About the Book
This book is mainly designed for students and researchers of social sciences and business administration. It is organised into six parts, covering 20 chapters, each comprehensively dealing with varied aspects of the problem under discussion. What distinguishes it from other works on the subject is that it combines the author’s personal observations—based on his extensive research experience—with the experiences of other scholars as reflected in the literature. The aim is not only to acquaint students with the judicious blend of elementary and theoretical knowledge in social research but also guide the researchers with the basic complexities of undertaking research. The approach to analysis is interdisciplinary while examples from empirical studies conducted in Indian society make the text clearer.
Ever since the last edition of this book was published in 2001, Research Methods have come a long way. New edition of this best selling text is now updated with new content in Chapters 1, 9 and 14. Ethics and integrity in social research have become increasingly important for social scientists across disciplines. Catering to this need, a full length chapter on ‘Ethics in Social Research’ has been added to this edition. The book will continue to stimulate students, teachers and researchers across disciplines for years to come.
Contents
APPROACH TO SCIENCE
• Scientific Research: Characteristics, Types and Methods
• Concepts, Constructs and Variables
• Hypotheses
• Logic of Inquiry
DESIGNING OF RESEARCH
• Problem Formation and Developing Research Questions
• Research Design
TECHNIQUES OF DATA COLLECTION
• Sampling
• Questionnaire and Interview Schedule
• Interview
• Observation
• Case Study
• Content Analysis
• Projective Techniques
DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS
• Data Processing, Tabulation, Diagrammatic Representation and Analysis
• Measurement and Scaling Techniques
THEORY BUILDING
• Models, Paradigms and Theories
• Ethics in Social Research
STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES
• Measures of Central Tendency
• Measures of Dispersion
• Measures of Association
About the Author / Editor
Ram Ahuja retired as Professor of Sociology from the University of Rajasthan in 1988 after teaching for more than three decades. For nearly two decades, he was guest faculty to several national and state academies and institutions for training IAS, IPS and state administrative officers. He authored many books, including four translations into Hindi. Many of his books have been adopted as standard text in universities and training academies and for competitive examinations.
