This book presents various recently developed and traditional statistical techniques, which are increasingly being applied in social science research. The social sciences cover diverse phenomena arising in society, the economy and the environment, some of which are too complex to allow concrete statements; some cannot be defined by direct observations or measurements; some are culture- (or region-) specific, while others are generic and common. Statistics, being a scientific method - as distinct from a 'science' related to any one type of phenomena - is used to make inductive inferences regarding various phenomena. The book addresses both qualitative and quantitative research (a combination of which is essential in social science research) and offers valuable supplementary reading at an advanced level for researchers.

"Action Research and Organizational Development" describes a process of change that encourages research and consulting skills. In this process, research data about an organization or culture is systematically collected to develop an understanding of the needs, issues and problems. The information provides the impetus for focusing the change and making discoveries. This work describes the characteristics of the action research process and the procedure for its implementation. This particular type of applied social research differs from other varieties in the immediacy of the researcher's involvement and collaboration in each stage of researching, focusing, and implementing. The work describes the continuous process of research and learning in relation to the researcher's long-term relationship with a problem or issue. This book is relevant for all those who share the goal of positive change within the organization.

This book provides a critical assessment of progress towards the Information Society. Drawing upon unique empirical data, this book lays the foundation for more useful theories of the process of change, and more effective strategies and policies for increasing the benefits from the Information Society. The authors provide insights into the social, economic, and political forces that are structuring the pathway to the Information Society-and its consequences for business and individuals in their everyday lives.

Teachers, as life-long learners, engage in professional development to deepen their understanding of content and instructional methods. Teacher professional development is a form of adult education, and adults learn best if they are actively involved in their own learning and see it relative to their own needs. Grounding professional development in actual classroom practice is a highly powerful means of fostering effective teachers. Research has shown that, for professional development to be effective, several components of instruction should be considered: reflection on practice, problems arising in practice, subject matter content, and principles of adult learning. Practice-Based Professional Development in Education is a cutting-edge research publication that explores both effective and ineffective professional development practices and presents arguments for why adult learning theory should be considered when designing a professional development session. Highlighting a range of topics including social media, education reform, and teacher learning, this book is essential for teachers, academicians, education professionals, policymakers, curriculum designers, researchers, and students.

This book covers applied statistics for the social sciences with upper-level undergraduate students in mind. The chapters are based on lecture notes from an introductory statistics course the author has taught for a number of years. The book integrates statistics into the research process, with early chapters covering basic philosophical issues underpinning the process of scientific research. These include the concepts of deductive reasoning and the falsifiability of hypotheses, the development of a research question and hypotheses, and the process of data collection and measurement. Probability theory is then covered extensively with a focus on its role in laying the foundation for statistical reasoning and inference. After illustrating the Central Limit Theorem, later chapters address the key, basic statistical methods used in social science research, including various z and t tests and confidence intervals, nonparametric chi square tests, one-way analysis of variance, correlation, simple regression, and multiple regression, with a discussion of the key issues involved in thinking about causal processes. Concepts and topics are illustrated using both real and simulated data. The penultimate chapter presents rules and suggestions for the successful presentation of statistics in tabular and graphic formats, and the final chapter offers suggestions for subsequent reading and study.

Organizations of all kinds struggle to understand, adapt, respond and manipulate changing conditions in their internal and external environments. Approaches based on the causal, linear logic of mechanistic sciences and engineering continue to play an important role, given people's ability to create order. But such approaches are valid only within carefully circumscribed boundaries. They become counterproductive when the same organizations display the highly reflexive, context-dependent, dynamic nature of systems in which agents learn and adapt and new patterns emerge. The rapidly expanding discussion about complex systems offers important contributions to the integration of diverse perspectives and ultimately new insights into organizational effectiveness. There is increasing interest in complexity in mainstream business education, as well as in specialist business disciplines such as knowledge management. Real world systems can't be completely designed, controlled, understood or predicted, even by the so-called sciences of complexity, but they can be more effective when understood as complex systems. While many scientific disciplines explore complexity principally through abstract mathematical models and simulations, Emergence: Complexity & Organization explores the emerging understanding of human systems from both the 'hard' quantitative sciences and the 'soft' qualitative perspectives. This 2008 Annual includes articles from Stephen J. Guastello, Ken Baskin, Mihnea Moldoveanu, Frank Boons, Duncan A. Robertson, Brenda L. Massetti, Maria May Seitanidi, Mary Lee Rhodes and many more, which explore a range of complexity-related topics from philosophical concerns through to the practical application of complexity ideas, concepts and frameworks in human organizations. Also included are a series of four reproductions of classical papers in the fields of complexity and systems, each with critical introductions that explore their modern relevance: "The Meanings of 'Emergence' and Its Modes" by Arthur O. Lovejoy (originally published in 1927) "An Outline of General System Theory" by Ludwig von Bertalanffy (originally published in 1950) "Society as a Complex Adaptive System" by Walter Buckley (originally published in 1968) "Is Adaptability Enough?" by Geoffrey Vickers (originally published in 1959)

