{"data":[{"id":536,"title":"Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration (With Applications in R)","edition_statement":"3rd Edition","volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"The focus of this book is on using quantitative research methods to test hypotheses and build theory in political science, public policy and public administration. It is designed for advanced undergraduate courses, or introductory and intermediate graduate-level courses. The first part of the book introduces the scientific method, then covers research design, measurement, descriptive statistics, probability, inference, and basic measures of association. The second part of the book covers bivariate and multiple linear regression using the ordinary least squares, the calculus and matrix algebra that are necessary for understanding bivariate and multiple linear regression, the assumptions that underlie these methods, and then provides a short introduction to generalized linear models.The book fully embraces the open access and open source philosophies. The book is freely available in the SHAREOK repository; it is written in R Markdown files that are available in a public GitHub repository; it uses and teaches R and RStudio for data analysis, visualization and data management; and it uses publically available survey data (from the Meso-Scale Integrated Socio-geographic Network) to illustrate important concepts and methods. We encourage students to download the data, replicate the examples, and explore further! We also encourage instructors to download the R Markdown files and modify the text for use in different courses.","contributors":[{"id":4447,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Hank","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Jenkins-Smith","location":"University of Oklahoma","background_text":"Hank Jenkins-Smith earned his PhD in political science from the University of Rochester (1985). He is a George Lynn Cross Research Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Oklahoma, and serves as a co-Director of the National Institute for Risk and Resilience. Professor Jenkins-Smith has published books and articles on public policy processes, national security, weather, and energy and environmental policy. He has served on National Research Council Committees, as an elected member on the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, and as a member of the governing Council of the American Political Science Association. His current research focuses on theories of the public policy process, with particular emphasis on the management (and mismanagement) of controversial technical issues involving high risk perceptions on the part of the public. In 2012 he and collaborators initiated a series of studies focused on social responses to the risks posed by severe weather. This work continues with a panel survey of Oklahoma households, funded by the National Science Foundation, to track perceptions of and responses to changing weather patterns. In his spare time, Professor Jenkins-Smith engages in personal experiments in risk perception and management via skiing, scuba diving and motorcycling."},{"id":4448,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Joseph","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Ripberger","location":"University of Oklahoma","background_text":"Joseph Ripberger currently works at the Center for Risk and Crisis Management, University of Oklahoma. Joseph does research in Public Policy. Their current project is 'Glen Canyon Dam.'"}],"subjects":[{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":478,"url":"https://shareok.org/handle/11244/52244","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"University of Oklahoma Libraries"}],"formats":[{"id":801,"type":"PDF","url":"https://shareok.org/items/76bc8ffa-e266-4301-ae5d-47402145ce3d","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":9,"reviews":[{"id":2083,"first_name":"Saleheh","last_name":"Sharifmoghaddam","position":"Adjunct Lecturer","institution_name":"Lehman College, City University of New York","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book definitely tackles many of the issues facing students doing quantitative analysis in social sciences. The authors try to cover the main data analysis techniques, providing readers with ample examples to better appreciate the complexity and dynamism of each model. While no text can attend to all models with detail, this book tries to educate the reader holistically and achieves this breadth, in my opinion, very effectively. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book is accurate and error-free.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is certainly up-to-date and includes R codes to apply the models in the R interface.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The forte of the book is explaining complex econometrics models in very simple language with ample examples. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The books has various subheadings and makes the division of material very clear at the outset. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There are no significant interface issues. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is free of grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The books is not culturally offensive in any way. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The authors can improve the teaching capacity of the material by adding a sequel to the book, discussing more complicated models used in social sciences. ","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2687,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Fisher","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Emory and Henry College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"In terms of content, this text contains nearly everything I generally cover in my introductory statistics class.  This book is aimed at graduate students, but I am reviewing it for undergraduate social science majors.  Overall, I think this will be a good text.  It does seem that the authors assume some level of knowledge of R before beginning the book.  There is additional information available online and in the appendix, but I think more of an introduction to R placed at the beginning of the book would have been useful, given how prominently R features in the text.  I share the author's frustration with teaching this course-- the cost of these textbooks is high and the relationship between statistics and actual research is sometimes spotty.  I think this text does a good job of really connecting statistical techniques to social science research.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I saw no glaring inaccuracies in the text.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"One great thing about statistics books is that the formula for standard deviation is unlikely to change any time soon.   I see this text as having a long self life.  The only thing that might change would be the R code, but the authors have noted that there is more information available about the R online.  ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"I found the writing in this text to be very clear.  One nice addition would be titles for all of the R code that corresponded with a quick reference list for the code included.  Then, if a student was looking for the R code to recode a variable (page 80), for instance, they could quickly find it.  Given the online format, one can search for this information in the text, but I think students who print the text might find it useful.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is generally consistent in terms of format.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is one of the text's strong points.  They cover a lot of information in an efficient manner, and they also include some useful asides.  For instance, in section 5.3.3, when discussing statistical inference, they have a header entitled \"Some Miscellaneous Notes about Hypothesis Testing.\"  I find this sort of discussion very useful.  This section included information on why .05 is a standard, Type I and Type II errors, etc.  While these are clearly important, they are secondary compared to general ideas about inference.  In this sense, I think the layout of the text is very reader friendly.  The bolded terms are also crucial.  I also appreciate the \"Summary\" sections at the end of chapters.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I think the organization is very good.  In an undergraduate course, I'm not sure I will go in as much depth as is included in some of the later chapters (ex: having students do quartile plots for residuals), but I still find it useful.  Moreover, an instructor could easily pick and choose which sections they wanted students to read given the section headers.  I might just move the R appendix to the beginning of the text.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I think that the graphics (some in color) are particularly useful.  Moreover, I think that the inclusion of R output throughout the text was generally useful.  I would like to have seen more presentations of \"cleaned\" data, to show students how they should present their data output.  There are several points in the text where the R code seems to be out of place.  For instance, on page 76, part of the code goes outside the grey shaded box.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar and writing style of the textbook was good.  I saw no major problems.  ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text has the occasional nerd-culture reference (ex: page 40 contained a Monty Python reference) and sports references (ex: lots of baseball references in the probability chapter).  In another example, when talking about sampling strategies, the authors write about how one might observe a potential partner in a variety of circumstances to determine whether they would me a good match.  While I find this example a bit odd, I think the impulse to include interesting examples is a good one.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I am planning on using this for an undergraduate class, and it seems like the authors have pitched this for graduate students.  I don't anticipate too many differences, but I'm excited to see how this textbook works for undergrads.  ","created_at":"2019-03-20T16:17:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-03-20T16:17:51.000-05:00"},{"id":2948,"first_name":"Chris","last_name":"Garmon","position":"Assistant Professor of Health Administration","institution_name":"University of Missouri - Kansas City","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book's coverage of regression is outstanding. In particular, this is the most comprehensive coverage of regression diagnostics I've seen in a research methods text. There is also an entire chapter on logit regression, whereas most texts may devote a paragraph to it at best. Most texts jump right into inference after descriptive statistics, but the authors add a chapter on probability before discussing inference, which is a nice addition. However, there are certain topics that are not covered or barely covered. There is only a cursory discussion of sampling distributions and only one paragraph on the Central Limit Theorem. The authors fly through the discussion of t tests and there is no coverage of the assumptions needed for independent sample t tests. The only coverage of ANOVA is in the discussion of model fit. I think this is an excellent text for instructors who want to emphasize regressions, but those who like to build up to regressions with t tests and ANOVA might find this text lacking.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is accurate and thorough, particularly regarding regression and regression diagnostics. On a few occasions, the authors talked about \"accepting the null hypothesis\" if the p value is greater than 0.05, which is too strong, but apart from that, I saw no problems with the analysis or interpretations. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"A nice feature of this text is that it is written in open source R markdown, so instructors can adapt and add content as desired, making updates easy to implement.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book has the right tone and level of technical information for Ph.D. students in the social sciences, but I think parts of it are too advanced for the typical MPA student. There are entire chapters on calculus (chapter 8) and matrix algebra (chapter 11), which in my opinion are unnecessary for and would likely intimidate most MPA students.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are consistent and easy to follow.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"This book is best covered as a whole. I think it would be difficult to use only a subset of chapters as they all build off and reference each other. For instance, there are numerous instances where terminology (e.g., null hypothesis, Likert scale) are briefly introduced with the promise to cover them in more detail in future chapters.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book starts off with an emphasis on theory as the basis and guiding force of quality social science research and the topics are presented with this theme in mind. I applaud the authors for making theory and causality a guiding principle for the organization of the text because too many research methods texts leave the students with the impression that quantitative research involves looking at the data, discerning patterns, and then developing a theory. I think the organization of the text is ideal with the emphasis of theory and testable hypotheses as the starting point of research.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text has no interface or navigation problems.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a number of minor grammatical mistakes and typos, but nothing that would cause confusion for the reader. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The text uses only one example throughout (an analysis of a survey of perceptions of climate change risk by political ideology and sex). Students outside of political science might not find the example interesting or relevant for the research problems they are likely to face. The title of the text implies that it is designed for public administration students. The text should illustrate at least some of the concepts with research problems public administrators are likely to face.  ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, I think this is an excellent text, but I think it is too advanced and technical, and has too much of a political science focus, for MPA students.","created_at":"2019-05-24T09:30:19.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-24T09:30:19.000-05:00"},{"id":3076,"first_name":"Christina","last_name":"Ladam","position":"Graduate Part-time Instructor","institution_name":"CU Boulder","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text does a solid job in providing an introduction to statistical analysis with a focus on regression. Additionally, it provides a light introduction to statistical computing in R. This is mostly a tool for teaching regression, with a light introduction to maximum likelihood estimation and generalized linear models through a chapter on logistic regression. The text briefly discusses some other methods, though, for instance, the discussion on experimental research designs is quite minimal. There is no discussion of survey experiments, which are increasingly used by social scientists as research design. Perhaps the text should be more clearly framed as one to teach regression. Additionally, there could be more instruction provided on R, specifically in teaching best practices for conducting analyses in R.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I found the content in the text to be mostly accurate. The \"Inference\" section could use some editing in reference to p-values and how we interpret them. This is notoriously difficult, but could be improved. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"While I cannot foresee the content regarding regression becoming obsolete any time soon, there are some limitations to the relevance of the text. For instance, many more recent developments in methodology are not included. That is fine, as no one book can address that many streams of quantitative research. However, the framing of the book makes it seem like it would address more than regression. Additionally, the text would be improved by providing an updated, more thorough introduction to R, including a \"best practices\" approach to analysis in R. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written quite clearly, and would be very appropriate for its target audience. Complex econometric concepts are written in an approachable way, with illustrative and complementary examples. I can see this text being especially useful for public policy and public administration students. While the text is framed as being designed for graduate students, it also seems appropriate for teaching undergraduate statistics courses.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found the text to be consistent in its notation, which is important in statistics texts. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I really appreciated the way in which chapters were organized. Subjects were broken down to manageable chapter lengths, and the use of headings and subheadings was very clear. I can easily picture assigning readings throughout the semester without much modification to chapters.  ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I appreciate the authors' decision to structure the the text as similar to the way in which scientific research is conducted, beginning with the development of theory, moving to research design, and ending with statistical analyses and model evaluation. It is important to place an emphasis on following the scientific method when conducting statistical analyses. While the Appendix on R is helpful, it may make sense to incorporate some introduction to R in the main text. When R is introduced in the main text, it somewhat assumes a baseline familiarity with R.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The PDF version was mostly free of interface issues. It would be nice to incorporate hyperlinks within the text, so that one can simply click on a page number to navigate to a section rather than being limited to scrolling to find things. There also seems to be some inconsistency in formatting of tables and figures -- while most are center-aligned, some are left-aligned. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not encounter problematic grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not find the text to be culturally insensitive in any way. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-06-05T16:46:35.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-01T12:58:58.000-05:00"},{"id":3675,"first_name":"Kimberly","last_name":"Wilson","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"East Tennessee State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book's overall approach is great -- framing quantitative methods in terms of social scientific research more broadly. If I was teaching a quantitative methods course, I would most likely use this book, as it covers a nice range of essentials, particularly regression, while the open source nature ensures that students can always return to this book for reference. The book's use of R is similarly ideal. There are a few areas where an instructor may wish to expand upon the book's content, but this can easily be done through lecture or by assigning one or two additional and complementary readings. I do wish the book did a bit more in terms of clearly defining key terms and concepts. For instance, null hypothesis is first mentioned on page 4, but is not defined until page 10, and one only learns this by reading the full chapter. While the book description says that the book is designed for upper level undergraduates and graduate students, I assume that most students do not encounter terms like null hypothesis until their first methods course, which is usually where they are also learning quantitative methods (and where this textbook would be appropriate). In short, a glossary of the terms set in bold would be a strong addition to this book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I saw no inaccuracies worthy of note. One always has preferences for the way in which methods are explained, but I saw nothing that would cause me to view this book as inaccurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book tackles fundamentals in social scientific research and quantitative methods, and these will stay relevant.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"As mentioned above, a glossary would be an easy addition that would greatly strengthen the text. Students at all levels can become intimidated by a methods book with unfamiliar terminology. A glossary can help alleviate some anxiety.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I saw no inconsistencies.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is organized in a consistent and clear manner. The headings and subheadings are easily understood and navigated. Chapters can easily be broken down into smaller sections for class readings.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text builds in a clear and logical fashion, appropriate to the subject matter of this type of course.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I saw no interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are only trivial grammatical errors, of the kind similar to all textbooks.