Research Design in the Social Sciences: Declaration, Diagnosis, and Redesign

This book provides a powerful framework for describing empirical research designs in the social sciences, including observational, experimental, qualitative, quantitative, and descriptive designs. It includes an accompanying algorithm for declaring designs, diagnosing properties, and redesigning features, and is an essential resource for current and future researchers.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 392 pages
Publication date: 22 August 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Evaluation of research design is a crucial aspect of social science research, and this book provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and assessing research designs. The Model, Inquiry, Data Strategy, and Answer Strategy (MIDA) framework is introduced as a powerful tool for describing empirical research designs in the social sciences. MIDA enables researchers to characterize key analytic features of various designs, including observational, experimental, qualitative, quantitative, and descriptive/causal designs.

The book includes an accompanying algorithm that allows researchers to declare designs in the MIDA framework, diagnose properties such as bias and precision, and redesign features like sampling, assignment, measurement, and estimation procedures. This comprehensive approach ensures that researchers have a solid understanding of their designs before implementing them, which can lead to more robust and reliable research outcomes.

Research Design in the Social Sciences is a valuable resource for researchers at all stages of their careers. It serves as a comprehensive guide to the properties of research designs and provides a library of the most common designs in the social sciences. The book includes a complete declaration of the canonical design for each library entry, describing the circumstances under which the design can be strong or weak, and exploring the consequences of the choices under the research designers' control.

Furthermore, the book is accompanied by online resources that can be used in conjunction with the book, making it an ideal textbook for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. The MIDA framework provides a systematic approach to evaluating research design, and this book is a valuable tool for researchers who want to ensure that their research is rigorous, valid, and meaningful.

Dimension: 254 x 178 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691199573