The Sage encyclopedia of social science research methods /

The compilers of this impressive, unique work claim it "brings together, in one place, authoritative essays on virtually all social science methods topics, both quantitative and qualitative"--a claim examination supports. More than 400 contributors from the US and abroad--a roster appears in v.1--present approximately 1,000 comprehensive, in-depth, well-referenced entries that vary in length from 50 to 2,500 words. The attractively designed and produced volumes, 1,351 total pages, consist of easily legible text and figures, the front matter occupying 46 pages and the index 40. The alphabetically arranged entries treat, besides expected topics, schools of thought, epistemological questions, and philosophical issues. Hence, the work incorporates articles on both specific data collection and analysis techniques, and on theoretical concepts. Despite its size, the work is easily navigable. In addition to a comprehensive list of entries and cross-references within articles to other entries, a "Reader's Guide" in each volume arranges entries under 34 categories to show relationships; for example, "Scaling" lists 13 entries, "Experimental Design" and "Ethnography" each list nine. The comprehensive, 55-page bibliography of about 2,400 items (books, journals, reports) appears as an appendix in each volume, the 40-page index only in v.3. Since no social science researcher can know all possible methods, the work--especially entries dealing with complex mathematical ideas ("Chi Square Tests," "Multiple Regression Analysis," "Path Analysis")--is designed for readers outside their special fields. The text for these articles, and those dealing with abstruse concepts and techniques ("Essentialism," "Feminist Research," "Narrative Analysis"), is written as clearly and simply as possible and uses many examples, making it accessible to the mathematically uninitiated. Given this significant work's many admirable qualities and the space allotted to theoretical topics, it is surprising that the unusually succinct entry "Theory" needs fuller treatment, and readers will need to look elsewhere to find full values of the t-, F-, chi-square, and other distributions. This defining work will be valuable to readers and researchers in social sciences and humanities at all academic levels. As a teaching resource it will be useful to instructors and students alike and will become a standard reference source. ^BSumming Up: Essential. General and academic collections. D. G. Davis Jr. University of Texas at Austin

The entry under "Cohort Perspectives" in Macmillan's 1992 Encyclopedia of Sociology states that it can only touch on "the diverse research designs involved in analyses of the multiple factors affecting lives of people in particular cohorts." It is good to be able to report, then, that this three-volume encyclopedia does tackle research designs, in cohort analyses as well as hundreds of other quantitative and qualitative approaches and techniques in social science disciplines. Lewis-Beck (political science, Univ. of Iowa), Alan E. Bryman (social sciences, Loughborough Univ., U.K.), and Tim Futing Liao (sociology, Univ. of Essex & Univ. of Illinois) offer 1000 alphabetically arranged entries by contributors from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and a few European countries. The absence of Eastern perspectives may concern some readers, but then the emphasis is on uniform processes rather than cognitive styles that may differ from culture to culture. Each volume includes a list of works cited, and the pagination throughout the three volumes is continuous, though a complete index appears in only the third volume (a minor quibble). The covers and page layouts are serviceable if not handsome; more important, perhaps, they sit open whether you are at the front or back of a volume. Ultimately, the abundance of quantitative information in this set helps give the lie to those who accuse the social sciences of being "soft"; on the other hand, it limits the audience. While Sage describes this as accessible, the most appreciative users of this volume will be students, faculty, and researchers in academic, special, and large public libraries, for whom it is recommended.-Ellen D. Gilbert, Princeton, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.