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not see anything culturally insensitive or offensive in the text. I have to admit, I only understood the Monty Python reference after googling it, but that's life.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I have one relatively minor suggestion. In the first two chapters, where theory and social scientific methodology is discussed, it might help to use a consistent, versatile example to illustrate many concepts of those chapters. For instance, when the text discusses the goal of generalization, and uses the example of why a president's approval rating may have dropped, why not also use this example later to discuss independent and dependent variables? The discussion of dependent and independent variables on page 6 doesn't use an example, and I think students would greatly benefit by having an example to illustrate this content.","created_at":"2020-03-22T15:45:26.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-03-22T15:45:26.000-05:00"},{"id":33536,"first_name":"Caitlin","last_name":"Jewitt","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Tech","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is very comprehensive, beginning with the scientific method, progressing through research design, data visualization, inference, regression, and culminating with a chapter on generalized linear models (logit). The table of contents is thorough, which is helpful to the reader, especially for a methods textbook, which often is not read cover-to-cover, but is referenced time and time again. There is also an appendix which introduces the reader to utilizing R to implement some of the statistical techniques provided in the text. I would like to see more time spent on interaction terms, as this is an important component of teaching quantitative methods to political scientists. While the book covers a breadth of topics, it provides only a surface coverage of many fundamental aspects of research methods (e.g. independent and dependent variables). In other words, the coverage is broad but not deep. Compared to other methods textbooks, there are not as many examples and there are not problems or questions that are often very helpful to students.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and unbiased and its presentation is straightforward. \r\nThe authors could spend more time explaining how to apply these concepts in R and what version of R they are using, so that they may be more easily replicated.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Due to the content (methods-based), it will remain relevant and not be quickly outdated like many texts in political science. The text is also on its third edition, which demonstrates that the authors are continuing to update and improve the text.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"There are some missed opportunities for the authors to define terms. For instance, they discuss a working hypothesis and null hypothesis in the first paragraph (and put these terms in bold), but do not explicitly define them in the text. In other places, they define terms (such as the definition of theory on page 5). Defining terms consistently throughout the text would be helpful and would improve the text's clarity. \r\n\r\nOverall, the language is clear and straightforward. It is written in a manner that is easily accessible to undergraduates. Additional examples, however, would provide a useful supplement to aid in understanding. \r\n\r\nThe presentation of graphs could be enhanced by using variable labels as opposed to variable names.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent in its approach and terminology.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"There are many short sections within each chapter. This makes it ideal and easy to assign sections of a chapter to students, rather than requiring that they read the whole chapter. Other than understanding the basics of research methods, readers could easily move between sections and read portions out of order.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well organized, and progresses in an expected fashion. It begins with theories of social science and the scientific method, discusses fundamentals of research methods, describing and displaying data, discusses inference, then presents bivariate and multivariate OLS regression, and finally general linear models. This coincides with the order in which I would teach these topics.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The book is produced in latex, and so the format (including figures) should be familiar to many political scientists who utilize this software. One revision the authors could make for future revisions would be to include hyperlinks in the table of contents to link the reader to the sections, chapters, and figures.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is well-written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is not culturally insensitive or offensive. The examples are straightforward and brief. In a future revision, the authors could consider discussing the measurement of demographic variables (e.g. gender and sex, race) in greater depth. This would provide the reader with a stronger grasp of the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing different measurement strategies.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The book is a good, comprehensive overview of research methods. It would be difficult to use it as the sole textbook for undergraduates, due to the lack of examples. It would be a strong choice for a supplemental text or may be more appropriate for a graduate course.","created_at":"2021-12-14T10:40:12.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-14T10:40:12.000-06:00"},{"id":34026,"first_name":"Lindsay","last_name":"Benstead","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Portland State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is highly comprehensive in the sense that it effectively marries a discussion of the theoretical foundations of research design and statistics with concrete examples and syntax for applying the concepts in R. Although there is neither an index nor a glossary, the table of contents is detailed and the book itself is effectively organized. Key words are presented in bold.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"In my review of the textbook, I found no evidence of errors of bias. The book appears to be carefully edited with well-chosen examples pertinent to the field of study.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Given the subject matter (i.e., statistics and mathematics), it is unlikely that the material will date quickly. It is plausible but unlikely that the R syntax will no longer work in future iterations of the program. The textbook is on its third edition, suggesting that the authors are attentive to implementing improvements. Additionally, while there are screenshots to pages where students can download resources, the instructions are described in the text without the use of many links which can stop working and create frustration for readers.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book contains very clear descriptions of key topics. Specific chapters could be assigned in courses, even if the application in R is not being used in the course, in which case some of the chapters would be less relevant.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book is thoroughly edited and presents the material in a clear and well-organized way as one would find in any quality textbook on the subject.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The early chapters on research design and statistical theory could be assigned on their own, while the same would be true of the latter chapters for a course needing only instructions on how to use R.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of the book is effective. I would like to see potential material on how to conduct a literature review and research ethics. Creation of examples using SPSS or Stata would also be welcome.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The formatting and interface is problem free.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"This book is well edited and free from grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is free from insensitive or offensive material.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2022-09-03T15:47:30.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-09-03T15:47:30.000-05:00"},{"id":34279,"first_name":"Saahir","last_name":"Shafi","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"California State University, Dominguez Hills","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook provides a solid introduction to quantitative methods in social science research. It is ideal for introducing early stage researchers to R as a tool of quantitative research. From a broad overview of the scientific method and research design to OLS and logit regression, researchers can expect to become comfortable using R for data analysis. The authors could expand this volume to introduce more intermediate and advanced examples of quantitative methods such as ridge regression, panel regression, etc.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate, error-free, and quite straightforward - R scripts are broken down with clear discussions on what the script is evaluating and how to interpret results.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date. Although newer R packages continue to be made available, this text provides a foundational knowledge of basic statistical analysis which is unlikely to become obsolete anytime soon.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is highly accessible and may be successfully used by graduate students with little to no prior knowledge of R. A base understanding of research methods and quantitative analysis would be beneficial for students to get the most out of this text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in terms of terminology and presentation of material.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily divisible into sections and concepts that progressively build upon each other and ideal for college level coursework. The book is split into 16 sections which would fit ideally within the scope of a 16 week course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics are presented in a logical progression moving from general research design to variables and model specification.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no interface issues. Text is presented in an organized and accessible format.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. In future editions, the authors could make efforts to include more diverse demographic groupings within the specified models to demonstrate the best way to evaluate such variables.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2022-12-13T19:52:46.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-13T19:52:46.000-06:00"},{"id":35637,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Trevathan","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Oregon State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Very good. Covers most topics that one would expect in a methods text and often more.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The R code looks clean and clear and will be easily accessed by the reader.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This text, while several years old at this point should remain valuable going forward for some time. R is constantly being updated by its users and community, so there will often be new package additions that make any text out of date within months, but the basics here are perfectly fine for what this text is trying to accomplish.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"There are times where the language could be brought down a level. I say this not to criticize the authors of the text, nor the readers, but to simply state that many students in my experience are often better served with more direct language in an introductory text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text takes the reader from the basic building blocks to advanced models beyond simple correlation and regression. Consequently, you can easily use this text to meet  the requirements of your program's methods sequence.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The R code is presented in-line with the text and is presented in a manner that will be helpful to students not used to both computer programming in R and statistics. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"A few (very) minor grammar issues. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Yes","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This volume is a good core text about which an instructor could build an undergraduate research methods course. While the area coverage is beyond what I have normally encountered in undergraduate methods course, I find this to be a valuable asset as it does allow the instructor to move beyond basic quantitative models (e.g., correlation and univariate regression) and gives one the option to move in and explore more advanced methods that are often absent in most \"starter\" methods texts (e.g., multivariate regression, generalized linear models) and also provides a thorough overview of model assumptions and diagnostics that will be helpful for those wanting a more detailed text to accommodate a deeper understanding of quantitative methods. \r\n\r\nThere are a few things missing, however, that an instructor may need to search out and supplement if one wants a broader overview of social science research methods, but that is no fault of the authors. One area that you may need to further supplement is some additional content concerning theories and their uses in quantitative research and a more robust exploration of research design. While these sections are covered, I imagine that some professors may want to provide some additional depth here.\r\n\r\nThe real strength of the text is how once the authors start in earnest with our education on quantitative models and R code we get an excellent walkthrough on each step of the journey. Concepts and models are explained to the reader and then quickly shown how this this is accomplished with easy to access R code and data visualizations. If you are looking for a no-cost text solution and a no-cost statistics tool in R this text will serve both you and your students well.\r\n","created_at":"2025-09-19T12:48:35.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-09-19T12:48:35.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/quantitative-research-methods-for-political-science-public-policy-and-public-administration-with-applications-in-r-3rd-edition","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:06:10.000-05:00"},{"id":739,"title":"Principles of Political Economy","edition_statement":"Third Edition","volume":null,"copyright_year":2019,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This textbook is unique among economics textbooks. It contains many of the same topics as mainstream textbooks, but it includes and takes very seriously heterodox critiques and alternatives to the mainstream approach to economics. It includes a whole range of alternative theories, including Post-Keynesian, Austrian, Marxian, radical, feminist, institutionalist, and other approaches. The purpose is to teach students about alternative schools of economic thought but also to deepen their understanding of the dominant, neoclassical approach to economics. In this sense, it draws a great deal of inspiration from Richard Wolff and Stephen Resnick’s Contending Economic Theories. Following Wolff and Resnick, an even broader objective is to teach students that economics is a discourse and that no single voice can rightfully claim to have a monopoly on the truth about economics.","contributors":[{"id":4917,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Daniel","middle_name":"E.","last_name":"Saros","location":"Valparaiso University","background_text":"Daniel E. Saros is a Professor of Economics at Valparaiso University, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2004. He received his B.S. in Economics at Bowling Green State University in 1999, and his MA in Economics in 2001 and Ph.D. in Economics in 2004 from the University of Notre Dame. He served as the Director of the International Economics and Finance Master of Science Program from 2012 to 2013 and as the Chair of the Department of Economics from 2014 to 2018 at Valparaiso University. He also served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Review of Radical Political Economics from 2013-2016."}],"subjects":[{"id":4,"name":"Economics","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HB171.5","visible_textbooks_count":46,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/economics"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"}],"publishers":[{"id":718,"url":"https://works.bepress.com/daniel-saros/","year":2019,"created_at":"2019-06-29T12:42:03.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-05-28T11:29:39.000-05:00","name":"Valparaiso University"}],"formats":[{"id":1465,"type":"PDF","url":"https://mountainscholar.org/items/ef29d365-8bc1-4869-8f2e-eeb0fc6909ec","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":3863,"first_name":"Mark","last_name":"Friedman","position":"adjunct","institution_name":"Middlesex Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is comprehensive covering in depth economic theory, microeconomics, macroeconomics and international economics.  There is an index, glossary and more such as a list of figures and tables.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book fairly presents contending economic theories including economic history.  The book is a welcome addition to the repository of economics texts in that students may profit from learning there are other ways to approach economics than the neoclassical approach.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The examples and cases are relevant and more or less enduring such that the text will not have to be swapped out within a short period of time.  In any event, the author has been quite diligent with developing new editions and the current edition is the third edition published 5/2020.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear and each chapter has goals and objectives, summary of key points, key terms and problems for review.  The chapters are not overly long and the font size is easy on the eyes.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is one solid piece of consistent and clear scholarship and does not deviate chapter to chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"There are subheadings, ample and clearly explained graphs and formulas and the writing flows easily.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The order of topics makes sense both from the larger Theory to Micro to Macro to International Economics as well as the organization within each section.  To present ALL topics in typical neoclassical economics texts AND alternative schools would be mean a text at least twice as long (maybe longer) and this is obviously not very practical.  Sensibly the author has selected those major topics.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"A minor point but the online version might use a link at the bottom to take the reader back to Contents.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical or otherwise writing errors are detected.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is quite well-balanced and leans more toward theory and theorists and explanations of the theory with less focus on connecting theory to real-world examples.  The section Following the Economic News connects theory to the real-world.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"A very interesting book which I recommend highly.  It's very impressive how the book is available in multiple formats such as epub, pdf, kindle, mobi.  Some teachers and students might want answers to the Problems for Review but perhaps working them out is a true exercise in learning!","created_at":"2020-05-29T07:09:06.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-05-29T07:09:06.000-05:00"},{"id":33821,"first_name":"Boris","last_name":"Barkanov","position":"Teaching Associate Professor","institution_name":"West Virginia University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text does not cover behavioral, institutional, sociological, or all critical approaches, nor does it really explore international political economy (e.g. IR realism) very much.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found it accurate. I am a comparative and international relations political scientist with a BA in economics.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Very relevant and likely to remain so.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Accessible text book discussion, but would need to be supplemented with lecture for introductory undergrads.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"\"Neo-classical economics vs alternatives\" is a good organizing structure that is consistently applied.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Individual chapters/sections can be assigned as supplements in CPE and IPE classes","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Good.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Good because it is very simple. Additional links to sub-chapters (in detailed TOC) would be helpful.