Organizations of all kinds struggle to understand, adapt, respond and manipulate changing conditions in their internal and external environments. Approaches based on the causal, linear logic of mechanistic sciences and engineering continue to play an important role, given people's ability to create order. But such approaches are valid only within carefully circumscribed boundaries. They become counterproductive when the same organizations display the highly reflexive, context-dependent, dynamic nature of systems in which agents learn and adapt and new patterns emerge. The rapidly expanding discussion about complex systems offers important contributions to the integration of diverse perspectives and ultimately new insights into organizational effectiveness. There is increasing interest in complexity in mainstream business education, as well as in specialist business disciplines such as knowledge management. Real world systems can't be completely designed, controlled, understood or predicted, even by the so-called sciences of complexity, but they can be more effective when understood as complex systems. While many scientific disciplines explore complexity through mathematical models and simulations, Emergence: Complexity & Organization explores the emerging understanding of human systems that is informed by this research. This 2005 Annual includes articles from Max Boisot, Ken Baskin, Robert E. Ulanowicz, Heather H pfl, Victoria Alexander, and many more, which explore a range of complexity-related topics from philosophical concerns through to the practical application of complexity ideas, concepts and frameworks in human organizations. Also included are a series of four reproductions of classical papers in the fields of complexity and systems: "Futurology and the Future of Systems Analysis" by Ida R. Hoos (originally published in 1972) "A Form of Logic Suited for Biology" by Walter M. Elsasser (originally published in 1981) "Beyond Open Systems Models of Organization" by Louis R. Pondy (originally unpublished conference paper from 1976) "The Architecture of Complexity" by Herbert A. Simon (originally published in 1962)

An in-depth look at current issues, new research findings, and interdisciplinary exchange in survey methodology and processing

Survey Measurement and Process Quality extends the marriage of traditional survey issues and continuous quality improvement further than any other contemporary volume. It documents the current state of the field, reports new research findings, and promotes interdisciplinary exchange in questionnaire design, data collection, data processing, quality assessment, and effects of errors on estimation and analysis.

The book's five sections discuss a broad range of issues and topics in each of five major areas, including

• Questionnaire design—conceptualization, design of rating scales for effective measurement, self-administered questionnaires, and more
• Data collection—new technology, interviewer effects, interview mode, children as respondents
• Post-survey processing and operations—modeling of classification operations, coding based on such systems, editing, integrating processes
• Quality assessment and control—total quality management, developing current best methods, service quality, quality efforts across organizations
• Effects of misclassification on estimation, analysis, and interpretation—misclassification and other measurement errors, new variance estimators that account for measurement error, estimators of nonsampling error components in interview surveys

Survey Measurement and Process Quality is an indispensable resource for survey practitioners and managers as well as an excellent supplemental text for undergraduate and graduate courses and special seminars.

In the series: Advances in Cultural Psychology, Jaan Valsiner Memory construction and national identity are key issues in our societies, as well as it is patriotism. How can we nowadays believe and give sense to traditional narrations that explain the origins of nations and communities? How do these narrations function in a process of globalization? How should we remember the recent past? In the construction of collective memory, no doubt history taught at school plays a fundamental role, as childhood and adolescence are periods in which the identity seeds flourish vigorously. This book analyses how history is far more than pure historical contents given in a subject matter; it studies the situation of school history in different countries such as the former URSS, United States, Germany, Japan, Spain and Mexico, making sensible comparisons and achieving global conclusions. The empirical part is based on students interviews about school patriotic rituals, very close to the teaching of history, specifically carried out in Argentina but very similar to these rituals in other countries. The author analizes in which ways that historical knowledge is understood by students and its influence on the construction of patriotism. This book--aside from making a major contribution to the cultural psychology field--should be of direct interest and relevance to all people interested in the ways education succeeds in its variable functions. As a matter of fact, it is related to other IAP books as Contemporary Public Debates Over History Education (Nakou & Barca, 2010) and What Shall We Tell the Children? International Perspectives on School History Textbooks (Foster & Crawford, 2006).

