NCJ Number
63703
Date Published
1979
Length
171 pages
Annotation
AIMED AT RESEARCH STUDENTS AND PRACTITIONERS, THIS GUIDE PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF THE PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES OF QUANTITATIVE SOCIAL RESEARCH.
Abstract
THE GUIDE IS DESIGNED TO CREATE A 'SURVIVAL' MANUAL FOR APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCHERS, INTRODUCE BRIEFLY AND SIMPLY SOME OF THE MAJOR IDEAS AND CONCEPTS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH FOR STUDENTS, AND EXPLAIN THE KEY METHODOLOGICAL AND STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES BY WHICH QUANTITATIVE DATA ARE GENERATED AND ANALYZED. BASIC CONCEPTS IN SAMPLING, ARE COVERED, INCLUDING SIMPLE RANDOM, SYSTEMATIC, CLUSTER, STRATEFIED, QUOTA, TELEPHONE, AND MAIL. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN IS CONSIDERED IN CONJUNCTION WITH RANDOMIZATION AND OTHER TYPES OF VALIDITY AND CAUSAL ANALYSIS. MEASUREMENT LEVEL, ERROR, RELIABILITY, AND VALIDITY ARE EXPLAINED. DATA COLLECTION IS EXPLORED WITH INFORMATION ON INTERVIEWING. DISCUSSION ON STATISTICS INCLUDES DESCRIPTIONS OF USING A SINGLE VARIABLE OR TWO OR MORE VARIABLES, DEALING WITH STATISTICAL INFERENCE AND CONFIDENCE INTERVALS, AND TESTING HYPOTHESES. ALSO EXAMINED ARE BIVARIATE REGRESSION AND CORRELATION AND MULTIPLE REGRESSION. REFERENCES ARE SUPPLIED FOR EACH OF THESE ASPECTS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH. A GLOSSARY AND AUTHOR AND SUBJECT INDEXES ARE APPENDED. (MHP)