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I only saw one typo (in chapter 16): Bookings should be Brookings ?","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"A majority of the examples concern English speaking countries. But this is balanced by some discussion of other states/regions and attention to poor states/LDCs.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The third edition of Daniel E. Saros’ Principles of Political Economy: A Pluralistic Approach to Economic Theory is a useful text that presents a comprehensive introductory discussion of neo-classical economics, which it puts in dialogue with Keynesian, post-Keynesian, and some critical alternatives. The opening section explores the discourse, ethics, and supply/demand theory of neo-classical economics, followed by a Marxist analysis of class exploitation. Parts three, four, and five focus on micro-, macro-, and international economic theory. Each chapter starts with learning goals/objectives, includes brief analyses of contemporary political economic issues that demonstrate applications of preceding theoretical propositions, and concludes with a summary of key points, list of key terms, and problems for review that could be used in class and/or as homework. The chapters are fairly rich, well-organized, effective in introducing difficult concepts, and have the right amount of figures/tables. The text does not cover behavioral, institutional, sociological or all critical approaches, nor does it explore international political economy (e.g. IR realism) very much. With this in mind, it can be used as the primary text in a heterodox economics course. Alternatively, individual chapters/sections can be assigned as readings in CPE, IPE, and IR classes.","created_at":"2022-05-02T16:16:03.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-05-02T16:16:03.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/principles-of-political-economy","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:06:53.000-05:00"},{"id":79,"title":"Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices","edition_statement":"(Revised edition)","volume":null,"copyright_year":2019,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781475146127","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is designed to introduce doctoral and postgraduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioural research, and can serve as a standalone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently being used as a research text at universities in 216 countries, across six continents and has been translated into seven different languages. To receive updates on this book, including the translated versions, please follow the author on Facebook or Twitter @Anol_B.","contributors":[{"id":3555,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Anol","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Bhattacherjee","location":"University of South Florida","background_text":"Anol Bhattacherjee is a professor of information systems and Citigroup/Hidden River Fellow at the University of South Florida, USA. He is one of the top ten information systems researchers in the world, ranked eighth based on research published in the top two journals in the discipline, MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research, over the last decade (2001-2010). In a research career spanning 15 years, Dr. Bhattacherjee has published over 50 refereed journal papers and two books that have received over 4,000 citations on Google Scholar. He also served on the editorial board of MIS Quarterly for four years and is frequently invited to present his research or build new research programs at universities all over the world. More information about Dr. Bhattacherjee can be obtained from his webpage at http://ab2020.weebly.com."}],"subjects":[{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":244,"url":"https://usq.pressbooks.pub/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-11-01T15:13:42.000-05:00","name":"University of Southern Queensland"}],"formats":[{"id":103,"type":"PDF","url":"https://usq.pressbooks.pub/socialscienceresearch/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":104,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.amazon.com/Social-Science-Research-Principles-Practices/dp/1475146124","price":{"cents":999,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3882,"type":"Online","url":"https://usq.pressbooks.pub/socialscienceresearch/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":3883,"type":"eBook","url":"https://usq.pressbooks.pub/socialscienceresearch/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":46,"reviews":[{"id":88,"first_name":"Paul","last_name":"Goren","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text introduces social science doctoral students to the research process. It can be used in sociology, political science, education public health, and related disciplines. The book does an excellent job covering topics that are too often neglected in research methods classes. Standard texts devote most of their attention to different modes of data collection (e.g, lab experiments, field experiments, quasi-experiments, survey research, aggregate data collection, interpretive and case study methods, etc.). This book covers these materials but also devotes a lot of time to steps in the research process that precede data collection. These steps include formulating a research question, concept definition, theory elaboration, measurement (including reliability and validity) and sampling. There is also cursory coverage of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (a chapter on each) as well as chapter on research ethics. In terms of coverage, then, the text can be described as comprehensive in terms of topics. In terms of depth of coverage of the topics, the text takes a minimalist approach. That is, the fundamentals of each topic are covered, but there is little discussion beyond the basics. Teachers looking for the perfect text that nails all the key points should look elsewhere or make heavy use of supplements. For instance, in the discussion on concepts, constructs, and variables, the text does not distinguish between latent variables, which are unobservable, and manifest variables, which are observable, as is common in the structural equation modeling tradition used in sociology and psychology. This is a minor omission and there are others one might quibble with. The bottom line is that most key topics in the research process are covered, but the coverage is not terribly deep.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"From what I can tell, the book is accurate in terms of what it covers. There are some things that should probably be included in subsequent revisions.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The social science research process is unlikely to change in any signfiicant way for some time; therefore, I suspect the book will be relevant for years to come. The key will be ensuring that the latest research trends/improvements/refinements are added to the book. For instance, internet sampling techniques have come a long way over the past decade and there are now pollng firms that can admister online surveys to representative samples of the broader U.S. population. So long as the author keeps on these develops, this will serve as a useful introductory text for the foreseable future.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This text is extremely and unusually well-written and clear. This is one of the text's greatest selling points. No complaints on this score.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is very consistent from what I can see.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This book can work in a number of ways. A teacher can sample the germane chapters and incorporate them without difficulty in any research methods class.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is fine. The book presents all the topics in an appropriate sequence.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is fine. I didn't experience any problems.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't see any errors, it looks fine.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is not culturally offensive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Teachers looking for a text that they can use to introduce students to the research process and cover the foundational components of the research process should find this manuscript sufficient for their needs. Simple additions on slides or class room commentary can easily take care of the various omissions that pepper the text. Indeed, one could use this text in conjunction with discipline specific supplements quite effectively. For instance, in chapter 3 on the research process, the author devotes 5 paragraphs to common mistakes in the research process, such as pursuing trivial research questions or blind data mining. I can see how psychologists, sociologists and political scientists could provide discipline-specific examples to tailor this to their students particular needs. More generally, I suspect that the text could be used in conjunction with germane discipline specific materials quite effectively in research methodology classes. The book is not perfect. I wish there was more discussion on field experiments in the experiment chapter. Other than a brief mention that these are relatively rare, there was nothing. These are indeed relatively rare but that seems to be changing in some fields (e.g. economic, political science), and I think more discussion of this technique is warranted. The chapter on case study methods would benefit from discussion on the historical and comparative methods that are used in various social science disciplines, as well as some discussion on case selection methods. The statistical coverage is very thin and should not serve as the primary source material in any class that covers statistics. For instance, the discussion on the empirical assessment of reliability (for items or scales) does not discuss in depth the assumptions that underlie the various methods nor the modifications that need to be made across different levels of measurement. To take another example, the author presents the formulae for the variance and standard deviation on p. 122 with the customary n-1 in the denominator. Students often ask me why we divide the mean squared deviation by n-1 instead of n, which is what we do for the mean. Professors will need to make sure that their slides include discussion of the degrees of freedom idea and perhaps some discussion on unbiasedness as well. In the inferential statistics chapter there's no discussion on desirable properties of estimators (unbiasedness and efficiency). This is an unfortunate oversight. These could be added very easily using simple graphs. One thing that's lacking is a chapter on statistical graphics. The book makes great use of graphics and other visual aids throughout the chapters, but I wish there as a standalone chapter that introduces simple plots for univariate and bivariate data. This can be supplemented easily enough, but the omission seems odd. Again, this book can serve as an compact introduction in a graduate research methodology class for students across the social sciences, but it would work best in conjunction with deeper and more discipline specific materials prepared by the professor.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":91,"first_name":"Brendan","last_name":"Watson","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"See overall comments.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"See overall comments.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"See overall comments.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"See overall comments.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"See overall comments.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"See overall comments.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"See overall comments.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"See overall comments.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"See overall comments.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"See overall comments.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Dr. Bhattacherjee's \"Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices,\" is a comprehensive, but a bare-boned (and generic) introduction to social science research. In this case \"generic\" is actually a positive attribute: because the text covers social science research broadly, rather than sociology, psychology, etc. specifically, this text can easily be adapted to the needs of basic research methods courses in allied disciplines. (I teach an introductory quantitative research course for master's and Ph.D. students in a School of Journalism \u0026amp; Mass Communication). I describe the text as comprehensive, because if my students got a basic grasp of all of the concepts in the book, they'd be well positioned to continue on to more advanced research courses (though the text is less valuable as a reference than more comprehensive introductory texts). But while Dr. Bhattacherjee's introduction says that the book is bare-boned by design -- \"I decided to focus only on essential concepts, and not fill pages with clutter that can divert the students' attention to less relevant or tangential issues\" -- some topics deserve more attention. For example, Institutional Review Boards (IRB) receive only two short paragraphs, and there is no mention of the history of why such boards were deemed necessary and play an important role in the research process. I'd consider such knowledge essential for students, and this is the type of information I would like a text to focus on so that I can spend class time reviewing more complicated concepts students might have trouble grasping on their own. (Generally I found the writing to be approachable, and concepts to be well explained, though extensive examples are also part of the \"clutter\" omitted from this book). Another topic I would have liked to see developed further - and perhaps is especially important to the more digitally-savvy crowd interested in the open textbook movement - is the expanding role of the Internet and digital technologies in the research process itself, particularly in the era of \"big data.\" The text, for example, mentions Internet surveys, but there is no conversation about tools one can use to build an Internet survey; how Internet surveys differ from traditional modes of surveying; or the practice of weighting Internet survey results to make them \"representative\" of the larger population. That said, I am balancing using this text versus a more comprehensive, but much more expensive, commercially produced text. Another thing that this book is missing are instructional resources that commercial publishers provide, but ultimately by using this text I can contribute to creating greater value for my students. However, it would have to be supplemented heavily with other materials, as well as lectures, which is not without a trade-off cost. It's certainly doable, but ultimately means a greater investment of my time, and I have to weigh investing my time in creating hands-on learning opportunities and providing students with thorough feedback on their work with the time I'd have to invest in using a text that is complete, but needs to be much more heavily supplemented with additional materials. Ideally, several faculty with similar teaching needs would team up to combine and adapt several open texts to their courses' needs. Adapting and supplementing this text for my purposes by myself, however, remains a steep, if not insurmountable task for a tenure-track professor. This text, however, is thorough enough to maintain my interested in trying to find a way to make it work.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":108,"first_name":"Anika","last_name":"Leithner","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"California Polytechnic State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text certainly covers all the basic concepts and processes I would expect to find in an introduction to social sciences research. What I liked in particular is that the author includes information on the ENTIRE research process, including critical thinking and research ethics, in addition to the \"nuts and bolts\" of research such as operationalization, data collection, and data analysis. I also find it useful that the author includes sections on both qualitative and quantitative research, which is great for an introductory level course. In general, readers can expect to find information on theory- and hypothesis building, operationalization/measurements, sampling, research design, various data collection strategies (e.g. surveys, experiments, etc.), as well as data analysis. The primary reason I did not give this text 5 stars is that the author does not provide a great amount of detail for a lot of the book's sections. He explains in the preface that he purposefully chose to reduce the text to the basics in order to keep the text compact and clutter-free. In general, I tend to agree with this approach, as so many methodology textbooks seem to get lost in examples and case studies without clearly illustrating the research process as a whole. However, as I was reading through this book, I kept thinking that I would need to supplement multiple areas of this book with more information in order to make it truly accessible to my students. To be fair, I think that A) anyone who has taught methods before would be able to use the \"bones\" of this book to prepare students sufficiently well for class and then easily fill in the blanks, and B) it appears that this text was written primarily with graduate students in mind, whereas I most teach undergraduates. In all, I still think that this is a great free alternative to many textbooks out there, but if your teaching style depends on your text including a lot of explanation and examples (or even applications), then this is likely not the text for you. Finally, this book does NOT include an index or a glossary. Personally, I did not find this to be a problem, as the outline/table of contents is very useful, but perhaps students using the text could benefit from an index that would allow them to quickly look up what they need to know.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I did not detect any errors or any purposeful bias in this textbook! Some readers might find that the author's choice of terminology does not necessarily match what I would consider standard practices in the broader social sciences (e.g. the use of the term \"mediating variables\" instead of \"intervening variables\"), but it is always clear what the book is referring to and it shouldn't be too difficult to bridge this \"terminology gap.\" Occasionally, I was a bit puzzled by a definition or an explanation. For instance, the author states that \"control variables\" are not pertinent to explaining the dependent variable, but need to be taken into consideration because they may have \"some impact\" on it. I'm assuming the author means that they are not pertinent to the hypothesis being tested (as opposed to them not being pertinent to the explanation of the dependent variable). This type of ambiguity does not occur very often in the textbook and it does not necessarily represent an error. It merely seems to be an issue of miscommunication. Overall, I very much liked this text for its accuracy.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Luckily, research methods do not change drastically in a short period of time, so I expect the longevity of this book to be very high. In my experience, the biggest factor that can make a research text outdated is the use of up-to-date examples and case studies. This text includes very few of either, so I think this text could be used for many years to come.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is very clear and accessible, probably largely due to its minimalist approach. Aside from the above-mentioned deviations from broader social sciences terminology on a few occasions, I did not encounter any problems with the jargon/technical terminology used. The only minor problem I noted (which made me I've a ranking of 4 as opposed to 5) was a certain amount of repetitiveness in the earlier chapters, specifically with regard to positivism/post-positivism and the discussion of theory/hypothesis creation and testing.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is very consistent. It has a clear outline that matches the natural research process and the author very consistently adhere to this outline. Chapters naturally flow from one another and are logical.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is very well organized and easily accessible due to its division into logical chapters and sub-sections. In addition, the author highlights important concepts in bold, making it even easier to follow along. I would have no problem assigning smaller reading sections throughout the quarter/semester.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As mentioned above, the text is very well organized and flows naturally/logically. It follows the research process from critical thinking, conceptualization, to operationalization/measurements, research design, data collection, and data analysis. Research ethics are discussed in an appendix/addendum.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no major problems with the book's interface. Occasionally, graphs and tables are not as crisp and visually appealing as they might be in an expensive textbook, but personally, the ability to assign an open source text to my students far outweighs any concerns I might have about the visual attractiveness of a book. This text is easy to read and quite user-friendly.