Net-Generation Student Motivation to Attend Community College explores the factors that affect student retention rates in community college by presenting net-generation (or millennial) students with the opportunity to tell their stories and give insight into why they chose and completed their respective community college programs. The author views community colleges through the lens of second-chance organizations, where motivation plays a crucial role in determining whether these students will select and, more importantly, complete a two-year program at these institutions. Embedded in theories of intrinsic motivation (Identity Development Theory), the institution of education (Choice Theory), and college student persistence (the Theory of Self-Efficacy), this book utilizes a mixed method approach to address the unique challenges faced by community colleges in retaining net-generation students. The study also presents a conceptual framework deemed the "Akili model," which emphasizes relationships, personal growth, and support systems to empower educational institutions with tools to keep students in college.

This book highlights recent developments in the field, presented at the Social Simulation 2015 conference in Groningen, The Netherlands. It covers advances both in applications and methods of social simulation. Societal issues addressed range across complexities in economic systems, opinion dynamics and civil violence, changing mobility patterns, different land-use, transition in the energy system, food production and consumption, ecosystem management and historical processes. Methodological developments cover how to use empirical data in validating models in general, formalization of behavioral theory in agent behavior, construction of artificial populations for experimentation, replication of models, and agent-based models that can be run in a web browser. Social simulation is a rapidly evolving field. Social scientists are increasingly interested in social simulation as a tool to tackle the complex non-linear dynamics of society. Furthermore, the software and hardware tools available for social simulation are becoming more and more powerful. This book is an important source for readers interested in the newest developments in the ways in which the simulation of social interaction contributes to our understanding and managing of complex social phenomena.

The subject of the book is advanced statistical analyses for quantitative research synthesis (meta-analysis), and selected practical issues relating to research synthesis that are not covered in detail in the many existing introductory books on research synthesis (or meta-analysis). Complex statistical issues are arising more frequently as the primary research that is summarized in quantitative syntheses itself becomes more complex, and as researchers who are conducting meta-analyses become more ambitious in the questions they wish to address. Also as researchers have gained more experience in conducting research syntheses, several key issues have persisted and now appear fundamental to the enterprise of summarizing research. Specifically the book describes multivariate analyses for several indices commonly used in meta-analysis (e.g., correlations, effect sizes, proportions and/or odds ratios), will outline how to do power analysis for meta-analysis (again for each of the different kinds of study outcome indices), and examines issues around research quality and research design and their roles in synthesis. For each of the statistical topics we will examine the different possible statistical models (i.e., fixed, random, and mixed models) that could be adopted by a researcher. In dealing with the issues of study quality and research design it covers a number of specific topics that are of broad concern to research synthesists. In many fields a current issue is how to make sense of results when studies using several different designs appear in a research literature (e.g., Morris & Deshon, 1997, 2002). In education and other social sciences a critical aspect of this issue is how one might incorporate qualitative (e.g., case study) research within a synthesis. In medicine, related issues concern whether and how to summarize observational studies, and whether they should be combined with randomized controlled trials (or even if they should be combined at all). For each topic, included is a worked example (e.g., for the statistical analyses) and/or a detailed description of a published research synthesis that deals with the practical (non-statistical) issues covered.

Academic literature rarely gives an account of the ethical challenges and emotional pitfalls the researcher is confronted with before, during and after being in the field. Giving personal accounts, the authors explore some of the challenges one can face when engaging in local-level research in difficult situations.

The book presents statistical methods and models that can usefully support the ev- uation of educational services and quality of products. The contributions collected in this book summarize the work of several researchers from the universities of Bologna, Firenze, Napoli and Padova. The contributions are written with a cons- tent notation and a uni?ed view, and concern methodological advances developed mostly with reference to speci?c problems of evaluation using real data sets. The evaluation of educational services, as well as the analysis of judgements and preferences, poses severe methodological challenges because of the presence of one or more of the following aspects: the observational (non experimental) nature of the context, which is associated with the well-known problems of selection bias and presence of nuisance factors; the hierarchical structure of the data, that entails c- related observations and consideration of effects at different levels of the hierarchy and their interactions (multilevel analysis); the multivariate and qualitative nature of the dependent variable, that requires the use of ad hoc statistical methodologies; the presence of non observable factors, e. g. the satisfaction, calling for the use of latent variables models; the simultaneous presence of components of pleasure and components of uncertainty in the explication of the judgments, that asks for the speci?cation and estimation of mixture models. The ?rst part of the book deals with latent variable models.

