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An Invitation to Social Research

An Invitation to Social Research

by ProfessorPerttiAlasuutari (Author)

  • Used

    Paperback 1998

    $3.49
Synopsis

A succinct and engaging introduction to social research, this book outlines how to study social and cultural phenomena, explains the difference between qualitative and quantitative analysis, and examines the relationship between social research and society.

By comparing the work of the academic researcher to that of the detective in terms of how they gather clues, weigh up the facts and present them as evidence, this book takes the mystery out of social science research. By contextualizing the historical and intellectual development of the `sociological imagination', the book enables students to integrate their knowledge of social theory, social history and social structure into a coherent conception of contemporary social research.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 192
 Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd
Published: 12 Oct 1998
ISBN 10: 0761957375
ISBN 13: 9780761957379

Media Reviews
`Courses in research methods can be dull, technical exercises. The particular merit of Alasuutari's book is that it conveys

contemporary ideas about social research in a lively and interesting way. Using the original parallel between detective stories and research, he draws the beginning student into a forceful argument based upon compelling examples. Just as Peter Berger's Invitation to Sociology provided the best, singly-authored introduction to social theory a generation ago, so Alasuutari's An Invitation to Social Research sets a standard for a new generation of students' - David Silverman, Goldsmiths College

Author Bio
Pertti Alasuutari is a sociologist, cultural studies scholar, paterfamilias and a highly significant figure in the development of both Finnish and international qualitative research. His career has gone from strength to strength as regards advancement in Finnish academia, as witnessed by some twenty books, and numerous articles in both Finnish and foreign journals. Yet Professor Alasuutari insists that he did not consciously choose the career of a sociologist. Professor Alasuutari completed his school education in Rovaniemi, Lapland in 1975 and went to study technology at the University of Oulu. But not for long. In 1977 he dropped out and began to dream of becoming a journalist, in the meantime doing supply teaching. In summer I studied journalism at summer university in Lapland and began my military service His days in the army driving a desk led him to another state agency. In autumn 1978 the train from the north arrived in Tampere with the 22-year-old on board. He had gained admission to study sociology. For the first year I only studied journalism, and didn't even set foot in the Department of Sociology, grins Professor Alasuutari. Career development In 1983 the Westermarck Society awarded a prize for a master's thesis to the youthful Alasuutari. The thesis was entitled The Realm of Male Freedom . The ethnographic approach was to describe the alcohol culture of a group of men patronizing a suburban pub.