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I detected no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text includes very few examples and it is hard to imagine how research methods in general could be offensive to anyone (unless it is the practice of science itself that offends them), but for completeness' sake, allow me to state that I found no instances of insensitivity or offense in this textbook.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This text covers all the basics of the research process. It does not contain a lot of the \"bells and whistles\" that the expensive traditional textbooks have (e.g. lots of examples, fancy graphs, text boxes with case studies and applications, etc.), but it certainly gets the job done. Personally, I appreciate the compact nature of this text and I would much rather fill in a few gaps on my end, if it means that I can assign my students an open textbook.","created_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2014-07-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":211,"first_name":"Jim","last_name":"Hutchinson","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Minnesota","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers all the basic concepts expected in a book on social science research. However, it does so at a fairly superficial level. The author says this was intentional in order to provide coverage of essential topics and not distract students. As such, the book seems to do a good job introducing all the essential concepts for graduate research, but supplemental materials are likely needed depending on instructor or student needs.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book seems to free of errors and bias.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Social science research isn't likely to change greatly so this text should remain relevant for some time and can easily be updated to accommodate new techniques as they arise.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is generally well-written and accessible. The writing is clear and there are sufficient examples to help students grasp concepts.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text appears consistent with others in the field.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text may be best used as an overview of the research process in social sciences rather than a reference. However, various chapters could also be used alone or as supplement to other materials and excluding chapters not relevant to a particular course should not cause any issues. The author even mentions excluding certain chapters that are actually full courses where he teaches.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization and sequence seems very logical.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I accessed the PDF version and did not experience any issues with text or graphics.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I think a good proofread would help. There are a number of places where extraneous words were left in (perhaps when rewriting and changing the structure of a sentence) or where words are not quite right. For example:\r\n\r\n\"...a researcher looking at the world through a “rational lens” will look for rational explanations of the problem such as inadequate technology or poor fit between technology and the task context where it is being utilized, while another research[er] looking at the same problem through a “social lens” may seek out social deficiencies...\"\r\n\r\nSuch errors are not really problematic but they are a bit distracting at times.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not find the book to be insensitive or offensive. Examples used are fairly benign. For example, when discussing the tendency of lay people to view a scientific theory as mere speculation the author uses an example of teacher practice instead of a more charged example such as evolution.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a good book to introduce graduate (and even undergraduate) students to social science research. It is not comprehensive enough to be the only text students encounter, but it would be sufficient for say master's level programs that focus more on capstone or practical \"informed by research\" projects. Students planning to conduct original research, analyze data and interpret results will likely find this insufficient.","created_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2015-06-10T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":252,"first_name":"Allison","last_name":"White","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Colorado State University ","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers a wide array of topics relevant to social science research, including some that are not traditionally included but are welcome additions, such as a chapter dedicated to research ethics. A sample syllabus for a graduate course on research design is also offered at the end of the book, facilitating course development. The book is comprehensive in its treatment of the central components of research design and the different methodological strategies that researchers can leverage to investigate various research questions. Notably absent, however, is an index, glossary of terms, or questions for discussion, which are frequently included in textbooks devoted to research design. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and unbiased, which may be particularly important for texts on research design, as many fields within social science are intractably polarized between quantitative and qualitative approaches. The book goes a long way toward bridging that gap by treating the multitude of methodological orientations fairly and without obvious preference for one or another. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book will stand the test of time due to its comprehensiveness and fair and balanced approach to research design. Both cutting-edge and classic approaches to research are discussed and the book may be easily updated as warranted by important developments in the social sciences. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written clearly and accessibly, providing adequate context for most of the jargon and technical terminology that is covered. For this reason, it seems suitable for a variety of graduate-level courses, including research design survey courses and more advanced courses focusing on specific approaches. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book neatly compartmentalizes the topics, making it easily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course. The individual chapters stand on their own and do not require contextualization. Numerous sub-headings throughout each chapter flag the central themes. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion. The topics build productively throughout the textbook, beginning with the basic concepts of research design and culminating with different strategies to approach research. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book's interface is seamless. Charts and images appear appropriately sized and undistorted and the text is free from navigation problems. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text does not contain conspicuous grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text and examples provided in it are not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. Examples are drawn from universal theories rather than research that is culturally-specific. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":284,"first_name":"Andrew","last_name":"Knight","position":"Assistant Professor of Music Therapy","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I have not seen a more comprehensive text for this topic area, and yet it retains a concision that I would have appreciated as a PhD student when I took courses in research methods. I think that the text may lend itself to several different types of courses. The early chapters can by used for more theoretical research courses, especially for new researchers and fundamentals of research courses. The later chapters can be used for \"nuts and bolts\" courses for addressing specific methodological issues. The appendices are an especially nice touch and added value for faculty to understand how the author uses this text and creates a syllabus to complement it.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"There are very few typographical errors, and overall, the text is rigorously unbiased in its scientific method claims and explanations.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The overwhelming majority of the content in this text is classical understandings of research and methodologies that are essential to all graduate students, particularly in business and the social sciences. There is no indication that any of the content will suffer from claims that it is obsolete or irrelevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The clarity of the text is sound partly due to the concision of the book. Shorter chapters, easily navigable paragraphs, and other compositional devices make the text accessible to most levels of graduate students. The bolded words invite the reader to create a self-guided glossary, not any different than a textbook in an 8th grade student collection, which is helpful to counter the sometimes sophisticated nature of research theory.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"No consistency issues noted.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters have a nice flow to them, and can be \"chunked\" out for use in more beginner or more advanced courses. One preference of this reviewer would be to assign the ethics in research chapter earlier in the course calendar, and thus earlier in the textbook, so it is part of the foundational aspects of understanding social science inquiry. Meanwhile, the qualitative and two separate quantitative chapters play well together for students who will want to review them before exams or after the course is finished while they pursue a thesis/dissertation.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Again, I think the ethics chapter should be earlier, but that is simply a personal choice and can be altered by my syllabus. One issue that I wonder if graduate students might prefer is if they are not already 13 chapters into a text/course and only then are they getting to a basic concept such as measures of central tendency. Offering some of the nuts and bolts of research methods earlier in the text and tying them into the more theoretical concepts might help with clarity of flow for the typical graduate student.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues, nice charts and graphics throughout.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Very few noted.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text is not insensitive in any way. As a matter of fact, pointing out historical issues in research ethics using some sensitive vignettes actually heightens the importance of research in everyday life. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I'm looking forward to adopting it for courses and using it for my own reflections on research!","created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":323,"first_name":"Dana","last_name":"Whippo","position":"Assistant Professor of Political Science and Economics","institution_name":"Dickinson State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"For its purpose, as introduced by the author, this is appropriately comprehensive. However, it is much more brief, more concise, than traditional research methods texts for undergraduates – which the text does not claim to be. It lays a sufficient foundation, with room and expectation for the professor to supplement with additional materials. Supplementing would be important if using this in an undergraduate classroom. I appreciate that the author emphasizes the process of research, and takes the time to address, in the first four chapters, the logic and process of research in a way that allows the text to be used in multiple disciplines. Indeed, this is one of the strengths of the book: that it can be used broadly within the social sciences. The text does not provide either an index or a glossary. This is more challenging when planning for its use in an undergraduate research methods class; however, I think that the strengths of this book outweigh the weaknesses.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I have not noticed any errors or bias. The only issue I’ve noticed, as indicated in other parts of the review, is depth. Doctoral students would bring in a sufficient foundation for reading this on their own; undergraduates will need scaffolding and additional resources to competently understand the complexity inherent in research.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content does not read in a way that seems (either now or in the future) likely to read as dated or obsolete. The discussion of survey methodology and analysis programs will change with technology, but that should be easy to update. One of the book’s strengths is its focus on the foundation of research methods: the relationship between theory and observation, the understanding of science, and the logic that underlies the process of research.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is well-written and concise. Bearing in mind the author’s stated target audience of graduate and doctoral students, it is entirely reasonable that this would require additional work and instructor support (extra time and explanations for definitions and examples, for instance) when used in an undergraduate classroom. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology is consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Faculty would be able to easily divide the text into smaller sections, which would be useful as those smaller reading sections could be combined with targeted supplementary materials.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics generally flow well as presented; the only exception is having the section on research ethics at the end. However, this chapter would be easy to assign earlier in the semester.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not have any problems with respect to interface issues.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors that interfered with the reading process.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not notice any offensive comments or examples. The book is brief by design; it does not include the numerous examples that populate the traditional undergraduate research methods text. I did not find it offensive or insensitive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":463,"first_name":"Yen-Chu","last_name":"Weng","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Washington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Dr. Bhattacherjee’s book, Social Science Research, is a good introductory textbook for upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students to learn about the research process. Whereas most research methods textbooks either focus on “research design” or on “data analysis”, this book covers the whole research process – from theories and conceptual frameworks to research design, data collection, and analysis. This book is structured as four modules and is very adaptable to instructors who want to teach any portions of the book. \n\nSocial science is a quite diverse field, including studies of socio-economic data, human behaviors, values, perceptions, and many others. Not only are the topics wide-ranging, but the research methods and the underlying philosophy of science also vary. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to write a textbook that includes everything. Dr. Bhattacherjee’s book is a nice overview of all these different methods commonly used in the social sciences. It aims for breadth, but not depth. Once could use this book as an entry to the field, but would need to seek additional resources for specific methods or analytical skills.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Based on my review of the book, the content is accurate, error-free and unbiased. However, better consistency with terminology often used in other related fields (such as statistics) would lessen students’ confusion with concepts.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Research methods are not time-sensitive topics and are not expected to change much in the near future. The inclusion of some cases or examples showcasing how social science research methods can be applied to current events or topics would help illustrate the relevance of this book (and social science research).","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is very clear and accessible. It’s written in a way that is easy to understand. Important terminologies are bolded and these are good signposts for key concepts. A glossary summarizing definitions for the key terminologies would help students understand these key concepts. The book includes some helpful figures illustrating concepts in research design and statistics.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Overall, the book is very consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The author, Dr. Bhattacherjee, structured the book following the research process – from theories, to research design, data collection, and analysis. Each module can be a standalone unit and is very adaptable to instructors who want to teach with either the whole book or individual modules. Although each module is mostly self-contained, it is impossible not to refer to other chapters since research is an iterative process. However, I do not expect this to be a huge problem for someone who wants to teach only a section of the book. \n\nThe fact that this book is structured as modules also makes it expandable. For those who want to teach only the philosophy of science or only the research design portion, they can add more details and in-depth discussion to these topics.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is well-organized and flows well with the research process. The chapters are clearly titled as well as the subheadings. Some numbering with the subheadings would help with navigation. In addition, a chapter summary/conclusion would also help with summarizing the main concepts of a chapter (some chapters do have a summary, but not all chapters). \n\nThe flow of the first module (Introduction to Research) is sometimes confusing – the book jumps between big ideas (scientific reasoning, conceptual framework) and specific details (variables, units of analysis) several times in the first four chapters. I thought that reorganizing the chapters as Ch1, Ch4, Ch3, Ch2 would flow better (from big ideas to specific details). \n\nSince the book is organized by the research process, not by the type of research (qualitative vs. quantitative), Module 3 (Data Collection) and Module 4 (Data Analysis) cover both types of research. As a result, the flow/connection between each chapter are less clear. By reorganizing these two modules into “qualitative research methods and data analysis” and “quantitative research methods and data analysis”, not only would improve the flow of the book, but also better serve researchers who are interested in a particular type of research.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no major problems with the book’s interface. Each chapter is clearly titled. I would like to see the subheadings being numbered as well. If the PDF could have the Table of Contents on the sidebar, it would improve the navigation even more.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no grammatical errors noticed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There are no culturally insensitive or offensive materials noticed. The few examples used in the book are very general and not controversial.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book is a nice walk-through guide for researchers new to the field of social science research. One thing I would recommend adding is examples and cases. With more examples and cases, students would be able to put research methods into context and practice how they can apply the methods to their own research projects.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":538,"first_name":"Tamara","last_name":"Falicov","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Kansas","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is divided into sixteen chapters, which seemed a bit intimidating at first. I later realized that they are not necessarily very long chapters; it varies in terms of the topic. This makes the book quite comprehensive in that the book could be used for the length of the semester, one chapter per week. This is a useful model and one can add or subtract if needed. For example, the beginning chapter which discusses what science is and uses vocabulary from the hard or natural sciences may not necessarily be relevant in a social science course, but the author is being comprehensive by explaining the origins of science and the creation of the scientific method.The vocabulary in bold is extremely effective throughout the book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is meticulously researched and I did not note any egregious statements or inaccuracies. There was one strange sentence when the author was trying to contrast a liberal to a conservative’s viewpoint on page 18 that made this reader feel a bit uncomfortable in how one ideological viewpoint was portrayed, but I’m not sure it was necessarily bias; perhaps just the writing was a bit heavy handed","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book makes sure of updated case examples, discusses how students utilize the internet for research, etc. The theories outlined here are the classic important debates, and the breadth of knowledge the author imparts is extremely comprehensive and up to date. this book could definitely stand on its own for many years before changes in the field might necessitate updating.