Known as the gold standard for research methods, Babbie's THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH gives you a definitive guide to research as practiced by social scientists.

Combining a straightforward approach with the author's renowned sense of humor, this student-friendly text equips you with the tools and knowledge to apply research concepts as both researcher and consumer. The author emphasizes the process by showing you how to design and construct projects, introducing today's various observation modes and answering critical questions about research methods, such as how to conduct online surveys and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data.

The 15th Edition includes the latest General Social Survey findings along with new coverage of the global use of social research, the emerging role of big data, demographic analysis and more.

Reader friendly and clear, Rubin and Babbie's concise and social work-specific research methods book provides readers with the tools they need to understand the subject matter. Illustrations and examples throughout show readers how they can apply research to practice. Outlines, introductions, boxed features, chapter endings with main points, and review questions and exercises provide the information and practice readers need to learn the essentials. As part of the Cengage Empowerment Series, ESSENTIAL RESEARCH METHODS FOR SOCIAL WORK, 4th Edition, thoroughly integrates the core competencies and recommended practice behaviors outlined in the current Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards (EPAS) set by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE).

This thorough revision of Babbie's standard-setting text presents a succinct, straightforward introduction to the field of research methods as practiced by social scientists. Contemporary examples, such as terrorism, Alzheimer's disease, anti-gay prejudice and education, and the legalization of marijuana, introduce you to the "how-tos" and "whys" of social research methods. With new data, new coverage of online research and other timely topics, and Learning Objectives for each chapter that help you focus on important concepts, this edition continues to be authoritative yet student-friendly and engaging as it helps you connect the dots between the world of social research and the real world.

Featuring real-world examples and comprehensive coverage of qualitative methods, the market-leading RESEARCH METHODS FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND CRIMINOLOGY combines the scholarship, accuracy, and conversational tone of Earl Babbie's best-selling THE PRACTICE OF SOCIAL RESEARCH with Mike Maxfield's expertise in criminology and criminal justice. Providing the most comprehensive, authoritative introduction to criminal justice research available today -- and enhanced by new examples (e.g., cannabis cultivation, violence prevention), research, applications, and built-in study tools -- the eighth edition continues its focus on engaging readers like you in DOING research.

This book is an adaptation of the internationally established book which covers qualitive and quanitive theory and methods, with a South African Perspective.

Combining the time tested classical work of Earl Babbie with the insights of one of the most recognized and respected names in speech communication research, THE BASICS OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH is the book for the Communication research methods course. With the authors' collective experience teaching research methods and as active researchers themselves you will find this text to be the authoritative text for your course. The authors frame research as a way of knowing, and provide balanced treatment to both quantitative and qualitative research traditions in communication research and present it in a student friendly and engaging format. It provides in-depth treatment of the role of reasoning in the research enterprise and how this reasoning process plays itself out in planning and writing a research proposal and report.

A straightforward, comprehensive, and approachable guide to research as practiced by social scientists, the Fourteenth Edition of this “gold-standard” book gives readers the tools they need to apply research concepts practically, as both a researcher and a consumer. The author emphasizes the process by showing readers how to design and construct projects, introducing the various observation modes in use today, and answering critical questions about research methods-such as how to conduct online surveys and analyze both qualitative and quantitative data.

If you're intimidated by the thought of taking research methods, Rubin and Babbie's classic bestseller can help you overcome the fear factor often associated with this course with its reader-friendly presentation of all aspects of the research endeavor. If you're not intimidated, you'll still appreciate the authors' clear and often humorous writing style as well as the book's depth and breadth of coverage. RESEARCH METHODS FOR SOCIAL WORK, Ninth Edition, strikes an optimal balance of quantitative and qualitative research techniques -- illustrating how the two methods complement one another and can be integrated in the same study. Relevant examples from real-world settings highlight the connections between research and social work practice. Comprehensive, friendly, accurate, and integrating the best of technology, this text is widely considered the best text for the research methods course -- and when you read it, you'll see why.