Research methods in the social sciences / Chava Frankfort-Nachmias, David Nachmias.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Foundations of empirical research: the scientific approach; conceptual foundations of research; ethics in social science research. Design and structure of research: research designs - experiments; research designs - correlational and quasi-experimental designs; measurement; sampling and sample design. Data collection: observational methods; survey research; questionnaire construction; qualitative research; secondary data analysis. Data processing and analysis: data preparation and analysis; the univariate distribution; bivariate analysis; control, elaboration and multivariate analysis; index construction and scaling methods; inferences. Appendices: introduction to SPSS; the summation sign; random digits; areas under normal curve; distribution of t; critical values of F; critical values of U in the Mann-Whitney test; distribution of X2; research reports.