Reinhard Selten, to date the only German Nobel Prize laureate in economics, celebrates his 80th birthday in 2010. While his contributions to game theory are well-known, the behavioral side of his scientific work has received less public exposure, even though he has been committed to experimental research during his entire career, publishing more experimental than theoretical papers in top-tier journals. This Festschrift is dedicated to Reinhard Selten's exceptional influence on behavioral and experimental economics. In this collection of academic highlight papers, a number of his students are joined by leading scholars in experimental research to document the historical role of the "Meister" in the development of the research methodology and of several sub-fields of behavioral economics. Next to the academic insight in these highly active fields of experimental research, the papers also provide a glance at Reinhard Selten's academic and personal interaction with his students and peers.

There is no other print source, online source, or Web search engine that provides the wide range and depth of insight found in Vital Statistics on American Politics. This new 2015-2016 edition is updated with the most recent information available. The editors consult hundreds of sources to calculate and locate the data, facts, and figures that offer a vivid and multifaceted portrait of the broad spectrum of United States politics and policies. Students, professional researchers, and interested citizens will find chapters devoted to key subject areas such as elections and political parties, public opinion and voting, the media, the three branches of U.S. government, foreign, military, social and economic policy, and much more. For depth of information and ease of use, this updated edition is the best resource of its kind available and should be a key component of all academic and large public library collections.

What should you do when results don't match your expectations? How is it possible to make the best of existing evidence? Is it acceptable to adapt your research question in the middle of a project? This book examines how experienced researchers have tackled these questions in their own projects. Moving beyond abstract discussions of method, it explores how social scientists collect and construct evidence in real-life practice. Looking critically at nine examples of recent research, Doing Social Science gives a thorough yet accessible examination of how research is planned, carried out, recorded and analysed in real-life situations. The book covers core and new areas of social science, with each chapter looking at a different contemporary study that taps into a key aspect of modern everyday life. Diverse and globally relevant, these studies include themes from online gaming and news interviews to post-colonial life and Goth subculture. The book relates the theory behind such social issues to the methods being used, as it gives critical evaluation alongside careful explanation and invaluable advice. Showing how the choice and use of particular methods and techniques can critically shape the findings of social science research, the authors also explain how to deal with complex research issues. Written and edited by experts in the field, this innovative book highlights the excitement as well as the challenge of conducting real-life research. After reading this, students throughout the social sciences will have the confidence and skills to evaluate the research of others and carry out their own research projects.

A discussion of the case study method which develops an integrative framework for causal inference in small-n research. This framework is applied to research design tasks such as case selection and process tracing. The book presents the basics, state-of-the-art and arguments for improving the case study method and empirical small-n research.

The book shows a very original organization addressing in a non traditional way, but with a systematic approach, to who has an interest in using mathematics in the social sciences.

The book is divided in four parts: (a) a historical part, written by Vittorio Capecchi which helps us understand the changes in the relationship between mathematics and sociology by analyzing the mathematical models of Paul F. Lazarsfeld, the model of simulation and artificial societies, models of artificial neural network and considering all the changes in scientific paradigms considered; (b) a part coordinated by Pier Luigi Contucci on mathematical models that consider the relationship between the mathematical models that come from physics and linguistics to arrive at the study of society and those which are born within sociology and economics; (c) a part coordinated by Massimo Buscema analyzing models of artificial neural networks; (d) a part coordinated by Bruno D'Amore which considers the relationship between mathematics and art.

The title of the book "Mathematics and Society" was chosen because the mathematical applications exposed in the book allow you to address two major issues: (a) the general theme of technological innovation and quality of life (among the essays are on display mathematical applications to the problems of combating pollution and crime, applications to mathematical problems of immigration, mathematical applications to the problems of medical diagnosis, etc.) (b) the general theme of technical innovation and creativity, for example the art and mathematics section which connects to the theme of creative cities.

The book is very original because it is not addressed only to those who are passionate about mathematical applications in social science but also to those who, in different societies, are: (a) involved in technological innovation to improve the quality of life; (b) involved in the wider distribution of technological innovation in different areas of creativity (as in the project "Creative Cities Network" of UNESCO).

This book aims to deconstruct ethnography to alert systems designers, and other stakeholders, to the issues presented by new approaches that move beyond the studies of 'work' and 'work practice' within the social sciences (in particular anthropology and sociology). The theoretical and methodological apparatus of the social sciences distort the social and cultural world as lived in and understood by ordinary members, whose common-sense understandings shape the actual milieu into which systems are placed and used. In Deconstructing Ethnography the authors show how 'new' calls are returning systems design to 'old' and problematic ways of understanding the social. They argue that systems design can be appropriately grounded in the social through the ordinary methods that members use to order their actions and interactions. This work is written for post-graduate students and researchers alike, as well as design practitioners who have an interest in bringing the social to bear on design in a systematic rather than a piecemeal way. This is not a 'how to' book, but instead elaborates the foundations upon which the social can be systematically built into the design of ubiquitous and interactive systems.