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the textbook to be a refreshing read. The writing is very accessible and clear, but can be dense at times (though not in a problematic way—it means that with some of the more challenging material, the students will have to dig a little deeper to glean the information. The writing was very crisp, and to the point.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The book is written in a careful, consistent manner. As mentioned earlier, the vocabulary words in bold are consistent signposts, and there are citations (not too many, not too few) that help structure the book and provide a cogent framework. Sometimes there are summaries and bullet points, and other times there aren’t, so this is not exactly consistent, but it doesn’t detract from the overall work.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are excellent stand alone essays that could be used interchangeably. Some of them, such as the first chapter, is historical and philosophical, but not essential to understanding social science research methods. The second and third chapters are excellent for the researcher who is just starting out to formulate a research question. It helps them to think about the various theories and approaches available to them in terms of the angle, focus and methodology selected. The later chapters explain in greater detail various kinds of methods such as how to measure constructs, and scale reliability. These are higher order concepts which would be useful to graduate students—chapters 1-3 could not only work for graduate students, but also for upper division undergraduates.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book was structured in a logical progression. There were no problems there. There was some repetition with various terms such as Occum’s razor, but this is because there is some overlap with concepts which I think is fine, given that some chapters may not be used in the course of a semester.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No problems with typeface, the diagrams and graphs are incredibly useful in breaking down more complex research methods.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no problems with syntax, grammar, spelling that I came across, except for a minor typo in chapter 9 in the table of contents.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I felt that the author was careful in his selection of case students to try to be inclusive and culturally sensitive. There was that one sentence that raised eyebrows about liberals versus democrats that I mentioned previously, but it wasn’t a major deal.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I found this book to be extremely useful and of high quality. I will to recommend it to a colleague who is teaching research methods next semester in a different department.","created_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2016-08-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":787,"first_name":"Robin","last_name":"Bartlett","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of North Carolina at Greensboro","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Generally the major topics are covered. The table of contents (chapter listing) makes it easy to find content. Occasionally I found what I thought was a topic covered only minimally in a chapter - but then found additional information in a later chapter (e.g., treats to internal validity). Overall I'd say in comparison to most other texts with which I am familiar that most all topics are covered, to some degree, but some topics are covered less than I would expect in a doctoral level textbook.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found no errors in fact in the textbook. I found it to be written in an accurate and unbiased manner.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Primarily due to the topic covered (research methods), I do not believe the text will become obsolete in a short period of time. I think updates could be easily added, and if the author decided to cover some topics more thoroughly, that could be accomplished relatively easily, too. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written in an easy to read style. It is easy to understand. Technical terminology is explained appropriately. The author puts many words in bold type and then defines or describes the word. Students will like this approach. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I had no issues as I reviewed the book in terms of consistency of terms used. The text is internally consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters of the book are separated by natural divisions. It would be easy to use this book in a course on research methods, in fact, there is a syllabus included at the end of the book that could be used by a faculty member when course creating.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook topics are presented in a logical fashion. The ordering isn't necessarily the same order I have seen in other texts, but the order is reasonable. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I had no major interface problems as I reviewed the book. Some of the diagrams in the book are a little out of focus, but, they are still readable.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors in the sections of the book that I read.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I  found no cultural insensitivity in the text. I noticed the examples cited were from articles written by authors from different countries.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The book is easy to read and fairly comprehensive in terms of topics covered. Some topics are covered in less detail than in some other books I've had the chance to read / review. I am most accustomed to finding discussion of theories in separate texts and presentation of statistics that might be used to analyze quantitative data in separate texts. There are even a couple of chapters on qualitative methods in this book. So, the book covers a wide variety of topics and introduces them in a clear way. Topics are not covered in as comprehensive way as in many texts. ","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":801,"first_name":"Kelly","last_name":"Pereira","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"The University of North Carolina at Greensboro","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text offers a comprehensive overview of social science research methods appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate students.  The text covers the basic concepts in theory, research design and analysis that one would expect of a text geared toward the social sciences in general. The text could be easily adapted and/or supplemented to fit any discipline-specific needs.  While the text covers a broad array of topics, it is a bit superficial and lacks depth in some areas.  More examples and case studies, for example, could improve the text's thoroughness.  The text also lacks an index, glossary and discussion questions, all of which would have been quite useful for a text of this nature.  I do like that it includes a chapter on research ethics and an appendix with a sample syllabus, however.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Based on my review, the text's content is accurate, error-free and unbiased.  I liked that it presented both qualitative and quantitative research methods fairly, as this divide is often a source of bias.  ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text contains up-to-date approaches to research methods and presents classic theoretical debates.  The methods presented should not become obsolete in the near future.  Any new trends in research methodology could be easily updated in future versions of this text.  I feel the text will be relevant and useful for multiple years.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is generally well written.  It presents the information in a clear and concise way.  I find it provides sufficient contextualization and examples for graduate students with some background already in research methods.  Undergraduates will likely require supplemental materials and additional case studies to grasp some of the concepts covered.  The illustrations do help guide understanding of concepts presented.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology and research methods frameworks presented in the text are consistent.  The use of bolded terms and illustrations throughout the text provide additional consistency.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The division of the text into the following sections: theoretical foundations, concepts in research design, data collection and data analysis, make it easy for instructors to structure a course and assign readings based on these main foundational areas.  This format also enables instructors to easily supplement with other materials. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Overall, this is a well-organized text.  Bolded words/phrases throughout the text provide some structure to guide reading.  The text is divided into 16 chapters, which corresponds seamlessly with a 16-week semester.  This enables instructors to cover one chapter per week, if they so desire, or optionally spend more time on chapters relevant to their course and exclude others.  As mentioned earlier, the logical division of the text chapters into the areas of theory, research design, data collection and data analysis, lends to a soundly-structured course and facilitates the assignment of readings and other coursework. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not experience any issues with the text's interface, navigation or displays of images/illustrations.  The text is in PDF format.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors that impeded reading of the text.  ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not come across any culturally-insensitive or offensive passages in the text. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":802,"first_name":"Rachel","last_name":"Lucas-Thompson","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"As acknowledged by the author in the preface, this is intended as a survey book that doesn't cover all topics in great detail. The upside is that this is a flexible text that can be used in many disciplines; the down side is that the text is short on examples, which reduces readability. I also prefer a textbook that provides a more detailed discussion of the following issues, but could supplement the textbook with these discussion in class: a) confounding variables, b) writing a research report, and the parts of a research report, c) evaluating the internal and external validity of a study, d) how we handle Likert and Likert-type scales (with better reflection of the rich controversy about this issue), e) historical background that has informed our current ethical guidelines, and f) more detail about manipulated vs. observed independent variables. Also, the 'research process' section doesn't include a step for going through IRB review and approval, so overlooks an important step in social science research.  I think more detail is provided about paradigms and theories than is necessary, but those chapters and sections could be left out of course reading assignments quite easily. \n\nIn general, I think this textbook would be best suited to a course where the textbook is seen as an overview to supplement course discussions rather than a detailed coverage of research methods principles. \n\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As far as I can tell, the book is accurate. There are some terms that the author uses that are not widely used in my field (developmental psychology, human development \u0026amp; family studies) but the descriptions are clear enough that I think students will be able to understand what is meant (however, it would be great to acknowledge and discuss some of these variations in terminology so the burden isn't entirely on the students who are still learning these concepts). ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Research methods and statistics content are unlikely to change rapidly, although with the increasing use of ecological momentary assessments, daily diaries, and internet sampling techniques, it might be useful down the road to include more detail about those techniques. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is easy to read and follow, although the lack of examples to clarify concepts sometimes reduces the clarity of ideas (but is in keeping with the philosophy of the book). ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I haven't spotted any problems with internal consistency. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It would be very easy to divide this into smaller reading sections and assign at different time points. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"In general the organization makes sense; the only exception is having research ethics as an epilogue, when ethical issues need to be considered before a study is completed. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"My two suggestions for increasing are a) hyperlinking the table of contents so that it was easier to find exactly what you want in the textbook, and b) providing a more detailed table of contents (with subheadings) so it's easier to determine where in chapters you should reference. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I haven't found any grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is neither culturally insensitive nor offensive. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think this book is very well-suited for intro graduate level courses in research methods, as long as instructors are comfortable with this as an overview supplement rather than a detailed stand alone resource for students. ","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":804,"first_name":"Peter","last_name":"Harris","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Colorado State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a comprehensive overview of research design and research methods in the social sciences.  The book's introductory sections offer a discussion of the philosophy of science, the history of science, and definitions of some key terms and concepts, which will help students to contextualize their own endeavors - and their own discipline(s) - inside a larger framework.  It also tackles the more familiar topics of research design - conceptualization, measurement, sampling, and so forth - and several specific approaches to data-collection.  Overall, then, the book is to be commended for tackling both the philosophical issues at stake in research design as well as the 'nuts and bolts' (or 'brass tacks') of actually doing research.\n\nOne of the book's touted selling-points is its focus on phases of research that precede data collection.  That is, the book aims to train students not only in research methods, but also in the critical tasks of theorizing problems, generating research questions, and designing scientific inquiries - what the author refers to as 'thinking like a researcher.'  This is certainly a welcome addition to a textbook on research design, and ought to help students to overcome some familiar stumbling blocks that seem to present themselves during graduate programs.\n\nBecause of its breadth, however, parts of the book can sometimes seem thin and underdeveloped.  In particular, the chapters on data collection (specific research methods) are less detailed and comprehensive than other books manage to provide.  It is hard to give a detailed 'how to' guide to either survey research, experiments, case studies, or interpretive methods in just 10 pages.  As a result, instructors will almost certainly want to supplement this book with more detailed material, perhaps tailored to their specific discipline.\n\nEven so, this book is an excellent backbone for an undergraduate or graduate class on research methods.  It will have to be read in conjunction with discipline-specific guides to conducting research (and, most likely, alongside examples of good and bad research), but this does nothing to detract from the book's own value: it will certainly offer a valuable overview of key concepts, ideas, and problems in research design and data-collection, and will serve students throughout the duration of their studies and not just for one class.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This book is accurate, error-free, and as unbiased as it is possible to be in the social sciences.  Of course, it is possible to imagine those who simply hold different views about what social science \"is\" or should be; some scholars might bristle at the notion that only knowledge produced according to the narrow strictures of the scientific method can be considered \"scientific knowledge,\" for example, while others might balk at interpretivism being given parity of esteem with what they see as more rigorous methodological practices.  But for the broad mainstream of the social sciences, there will be little in this book that stands out as unusual, controversial, or one-sided.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"On the whole, the content of this book will remain relevant for a long time.  After all, the basics of the scientific method and the fundamentals of research design seem unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.  New and cutting-edge strategies of data collection and theory-testing do emerge, of course, but these are probably best delivered to students in the form of discipline-specific books or articles that could be assigned to complement this textbook, which deals more with foundations than it does with current debates.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is organized well and information is presented in a clear way.  The prose is accessible and each chapter proceeds methodically.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text is certainly consistent, and proceeds according to a methodical and logical structure.  Key terms and concepts are introduced early on, and there are no 'surprises' in later chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is organized into chapters, each of which could be used as the keystone reading for a given class session, and each chapter is broken down in easy-to-digest sections, making the book as accessible as possible.  The fact that there are 16 chapters mean that the book could support 16 separate class sessions - that is, just enough to orient classroom discussion for an entire semester.  That said, each module does not comprise sufficient material for a whole week; the chapters will need to be supplemented with extra reading material, especially in graduate seminars.  It is unlikely that instructors will want to assign only part of a given chapter.  Overall, the text reads well as a whole and in terms of its individual chapters.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chapters for this book are organized into five sections: the introductory section, a section dealing with the basics of empirical research, sections on data collection and data analysis, and a final section that deals with ethics in research.  This is a sensible and logical structure for the book, and nothing seems out of place.  Again, the book is an accessible and smooth read; it will pose no challenges to an informed reader, and there will be nothing in the organization of the book that will be distracting or irritating.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"As a single PDF, this book is easy to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no spelling or grammatical errors in this well-written book.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I can detect no culturally insensitive or offensive remarks in this book.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"It is worth mentioning that this text ought to serve students well throughout their undergraduate studies, graduate careers, and beyond.  It is a timeless - if necessarily limited - resource, and be returned to again and again.","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":998,"first_name":"Divya","last_name":"Varier","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook adequately covers most fundamental concepts related to research methods in the social sciences. Areas that would need attention: a chapter introducing mixed methods research, and a deeper discussion on Research Ethics. More social science based examples on specific research designs, experimental research would be great. The research process could include steps involved in academic research with information on the publishing and peer review process. