Limited Bibliography on Research Methods
compiled (with assistance) by Marian
Petre, 1997
There is no single, definitive source on research methods. There is a
massive literature, both general and within different domains, such as management,
social science, and education - this list is only a smattering, and a rather
idiosyncratic one. A number of publishers (e.g., Sage, Falmer Press, Routledge)
produce series on research methods. The literature varies enormously in
coverage, depth, quality, perspective, examples, etc. There's no help for
it; one must read critically: look for what suits your purposes, use it,
ignore the rest.
On the quantitative/qualitative distinction:
- Brannen, J. (Ed.) (1992) Mixing Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Research Theory and Practice. Avebury.
- Bryman, A. (1988) Quantity and Quality in Social Research. Allen
and Unwin.
- Hammersley, M. (1992) What's Wrong with Ethnography? Routledge.
On research methods (mainly introductory texts):
- Adelman, C. (Ed.) (1981) Uttering Muttering. Grant McIntyre.
[on face-to-face interviews]
- Berg, B.L. (1989) Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences.
Allyn and Bacon.
- Borg, W.R., and Gall, M.D. (1989) Educational Research: An Introduction.
(Fifth edition) Longman.
- Breakwell, G.M., Hammond, S., and Fife-Schaw, C. (Eds.) (1995) Research
Methods in Psychology. Sage.
- Bulmer, M. (1984) Sociological Research Methods. (Second edition)
Macmillan.
- Burgess, R.G. (1984) In the Field. Allen and Unwin.
- Campbell, D.T., and Stanley, J.C. (1963) Experimental and quasi-experimental
designs for research. In: N.L. Gage (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Teaching.
Rand McNally.
- Cohen, L., and Manion, I. (1989) Research Methods in Education.
Routledge.
- Denzin, N.K., and Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.) (1994) Handbook of Qualitative
Research. Sage.
- Dominowski, R.L. (1980) Research Methods. Prentice-Hall.
- Ely, M., Anzul, M., Friedman, T., Garner, D., and Steinmetz, A.M. (1990)
Doing Qualitative Research: Circles within Circles. Falmer Press.
- Ericsson, K.A., and Simon, H.A. (1993) Protocol Analysis: Verbal
Reports as Data. MIT Press. [a classic on protocol analysis, albeit
imperfect]
- Hakim, C. (1987) Research Design: Strategies and Choices in the
Design of Social Research. Allen and Unwin.
- Isaac, S., and Michael, W.B. (1989) Handbook in Research and Evaluation
for Education and the Behavioural Sciences. EdITS Publishers.
- Maykut, P., and Morehouse, R. (1994) Beginning Qualitative Research:
A Philosophical and Practical Guide. Falmer Press
- McNeill, P. (1990) Research Methods. (Second edition) Routledge.
[An accessible but elementary sociological introduction]
- Morgan, D.L. (1988) Focus Groups as Qualitative Research. Sage.
- Moser, C.A., and Kalton, G. (1979) Survey Methods of Social Investigation.
Gower.
- Oppenheim, A.N. (1993) Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitutde
Measurement. Pinter.
- Robson, C. (1993) Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists
and Practitioner-Researchers. Blackwell.
- Spradley, J.P. (1980) Participant Observation. Hold, Rinehart
and Winston.
- SRM Database of Social Research Methodology. Sage Publications.
[CD-ROM database of literature references]
- Taylor, S., And Bogdan, J.C. (1984) Introduction to Qualitative
Research Methods. (Second edition of Bogdan and Taylor) Wiley. [sociological
introduction to ethnography, participant observation.]
- Tesch, R. (1990) Qualitative Research: Analysis Types & Software
Tools. Falmer Press.
- Benbasat, I. (Ed.) (1989) The Information Systems Research Challenge:
Experimental Research Methods. Volume 2. Harvard Business School.
- Kraemer, K.L. (Ed.) (1989) The Information Systems Research Challenge:
Survey Research Methods. Volume 3. Harvard Business School.
On qualitative analysis:
- Miles, M., and Huberman, M. (1984) Qualitative Data Analysis.
(Second edition) Sage. [a variety of techniques, with examples.]
- Riley, J. (1990) Getting the Most from Your Data: A Handbook of
Practical Ideas on How to Analyse Qualitative Data. Bristol: Technical
and Educational Services Ltd.
- Silverman, D. (1993) Interpreting Qualitative Data. Sage.
- Strauss, A. (1987) Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists.
Cambridge University Press.
- Strauss, A., and Corbin, J. (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research:
Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Sage. [A straightforward
introduction.]
Good, accessible statistics texts
(always consult a guru)
- Bruning, J.L., and Kintz, B.L. (1987) Computational Handbook of
Statistics. (Third edition) Scott, Foresman.
- Hays, William L. (1988) Statistics. Holt Rinehart and Winston.
- Huff, D. (1954) How to Lie with Statistics. Penguin.
- Marsh, C. (1988) Exploring Data: An Introduction to Data Analyisis
for Social Scientists. Polity Press.
- Moroney, M.J. (1951) Facts from Figures. Penguin.
- Rowntree, D. (1981) Statistics Without Tears. Routledge.
- Zeisl, H. (1968) Say It with Figures. (Fifth edition) Harper
and Row.
Providing a perspective on the limitations of research
methods:
- Campbell, D.T., and Stanley, J.C. (1963) Experimental and quasi-experimental
designs for research. In: N.L. Gage (ed), Handbook of Research on Teaching.
Rand McNally
- Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., and Tversky, A. (1982) Judgment under
Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Cambridge University Press.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Martyn Hammersley, Vicki
Almstrum, and Ann Fleury, from whom I have borrowed shamelessly.