Polity Designing Social Research: The Logic of Anticipation

Designing Social Research is a uniquely comprehensive, systematic and student-friendly guide to the core knowledge and types of skills required for planning social research. The authors organize the book around the four major steps in social research - focusing, framing, selecting and distilling - placing particular emphasis on the formulation of research questions and the choice of appropriate 'logics of inquiry' to answer them. The basic requirements for research designs and proposals are laid out at the beginning of the book, followed by a discussion of key design issues such as the role of theoretical and other abstract ideas, varieties of method, sourcing and making sense of data, and research ethics. Four sample research designs on environmental issues illustrate the role of research questions and the application of the four logics of inquiry, and the third edition includes new material dedicated to social research in a digital, networked age. Fully revised and updated, Designing Social Research will continue to be an invaluable resource to demystify the research process for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Together with the authors' Social Research: Paradigms in Action and Blaikie's Approaches to Social Enquiry, it offers social scientists an innovative and up-to-date guide to research. Review ‘This is a must-read book written by people who know their field inside out; a masterclass in the logic of anticipation when designing social research. Norman Blaikie and Jan Priest explain the choices to be made – and, oh so important, why those decisions need thoughtful planning in advance.  I can’t recommend it enough.’ Rosalind Edwards, University of Southampton, co-director of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods‘This thorough and rigorous book reviews and elaborates the key principles of research design and strategy in ways that blend theoretical sophistication with practical strategic advice: a winning formula. If you produce your research design using this book, and if you really engage with the key issues that Blaikie and Priest write so authoritatively about, you can’t go wrong.’ Jennifer Mason, University of Manchester About the Author Norman Blaikie is former Professor of Sociology at RMIT University Melbourne, and University of Science, Malaysia.Jan Priest is former Adjunct Professor at RMIT University Melbourne, and a past Director of research and performance services at InfoServ Pty Ltd.