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate for the most part. I would have liked a more nuanced discussion of reliability and validity concepts- introducing the concept of validity as conceptualized by Messick/Kane is needed. In social science, especially education (the field I work in), masters/ doctoral students need to be introduced to the complex nature of establishing reliability and validity. While the content covered is detailed, a more critical introduction of the concepts as being situated in the obtained scores as opposed to the instrument itself would have made the chapter stronger. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Content is for the most part up to date (see above comments for specific areas: reliability, validity, mixed methods); some examples may become outdated very soon (example of political movements in middle eastern countries for example).","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is excellent in terms of clarity. I appreciate the use of straight forward language to explain the multitude of concepts! ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in its overall approach to research methods as well as consistent in its use of terminology.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Bold font for key terms is appreciated. More insets/boxes within chapters would be a great addition visually. Addition of research studies and discussion questions would be great.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chapters are well-organized. Only suggestion would be to introduce research ethics early on in the book. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues whatsoever in this regard.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No issues with grammar","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is best suited for universities in western countries although I did not identify any insensitivity that would hinder teaching and learning of research methods using this textbook elsewhere. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Specific chapters in this book will be useful for me, from an instructor's perspective. For example, Chapter 2 -  'thinking like a researcher' is wonderfully written.  The chapter on Interpretive Research and Qual. Data Analysis are thorough and clear in presentation of concepts- I definitely would use these chapters in my Research Methods class. ","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1075,"first_name":"Brock","last_name":"Rozich","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers the majority of what would be expected for a research methods course. It builds upon basic topics to more advanced concepts, so students from various backgrounds of research experience should still find the text useful. The glossary for the text is clear and a sample syllabus is provided by the author for individuals wishing to use this text for their course. The text was lacking an index, which would prove helpful for students.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is accurate and up-to-date with research methods in the social sciences. A variety of data collection methods and concepts are discussed in an easy to understand manor.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date with research methods in the social sciences. The text should be able to prove useful for a research methods or as supplementary material for a statistics course for the foreseeable future. While I looked through this text with a focus on using it for a psychology course, I feel that this text would be useful across other fields as well.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book was clear and built upon concepts in a thorough manner. Technical terms were well defined, though as mentioned previously, an index would be helpful for this text for students to look up key terms if they became lost. The text would be useful for an upper-level undergraduate or introductory graduate level course.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent throughout. There were no notable deficiencies in any of the content provided in each chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The course is broken down into logical subsections and chapters. Introductory topics relating to research methods are provided early and are built upon in subsequent chapters. A sample syllabus and course outline are provided for instructors who wish to utilize the text for their class.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is constructed in a well-organized fashion, without any issues of chapter structure.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The PDF version of the text worked wonderfully on a laptop, with no issues of navigation or distortion of images. This text was not, however, viewed on a tablet or e-reader, which many students use for classes. Based solely on use of a PDF file on a laptop, the interface was flawless, however, if you are considering using this for a class, I would test it out on an e-reader/tablet first to make sure there are no issues with format/text size, etc.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book did not appear to have any noticeable grammar or syntactical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There were no notable instances of cultural insensitivity throughout the text. Examples were broad and not specific to an individual race or culture.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is a wonderful open source option for a main text for a research methods course or as a supplementary option for a statistics course that also focuses on data collection.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1173,"first_name":"Virginia","last_name":"Chu","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Commonwealth University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text offers an introductory overview to scientific research for PhD and graduate students in social sciences. It covers a broad range of topics, research theories, research process, research design, data collection methods, qualitative and quantitative research, statistical analysis, and research ethics. This book touches on many important topics related to the scientific research process that is typically found in several different text. As the author stated in the preface, this is an introductory book that is minimalist by design, it does not contain in-depth discussions or many examples. This is both a plus and a minus, as it makes the book more compact and allow it to be used by many different disciplines, but may be harder for students to relate. The comprehensive nature of the book allows the reader to be exposed to all the necessary topics, or provides a structure for a course instructor, who then supplements with additional materials to create the depth that is specifically tailored for their discipline. Specifically, I find that the book provides a very comprehensive introduction to research philosophy and research designs, particularly in addressing how to come up with research questions, which is often a challenge for new doctoral students. However, due to the succinct nature of the book, some sections seemed lacking. Particularly, in the more practical steps of the research process (the data collection and data analysis sections), as a new doctoral student will certainly need more details than what is provided in the text to begin their first research endeavor. For example, in the quantitative analysis section, only a handful of basic analysis were discussed in detail (univariate analysis, hypothesis testing, t-test, regression). I would like to see a more practical discussion of ANOVA, as it is a very commonly used statistical analysis tool. These topics may also be more discipline specific, where instructors of research classes can supplement with additional materials. The discussion on research ethics is certainly a nice addition to the book where many other research methods texts lack.  An index/glossary is not included with the text, but the table of content clearly outlines the topics discussed for each module.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book is overall accurate and unbiased. The book covered different social science research methods fairly. I did notice a discrepancy in Figure 5.1, where “single case study” is plotted on the graph as high in external validity, but the rest of the text frequently brought up case studies (especially single case studies) having the difficulty with generalizability which should have low external validity.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content of the book is up-to-date. The text included relevant descriptions of current softwares commonly used in research. It will also stand against the test of time as research methods do not change drastically. The content can also be updated to reflect new technological updates. One needed update noticed is on page 120, where the authors cautioned that only smaller datasets can be stored in Excel and larger datasets needs a more elaborate database system. While the statement is still relevant, the numbers the author cited appear to be old and Excel has since been updated to handle larger datasets (1,000,000 observations and 16,000 items) than what the author had listed.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The content is written in a very clear and concise manner. It is easy to read and to follow the author’s arguments. I did not notice any jargon or technical term that was used without explanation.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text consistently matches the book outline. Terms were used consistently throughout the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book has a modular organization, with each chapter designed to be used for a different lecture. Each chapter is a self contained unit that can be used as its own reading. Each chapter also has subsections that are clearly marked with subheadings. Important terms are also highlighted by bolding, making it easy for the reader to identify the important concepts.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The chapters of the book flows logically from one to the next. The current layout of the text groups all the data collection methods together and all the data analysis methods together. It may be clearer to have quantitative data analysis methods immediately follow quantitative data collection methods, and similarly for the qualitative data collection and analysis. This could be easily done based on the course instructor preference.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No interface issues noted.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The text is generally free of grammatical and spelling errors, with the exception of 2 minor typos noticed on page 139 (“Rik”, “riska”).","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text and examples provided are not culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The text is easy to read and covers a broad and comprehensive range of topics important for research. I particularly enjoyed the discussion on research ethics which is often missing in many research methods texts. I would recommend discussing that topic earlier, together with research design, as many of these ethical issues and IRB requirements come up during research design phase. As the text is a meant to be a concise overview of the research process, the more practical topics are not covered in as much detail and would require supplementary material.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1484,"first_name":"Holly","last_name":"Gould","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Lynchburg College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The author states that the text is not designed to go in-depth into the subject matter but rather give a basic understanding of the material. I believe the author covers the necessary topics with enough depth to give the reader a basic understanding of social science research.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found no errors in content and no observable bias in any of the chapters.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text will continue to be relevant because of the nature of the subject matter. Updates may be needed to reflect more current research or trends, but no major changes should be necessary.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written clearly and succinctly.  The text is understandable for those who are new to the subject matter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found no inconsistencies in the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is divided into logical chapters, and subheadings seem to be appropriate. Chapters can be read fairly easily in isolation without putting the reader at a disadvantage.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical fashion. Some of the chapters have summaries or conclusions, while other chapters seem to end abruptly. It would be helpful to the reader to have a summary statement at the end of each chapter.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I downloaded and read the text in a PDF reader and had no trouble with formatting, navigation, or images/charts.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The text contains some grammatical errors but the errors are minor and do not distract the reader.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This text is well written and I would recommend it to an individual looking for a bare bones book on basic research methods.  It contains information essential to understanding quantitative and qualitative research.  The charts and images provided enhance the understanding of the text. At times, the author digs a little deeper into background and formulas for certain statistical ideas, which may be unnecessary to someone looking to understand the basics (e.g. the formula for Cronbach's alpha). Some chapters seem to end abruptly while other chapters have excellent summaries or conclusions.  There is one recommendation that goes against the prevailing wisdom on survey design. On page 77, the author indicates that a survey should begin with non-threatening questions such as demographic information. Many experts have written that these types of questions, when asked at the beginning of a questionnaire or survey, can affect the respondents' answers to subsequent questions and should be saved for the end. Aside from these minor issues, this text is a great resource and I recommend it.","created_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-08-15T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1609,"first_name":"Nathan","last_name":"Favero","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text provides a fairly comprehensive coverage of topics. It is broad, hitting most of the major topics I need to cover in an intro PhD seminar for social science research methods (I'm teaching public administration/policy, political science, and criminology students). That said, there is not a ton of depth in this textbook. I don't view that as a negative; I prefer having a textbook that gives a basic outline of essential concepts and then fleshing this out with supplemental readings, but some might prefer a textbook that goes into more depth.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Overall, this textbook is accurate but not perfect. Sometimes I wish it was a bit more precise, particularly in coverage of quantitative topics. But I use another textbook to more fully cover quantitative topics anyway for my course.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I would say this textbook reads as modern and relevant, although perhaps it could do more to address emerging methodological concerns in social science disciplines (p-hacking, replication, pre-registration of research designs, etc.).","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbooks is very accessible and easy to read for someone new to the disciplines of social science.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book appears to be consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I've assigned students to read the chapters in a different order than they are presented in the text had have not encountered any problems. Chapters are coherently organized into distinct topics.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of the book is logical.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Overall, this book is easy to read and use. Graphs are not always high-resolution, but they are readable.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not noticed many grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I have not noticed any clear biases or insensitive handling of material in the book.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I'm delighted to have found this book. It's a great starting point for teaching my students to think about the basics of social science research and provides a nice skeleton on which I can layer more in-depth material for my course.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1610,"first_name":"Jason","last_name":"Giersch","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"UNC Charlotte","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The biggest challenge faced when writing a book about research methods is the decision about what NOT to include. Instructors and disciplines within the social sciences vary widely in terms of their expectations of students in an introductory methods course, and thus their needs from a textbook also vary. This textbook does an excellent job setting the stage for what we mean by \"research\" in the social sciences. Students will develop a solid foundation in the goals and rationales behind the methods social scientists employ. Students will also develop a comprehensive vocabulary in social science research methods. However, the book falls short in the development of students' research skills. Learning about methods is important, but not much is gained from that knowledge unless the student also learns how to execute at least some techniques. Furthermore, there is little guidance for the student regarding how to properly write a research paper, something that many instructors will find disappointing. This book is probably comprehensive enough for a 3-credit methods course with test-based assessments in a program where few students pursue graduate work. But if teaching students to actually conduct and write up research is important to the course, there are much better books out there (although at significant cost). ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Content is accurate and unbiased. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The relevance and longevity are strong. This book describes some of the most current methods but still focuses on the foundations of research that will be appropriate for the foreseeable future. Updates could be easily made every five years or so to keep up with methodology. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is very easy to follow with helpful examples. Prose is direct and to the point, giving only the essential information so as to allow the learner to develop a grasp of fundamentals. The section on theory, for example, is refreshingly clear for learners. Graphics aid in understanding the material in many parts. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This textbook uses consistent terminology and framework. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The textbook is appropriately structured for a standard 15 week course and even recommends a syllabus. Adapting it to other formats, like a 5 or 10 week summer course, might be tricky. There are ample headings and sub-headings, however, that allow the text to be divided into smaller chunks, which is nice to see given how many students feel overwhelmed by this topic. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization and flow is excellent. From an education and instructional standpoint, I wouldn't change the organization. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The simplicity of design is a strength -- students should have no difficulty opening and viewing the text on a wide variety of devices. On the downside, there are no bells and whistles that many some students have come to expect from online textbooks. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The casual writing style makes it very accessible, but one consequence is the very occasional grammar problem. It's a trade-off, I think, that is worth making. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Research methods are pretty \"culturally-neutral\", so there's nothing in it I would see as insensitive or offensive. That being said, the text recommends SPSS and SAS as software to use while neglecting free options (like R) or more ubiquitous programs (like Excel). For a textbook intended to keep costs at zero, these are glaring omissions. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I could certainly see this book being used as an accessible and low-stress introduction to the world of research methods in the social sciences. The main improvements I would like to see would be (1) sidebars throughout that guide students through the paper-writing process and (2) activities using datasets for students to actually perform some of their own quantitative analyses. Perhaps a companion volume could address these needs. