Salsa Dancing Into the Social Sciences : Research in an Age of Info-glut

“You might think that dancing doesn’t have a lot to do with social research, and doing social research is probably why you picked this book up in the first place. But trust me. Salsa dancing is a practice as well as a metaphor for a kind of research that will make your life easier and better.” Savvy, witty, and sensible, this unique book is both a handbook for defining and completing a research project, and an astute introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science. In this volume, Kristin Luker guides novice researchers in: knowing the difference between an area of interest and a research topic defining the relevant parts of a potentially infinite research literature mastering sampling, operationalization, and generalization understanding which research methods best answer your questions beating writer’s block Most important, she shows how friendships, nonacademic interests, and even salsa dancing can make for a better researcher. “You know about setting the kitchen timer and writing for only an hour, or only 15 minutes if you are feeling particularly anxious. I wrote a fairly large part of this book feeling exactly like that. If I can write an entire book 15 minutes at a time, so can you.” (20081127) “You might think that dancing doesn’t have a lot to do with social research, and doing social research is probably why you picked this book up in the first place. But trust me. Salsa dancing is a practice as well as a metaphor for a kind of research that will make your life easier and better.”Savvy, witty, and sensible, this unique book is both a handbook for defining and completing a research project, and an astute introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science. In this volume, Kristin Luker guides novice researchers in: knowing the difference between an area of interest and a research topic; defining the relevant parts of a potentially infinite research literature; mastering sampling, operationalization, and generalization; understanding which research methods best answer your questions; beating writer’s block.Most important, she shows how friendships, non-academic interests, and even salsa dancing can make for a better researcher.“You know about setting the kitchen timer and writing for only an hour, or only 15 minutes if you are feeling particularly anxious. I wrote a fairly large part of this book feeling exactly like that. If I can write an entire book 15 minutes at a time, so can you.” Salsa Dancing? In The Social Sciences? -- What's It All About? -- An Ode To Canonical Social Science -- What Is This A Case Of, Anyway? -- Reviewing The Literature -- On Sampling, Operationalization, And Generalization -- Getting Down To The Nitty-gritty -- Field (and Other) Methods -- Historical-comparative Methods -- Data Reduction And Analysis -- Living Your Life As A Salsa-dancing Social Scientist. Kristin Luker. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [285]-310) And Index. Offers guidance for defining and completing a research project. This book provides an introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science. It guides novice researchers in knowing the difference between an area of interest and a research topic. "This book is both a handbook for defining and completing a research project, and an astute introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science."--Provided by publisher