The focus of this volume is on the further development of the Quality of Life Theory and the means to measure the concept. The volume summarizes Michalos' fundamental assumptions about the nature of quality of life or human well-being and explains in detail the two variable theory of the quality of life. It gives an update of the journal Social Indicators Research after forty years, an explanation of the role of community indicators in connecting communities, and a critical review of the much publicized Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi report. It deals with the multiple discrepancies theory (MDT), the empirical theory designed to provide the foundation of the pragmatic theory of value. Other concepts discussed in this volume are the stability, sensitivity, and other different features of measures of domain and life satisfaction and happiness, measures of arts-related activities and beliefs, measures of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour concerning sustainable development, and the role of quality of life in sustainable development research. The volume concludes with discussions on connections between social indicators and communities, aspects of community quality of life in Prince George, British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta, and British Columbians' expectations and attitudes going into the third millennium.

The Third Edition of the bestselling Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory continues to offer immensely practical advice and technical expertise to aid researchers in making sense of their collected data. Authors Juliet Corbin and the late Anselm Strauss (co-creator of Grounded Theory) present methods that enable researchers to analyze and interpret their data, and ultimately build theory from it. Highly accessible in their approach, Corbin and Strauss provide a step-by-step guide to the research act--from the formation of the research question through several approaches to coding and analysis, to reporting on the research. Full of definitions and illustrative examples, this book concludes with chapters that present criteria for evaluating a study, as well as responses to common questions posed by students of qualitative research. Significantly revised, Basics of Qualitative Research remains a landmark volume in the study of qualitative methods. Key Features of the Third Edition:

Allows for students to develop their critical thinking skills in the "Critical Issues" section at the end of each chapter.

Shows the actual steps involved in data analysis (from description to grounded theory) and data gathering by means of theoretical sampling.

Provides exercises for thinking, writing and group discussion that reinforces material presented in the text.

Consists of a student companion Web site at www.sagepub.com/corbinstudysite that includes real data and practice with qualitative software such as MAXQDA, as well as student practice exercises.

An empirical econometric study that tests an earlier worldwide survey showing that advertising has had little impact on total alcohol consumption or adverse outcomes associated with drinking. The advertising executives, also trained as sociologists and statisticians, offer a conceptual model for advertising effects. They define and describe both predictor and outcome variables and how they are operationalized and measured. Statistical data are summarized and trends in predictor variables and alcohol consumption from 1950 to 1990 are identified. Data are analyzed in a regression context to isolate factors that significantly affect demand for alcohol and time series relationships are explored. In addition they focus on mortality rates over the 40 year study period of three diseases clearly related to the consumption of alcohol. Fisher and Cook simulate how rates and numbers of deaths might be affected if advertising or prices changed, and then they collect all their findings and draw conclusions. For academic and professional audiences of economists and sociologists, businessmen and women, policymakers, and communicators.

Research in learning and behavioral disabilities, employing a variety of methods and techniques, has provided a wealth of information relevant to practitioners. In order to be of value, however, this research must employ appropriate and rigorous methodology.

Recent years have witnessed a variety of new techniques for research synthesis, research design, and data analysis, many of which have been applied to the study of learning and behavioral disabilities. In this volume, a variety of methodological approaches to research is described, applied, and evaluated. Chapters in this volume provide discussions of applications of qualitative research methodology, and techniques for statistical analysis for single subject data. In addition, techniques for structural equation modeling and item response theory are described with specific reference to the study of learning and behavioral disorders, as are techniques for handling missing data.

Also discussed are procedures for dealing with specific research problems in areas such as behavioral disorders, school-wide intervention systems, and early reading as well as more general literacy interventions.

Finally, methodology for integrative research reviews are described, as well as applications of research synthesis to quantitative research on cognitive processes in mathematics, and to qualitative research in co-teaching.

This volume contains chapters authored by internationally recognized experts in the field of learning and behavioral disabilities. This book is intended for interested professionals and practitioners; researchers in learning and behavioral disabilities; and graduate students in psychology, education, and specialeducation, particularly those interested in applications of research methodology in the study of learning and behavioral disabilities.
*Discusses, applies and evaluates different methodological approaches to learning and behavioral disorder research
*Internationally recognized contributors
*Serves as a practical reference to educators, researchers, psychologists, professionals and practitioners