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1665,"first_name":"Kendall","last_name":"Bustad","position":"Clinical Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Maryland, College Park","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers all the important topics in social science research and is approachable regardless of discipline and course level (high school, undergraduate, graduate, and even post-graduate). It provides an introduction to philosophy as well as components of research. You'll find yourself returning to the basics, and it gives strong foundations. Specifically, I find that the book provides a very comprehensive introduction to research philosophy and research designs, particularly in addressing how to come up with research questions, which is often a challenge for new doctoral students. However, due to the succinct nature of the book, some sections seemed lacking. Particularly, in the more practical steps of the research process (the data collection and data analysis sections)","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text does not seem to be biased in any way. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content of the book is up-to-date. The text included relevant descriptions of current software commonly used in research.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"If you want to have a compressed body of knowledge of social science research, you may read this one. Beneficial.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text consistently matches the book outline. Terms were used consistently throughout the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter can stand along as a separate lecture. The headings, subheadings, an bold items are great additions that highlight important topics or definitions. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Most of the text flows in a logical, clear fashion. However,  it may be clearer to have quantitative data analysis methods immediately follow quantitative data collection methods, and similarly for the qualitative data collection and analysis. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues noted.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There does not seem to be any culturally insensitive or offensive text.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1905,"first_name":"Debra","last_name":"Mowery","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of South Florida","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all of the areas of basic research information that I cover when I teach research and research methods in the social sciences. The table of contents is straight forward, and the chapters are arranged in a fluid, logical order. The nice thing with this text is that you could rearrange as you see fit for your course without an issue. There is also a sample syllabus in the appendix which could be useful when setting up a course. I feel this text is great for students who may not necessarily be interested in research as a job prospect (their interests may be  more clinical in nature) but need the basics of research in a clear, easy to understand, and straight forward format.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I felt the content of this text is accurate, unbiased, and free of any glaring errors.. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text appears to be up-to-date including issues such as web-based or internet surveys and questionnaires. I did see that the copyright for this text was 2012 so not sure if revisions or updates to the original have happened or not. It seems that there should be a way to document if this is the latest version of the text. This may be useful information for users of this text.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This textbook is written in a concise and easy to read and understand manner - it is very user-friendly. This is a plus for students - it means they may actually read the text! Jargon and  acronyms were appropriately defined with an explanation of how the terms originated and came to be utilized in research. This is appealing to me as an instructor so there is background information for the students. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The consistency of this text is uniform throughout. One appealing issue I liked was the use of social science examples when explaining topics like theories or paradigms. In some research texts examples are utilized but they may not necessarily be in the discipline that you are teaching. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I do like that this text is divided into 16 chapters which is perfect for a 15/16 week semester. The chapters are not so overwhelming that other supporting readings cannot be assigned to students as well to assist with explanation of the weekly topic. The text serves as a great base for building weekly assignments/readings for students.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The majority of the text is presented in a logical format. One issue I had with the order of the chapters in the text was including Ethics at the end in the Epilogue as if it was an after thought. Ethics, ethical behavior, and rigor are a must in research and should be addressed early on in the research process. Having said this, I feel the chapter on Ethics should be moved up further in the chapter line-up (possibly to chapter 2 or 3).    ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I did not experience any navigation problems. There was however, distortion with many of the images especially the graphics that were utilized throughout the text. A review of the images/graphics and an update to them would be useful. If this e-text has not been updated since 2012 this may be the issue for the distorted figures. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few grammar/spelling/word choice errors. The errors do  not effect the content of the text but when reading it makes you pause and think - what is trying to be said here? It might be useful to the author to have the text proofread or copy edited to resolve these issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"In reviewing this text I did not see any examples that might be deemed offensive or insensitive to other cultures, orientations, ethnicities, etc, ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1925,"first_name":"Amy ","last_name":"Thompson ","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of South Florida ","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is a nice overview of some of the key points in social science research. There are useful definitions of key terms throughout the book, although none of the chapters go into much depth. It should be noted that there is more of a focus on quantitative research. Towards the end, there are three chapters with a qualitative focus, but they are brief. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the text seems accurate. There are some cases when the author gives advice that I don't agree with (i.e. advises against even-numbered Likert scale items, p. 48; encourages people not to do \"trendy\" research, such as that on new technology, p. 24). Even so, most of the information seems to be accurate. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book is relevant.  It gives a good overview of the theories and methods, which change little over time.  I would suggest a few updates, however. Currently, there is controversy on the over-reliance of the p-value, and it would be useful to include some of this discussion on p. 125. Also, on p. 73, the author talks about \"mail-in\" and \"telephone\" surveys as a research method, and even goes on to say on p. 74 that most survey research is done by self-administered mail-in surveys with a pre-paid return envelop. This information needs to be updated, as currently, much of the survey research is done via online platforms. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is quite clear and provides succinct definitions. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book seems consistent throughout. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are short and very readable. There would be no problem dividing the chapters up for a class, or using a portion of the book. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical manner. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text in some of the tables is blurry, especially when enlarging the PDF. Perhaps the print copy is clearer. The text outside of the tables is clear. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't have any trouble reading or understanding the text. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is not offensive. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a good book to have as a reference or an additional text for a class.  For my field, it wouldn't be sufficient to use as a stand-alone text. Although its intended audience is graduate students, it's a bit too basic for Ph.D. students, in my opinion. It would be a good text for an intro to research class at the UG or MA level, as a supplemental text. I would recommend it to Ph.D. students to use as a reference because of the key terms included. It's great that a resource like this is available for free to students and faculty in a wide variety of disciplines. ","created_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1987,"first_name":"Jenna","last_name":"Wintemberg","position":"Assistant Teaching Professor","institution_name":"University of Missouri","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I use almost the entire text in an undergraduate Health Science research methods course. I do supplement the text with additional readings on:\n-selecting a research topic\n-developing a research question\n-how to read scholarly articles\n-how to search the literature\n-mixed methods research\n-community-based participatory research\n-disseminating research findings\n-evidence-based practice","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have found this text to be accurate, error-free and unbiased. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is written in a way that will allow for longevity of use. I compliment this text with current peer-reviewed journal articles which are relevant to my students' career paths and can be updated more regularly. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I have found the book to be clearly written and appropriate for upper-level Health Science undergraduate students. Technical terminology is sufficiently defined. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text uses a consistent framework throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily divisible into smaller reading sections. I assign the chapters in an alternative order and students have not had problems with this.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I assign the chapters in an alternative order for my undergraduate students. For example, I have students read chapter 1 following by chapter 16 (research ethics). ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is free of grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally offensive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Because of the basic nature of the materials presented and clear writing, my upper level undergraduate students have done well with this text. The brevity of the chapters and bolded key terms particularly appeal to the students. I do have to supplement the text with journal articles and other materials. However, I am pleased with this straight-forward text and will continue to use it as the main text in my course moving forward. ","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2055,"first_name":"Huili","last_name":"Hao","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of North Carolina Wilmington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides an introductory and broad review of some of the key topics in social science research including research theories, research design, data collection, data analysis and research ethics  Students from different disciplines in social science will find these topics useful in developing their research method skills. However, the book falls short on the depth of the essential concepts. It would also benefit from offering more practical examples for some of the theories or terminology. A glossary is not found within the text, although the table of content lists the topics covered in each of the modules. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, this textbooks seems to be accurate. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The relevancy and longevity of this book are great. It focuses on fundamental research methods as well as incorporates current research approaches. Given the nature of research method that does not change drastically, content is up-to-date and won’t make the text obsolete within a short period of time. The topics are written in the way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in a logical and concise fashion.  The text is easy to follow. I did not find any jargon or technical terminology used without explanation.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text consistently matches the topics outlined in the table of content. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is clearly organized into five modules: introduction to research, basics of empirical research, data collection, data analysis, and research ethics. It also includes a course syllabus, which is nice and useful. Each of the modules / chapters can also be used as subunits of a research method course without putting the reader at a disadvantage. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The table of content is clear and the chapters are organized in a logic order.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I downloaded the PDF version of the textbook and find it easy to read offline. The formatting, navigation and images/charts seems clear and appropriate. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I had no trouble reading or understanding the textbook. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a good textbook that covers a broad range of topics important in research method. As this textbook is designed as a succinct overview of research design and process, more practical topics are not included in much detail such as how to conduct different statistical analyses using SPSS or SAS, or how to interpret statistical analysis results. It would require additional materials / textbooks for graduate level research method courses. ","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2142,"first_name":"Amy","last_name":"Thompson","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of South Florida","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is a nice overview of some of the key points in social science research. There are useful definitions of key terms throughout the book, although none of the chapters go into much depth. It should be noted that there is more of a focus on quantitative research. Towards the end, there are three chapters with a qualitative focus, but they are brief.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the text seems accurate. There are some cases when the author gives advice that I don't agree with (i.e. advises against even-numbered Likert scale items, p. 48; encourages people not to do \"trendy\" research, such as that on new technology, p. 24). Even so, most of the information seems to be accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book is relevant.  It gives a good overview of the theories and methods, which change little over time.  I would suggest a few updates, however. Currently, there is controversy on the over-reliance of the p-value, and it would be useful to include some of this discussion on p. 125. Also, on p. 73, the author talks about \"mail-in\" and \"telephone\" surveys as a research method, and even goes on to say on p. 74 that most survey research is done by self-administered mail-in surveys with a pre-paid return envelop. This information needs to be updated, as currently, much of the survey research is done via online platforms.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is quite clear and provides succinct definitions.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book seems consistent throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are short and very readable. There would be no problem dividing the chapters up for a class, or using a portion of the book.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical manner.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text in some of the tables is blurry, especially when enlarging the PDF. Perhaps the print copy is clearer. The text outside of the tables is clear.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't have any trouble reading or understanding the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book is not offensive.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a good book to have as a reference or an additional text for a class.  For my field, it wouldn't be sufficient to use as a stand-alone text. Although its intended audience is graduate students, it's a bit too basic for Ph.D. students, in my opinion. It would be a good text for an intro to research class at the UG or MA level, as a supplemental text. I would recommend it to Ph.D. students to use as a reference because of the key terms included. It's great that a resource like this is available for free to students and faculty in a wide variety of disciplines.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2311,"first_name":"Eddie T. C.","last_name":"Lam","position":"Associate Professor/Editor-in-Chief","institution_name":"Cleveland State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book provides ample information for a research course, but it may not meet the needs of every instructor.  For this reason, the book should include a few more chapters so that course instructors can have more options for a semester-long research course.  For instance, at least one chapter should be on nonparametric statistics and their applications on research studies, while another chapter should be on research paper writing (e.g., what should be included in the Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and so on).  For the Appendix, it is nice to provide a sample syllabus for the instructors, but the students may want a sample research paper in proper journal or thesis/dissertation format.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Most of the information presented in this book is accurate.  The author has mentioned in Chapter 5 (p. 37) that “construct validity” will be described in the next chapter, but I don’t see any construct validity in Chapter 6 or Chapter 7.  In addition, the author may want to emphasize what “alpha is set to 0.05” means.  Does it mean the p-value has to be less than 0.05 (p. 125) or p ≤ 0.05 (p. 130) to reject the null hypothesis?","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"In terms of content, the book has fairly good amount of information.  However, it is also obvious that many terms appeared in the last few decades are missing from the book.  For example, Survey Monkey and social media can be included in Chapter 9 (Survey Research) and structure equation modeling can be introduced in Chapter 15.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The information is presented in layman’s terms without any jargon.  New terms are bolded with clear definition, and sometimes they are illustrated with examples.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are consistent throughout the text.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The chapters are logically presented and they are grouped under different sections.  As mentioned before, the text should add a few more chapters for the course instructors to select from.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"In my opinion, “Chapter 16 Research Ethics” should not be standalone (under the “Epilogue”) and it could be part of the “Introduction to Research” (i.e., the first few chapters).","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text does not have any significant interface issues, though the font size of the figures can be larger (e.g., they should not smaller than the font size of the text).","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Overall, the text contains very few grammatical errors.  However, in a number of occasions, a comma is added for no reason, such as “. . . we must understand that sometimes, these constructs are not real . . .” (p. 44).  It is also unnecessary to always add a comma before the word “because.”","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The content of the text is not culturally insensitive, and the author does not present any offensive statements or comments anywhere in the text.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"It’s time to have a second edition.","created_at":"2018-09-12T13:12:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-12T13:12:36.000-05:00"},{"id":2359,"first_name":"Alysia","last_name":"Roehrig","position":"Associate Professor ","institution_name":"Florida State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text provides an overview of many important issues for my graduate research methods course in education. There are a few important topics missing, however. In particular, types of correlational designs and mixed-methods designs would be important to include. Likewise, single-subject designs are not mentioned at all. I will have to supplement these areas with other readings. I also think more about specific threats to internal and external validity should be provided, along with information about when and how certain threats are avoided. There is no glossary but being an online text, it is simple enough to search for certain terms.