Know What We Know? Science as a Superior Way of Knowing -- The Language of Science and Research: Learning to Talk the Talk and Walk the Walk -- Ethics: It’s the Right Thing To Do -- Designing Ideas: What Do We Want to Know and How Can We Get There? -- Measure by Measure: Developing Measures—Making the Abstract Concrete -- All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Assessing the Validity and Reliability of Measures -- One Thing Leads to Another à or Does it? Tackling Causal Analysis -- The Questionnaire: Would You Mind Taking the Time to Answer a Few Questions? -- Having the Talk: Person to Person Information Exchanges -- Field Research: Welcome to My World -- Sample This! How Can So Few Tell Us About So Many? -- Show Me the Numbers: Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics -- Pulling it Together: A Final Synthesis.