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Content seems to be error-free and unbiased for the most part. However, I have an issues with the language in chapter 2 about about strong and weak hypotheses because it seems to treat the experimental/causal hypotheses preferentially. The author also states that hypotheses should have IVs and DVs...but what about non-experimental hypotheses?? I think students could be misled by this and I think this requires a lot of unpacking. Thus, I do sense somewhat of a prejudicial treatment of quantitative and experimental research methods. I plan to add information to pages 13 and 15 about how qualitative methods do not involve testing hypotheses though the results might be an inductively derived hypothesis or nascent theory.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content covered is pretty standard and basic and so not likely to be out-dated soon. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is straightforward and easy to follow. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The use of terms and framework seems to be consistent throughout the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapter and subject headers all seem to be clear. They will make it easy to select sections for assignment or reordering if revising for use.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The order of topics makes sense and is aligned with the process of conducting research.\r\n","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The hotlinks in the table of content are nice, but additional navigational aids would be helpful. For example, a back to the Table of Contents (TOC) button would be nice, as well we a list of all subsections (hotlinked) added to a long version of the TOC. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not noticed any egregious problems.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"There are not many examples, which means there is little opportunity to offend. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-11-05T12:44:12.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-05T12:44:12.000-06:00"},{"id":2365,"first_name":"Candace","last_name":"Bright","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"East Tennessee State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"There are some key elements that I would expect to be in a social science research methods book that are missing in this book.  I think this comprehensiveness may be appropriate for an undergraduate course (with some supplementation), but the text says it is written for a doctoral and graduate students.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information in the book seems accurate.  When necessary, it is cited appropriately.  ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is very relevant.  Because the book focuses on methods, it does not need too much change over time.  It was published in 2012.  The main area that might need to be updated in the discussion regarding the Internet and how it impacts our research options.  Perhaps more could be added on machine learning, AI, web-scraping, and social media in general.  I increasingly see studies conducted either using social media content or recruiting through social media; neither of these are addressed in this book.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I really like the way the book is laid out.  In particular, the qualitative and quantitative analysis sections are well organized.  They succinctly cover a lot of information is a way that is very consumable.  There were some instances, however, where I thought wording lacked clarity or definitions needed further explanation. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I do not see any issues with consistency.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I like the organization of this book and each chapter does a good job of standing alone on important topics within research methods.  The sections within the chapters are clearly marked and logically organized.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is clear and logical.  It covers important concepts in research methods in the same order in which they are typically taught, with the exception of ethics.  In this book, ethics comes last, whereas I would have taught it earlier.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"This might be minor, but I noticed some places where the spacing was different and it was a little distracting.  Overall, it is well formatted.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't notice any grammatical errors.  ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Overall, the text book could use more examples and applied examples, but when present, I find them culturally appropriate.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I have mixed feeling on the image on the cover and the limited visuals within the book.  I also don't feel like this textbook has enough visuals or figures that could be used to support comprehension of the materials.  More examples would also be helpful. Overall, however,  the author has presented a lot of information succinctly and I look forward to using this text (in parts) in future methods courses.  ","created_at":"2018-11-07T13:43:22.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-07T13:43:22.000-06:00"},{"id":2737,"first_name":"Mari","last_name":"Sakiyama","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Western Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers the major key elements that are essential in research methods for social science. However, both the breadth and depth of information might be too elementary for Ph.D. and graduate students.  With the use of additional reading assignments (as he provides in his sample syllabus), this book could be a great base for further usage.\r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not notice any errors or unbiased content. The author had provided accurate information with simple/straightforward examples that can be understood by students with various discipline in social science.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Given the nature of the subject, the content is considered to be up-to-date.  However, although there will not be too many changed expected in the research strategies and designs, it is important to note that some of the sampling procedure have been facing some changes in recent years (e.g., telephone survey, online sampling frame). ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook provided the content in a clear and concise manner.  The author, instead of providing a complex list of academic jargon/technical terminologies, but rather clarified and explained these terms in a simple and straightforward fashion. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Overall, the content was consistent throughout the textbook.  Starting with a broad/general statement of each chapter topic, the author narrowed it down to smaller element which is easy for the reader to follow and understand.  As he provided in CH.6, it might be even more helpful to have summaries for each chapter.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This textbook is certainly divided into smaller segments, but maybe too small (short).  However, as mentioned above, this problem can be solved by adapting additional readings. \r\n","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook is significantly reader-friendly and well-structured.  Although some instructors prefer to cover some chapters earlier (or later) in their semester/term than others, this is just a personal preference.  There are no issues with the author’s organization of the textbook. \r\n","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Overall, the use of indentations, bolding, italicization, and bullet points, was consistent.  However, many of the images were blurry (e.g., Figure 8.2, Table 14.1) and some fonts were smaller than others (i.e., pg. 34).\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors. Even I had missed some, they would not be destructions for the reader. \r\n(Note: The scale is confusing. What I mean by '5' is the least amount of grammatical errors were found) \r\n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The author did not use any concept that was insensitive or offended people and/or subjects from various backgrounds. \r\n(Note: The scale is confusing. What I mean by '5' is the least amount of cultural insensitivity or offensiveness were found) ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"See my comments above.","created_at":"2019-04-05T19:13:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-05T19:13:51.000-05:00"},{"id":2759,"first_name":"Krystin","last_name":"Krause","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Emory and Henry College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers the core elements of a social science research methods course at the undergraduate level. While the notes state it is intended for graduate coursework, I would have no problem teaching in my undergraduate courses. The concise chapters are undergraduate-friendly and will make a solid foundation with the addition of supplemental reading assignments that show examples of the concepts discussed in the textbook. There is no glossary or index, but keyword searching in the pdf copy is simple and effective.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text seems to be an accurate reflection of social science research methods, particularly when considering causal inference and hypothesis testing. If your course is also covering descriptive inference, you would want to supplement the text with additional material. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Research methods is not a subject that changes quickly, and thus this text will not become obsolete quickly. The only things that may need updating over time are any links that lead to pages that no longer exist. Any other updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in a style that is accessible for undergraduates. It follows the conventions of including relevant key words and phrases in bold and includes easy to follow definitions of terms. I anticipate that undergraduates will also appreciate how concise the text is. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters are consistent in both terminology and framework. It offers a unified organization that also allows for mixing and matching chapters if an instructor wishes to teach the chapters out of order. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The organization of the text lends itself to be adapted to any introductory social science research methods course, regardless of what order the instructor wants to place the topics being discussed. Chapters could be taught out of order and can be subdivided accordingly.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"While it is certainly possible to break apart to teach the text in a different order than how the chapters are originally offered, the progression of the text from the introduction to the chapters on qualitative data analysis is both logical and clear. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is free of interface issues, and charts and images appear to be clear and correct. The only exception to this are the links found in the sample syllabus at the end of the book. I was only able to get one of the links to work. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors jumped out at me. There are a few here and there, but they are not distracting for the reader. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Because the book is concise, I would recommend its use in addition to other supplementary resources such as class lectures, academic articles that demonstrate the methods discussed in the textbook, and projects that allow students to experience the methods first-hand. It would make a good alternative to more elaborate basic research methods textbooks when the instructor wishes to keep costs for the students low.","created_at":"2019-04-10T16:41:46.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-10T16:41:46.000-05:00"},{"id":3175,"first_name":" Kevin","last_name":" Deitle","position":"Adjunct Associate Professor","institution_name":"TRAILS","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I am pleased with the coverage in the text; it includes the history and foundations of research, as well as chapters on ethics and a sample syllabus. The structure and arrangement of the book differs from my own understandings of research and how I present it in class, but all the material covered in my class appears in the text, and it can be ordered to fit my syllabus. This text spends more time with statistics than I include in a research course, but again, that can be omitted or just used for reference. The book does not include either an index or a glossary, which is unfortunate for anyone who wants a paper version. Of course, most students seem to prefer an electronic text, so I assume they use a search function rather than an index.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I have not spotted any glaring errors, other than an occasional grammatical slip or a cumbersome edit. The author includes a few citations, usually following APA style, but employs footnotes instead of a reference section. The content mostly aligns with my own conceptions of research, although it does have a different arrangement from my presentation in class. This does not suggest that the content is wrong, only that I would likely rearrange it to suit my instructional sequence. I sense no bias in the presentation, including the historical or ethical portions, or sections that mention religion. I’m comfortable that I could rely on this book in class without worrying over slanted content or editorialization. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Research is something of a traditional topic, in the sense that changes or evolutions move at a comfortably slow pace. I expect there is very little of this text that is likely to become obsolete any time soon. The flip side is there is little in this book that is necessarily cutting-edge, but that is not the fault of the author at all. And in the unforeseeable situation where a new protocol or a new advance in either statistics or research warrants an update, I think the organization and the modular design will allow that to happen without major upheavals in the structure or arrangement of the text. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"As mentioned elsewhere, the writing is comfortably academic without becoming dense or burdensome. I have seen introductions to research that were more casual and probably fit a beginner audience better than this would, but I daresay this is intended as a core text for a graduate-level class, and for that reason, can be expected to sound less approachable and more authoritative. The text employs features for fast visual reference, to include breaks in the text to allow for visual elements, and bolded text where key terms are introduced or defined. While this would probably not be a particularly exciting text for a self-study course, it will sit well with classes that need a reference text that takes the time to explain concepts with some authority.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Structurally the author has a style and sticks to it throughout the text. Visually this book is sparse, and it will require some effort on the part of the professor to make the content digestible in a classroom environment. However, that also suggests that the arrangement and format remain predictable from the first page to the last, without any surprises in presentation or discourse. Research has a tendency to step on its own toes when it comes to terminology, but this text follows those conventions for the most part, making it mostly congruent with other research texts I have seen. I think this book would complement other research texts without causing too many difficulties in terminology or arrangement.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The author suggests in the preface that the work was intended to be rearranged by sections, and I can appreciate how the chapters and structure support that statement. I do see this more as a foundational reference for a graduate-level course than a self-study text though, and it has the feel of a reference work to it. Text appears in large blocks, is illustrated sparsely, and has no callout texts or pull quotes. Key words are bolded but get no more embellishment, which again suggests a reference rather than an instructional work. I’m sure this material could be the groundwork for a more reader-friendly presentation, if someone wanted less of a reference and more of a textbook.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This might be the most appealing point of the text for me. As I mentioned earlier, I like the overall sequence that the author follows, but at the same time I can appreciate how the sections can be detached and still stand alone. The logic follows principles and theory through to fundamentals, then diverges to cover the details that fit more complex or esoteric versions of research. There is enough statistical explanation to avoid vague generalizations, but at points I expect it would overwhelm a beginner. I would prefer ethics was near the start of the text, rather than an epilogue; our course is arranged to require students to complete ethics training before they may pursue later assignments. But this is easily solved.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"On the whole the text is satisfactory, the layout from page to page is acceptable, but there’s a minimum of graphic elements or visual components. Some of the statistical formulas or graphs are low-quality, or have suffered compression artifacts. Their appearance in the text is logical though, and the few tables or diagrams that do appear are in color, with arrows or labels to ease interpretation. The table of contents is primitive, and there is no way to navigate specific tables or diagrams except moving page by page in sequence. External sites are hyperlinked, and the table of contents has been designed for electronic use, but there are no cross-reference features. This gives the text the feel of a word processed document converted to a PDF format, intended to be printed. Overall, the core content is strong, as a printed book it is probably acceptable, but as an electronic textbook it lacks some contemporary features.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have found very few grammatical errors or incomplete sentences, and none of those were so flagrant as to make the text unusable. If this had been submitted as an academic work it would likely earn some criticism for style or grammar (the author seems to follow APA style, but tends to footnote references simultaneously), but this never impedes the delivery. The text is readable at a collegiate level without becoming over-academic, or for that matter, casual.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text manages to broach sensitive issues in a level and balanced format; in particular the ethics section manages to discuss some well-known failings in past research without becoming overly critical of the researcher or the participants. Arguably, research and its underlying processes are mostly mechanical (or at least standardized), meaning it is possible for individual researchers to violate cultural, ethnic, racial, or other boundaries, but the underlying science is generally unconcerned with those issues. In that sense, the book has very few opportunities to broach hot-button topics except when dealing with historical or ethical examples.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I appreciate this text as a starting point for a more accessible design, or as a background reference for a full course introducing social science research. I see it as a foundation text or an external source for students who seek a concise fallback for lessons, and with content that is compatible with other textbooks. In many ways it needs much more to compete with established textbooks or dedicated electronic learning tools, and in some places I would like more references for the material that is included. On the whole though, I would consider this as the core text for my next introductory research course.","created_at":"2019-10-06T10:13:14.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-06T10:13:14.000-05:00"},{"id":3231,"first_name":"Lee","last_name":"Bidgood","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"East Tennessee State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text seems comprehensive, covers a wide range of research approaches, and parts of the research process.  I will have to supplement with more of the area-specific writing that my students need, but this is easily added in the adapted version of this text that I plan to produce.\r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This text seems to follow the path of other texts that outline research design and methods, such as the Creswell book that I have used for several semesters.  I do not detect bias in the text, or any significant errors.\r\n","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I will discuss disciplinary relevance rather than chronological applicability (which other reviewers have already addressed thoroughly). The course for which I seek a textbook is meant to prepare students in a non-discipline-specific regional studies context, and for a range of methodologies and research design possibilities, mostly in the social sciences and humanities.  This text is most relevant to the potential research programs of our students in discussions of the precursors to research design in Chapter 2 (“Thinking like a researcher”) and of the using and creating of theory in Chapter 4 (“Theories in Scientific Research”).  \r\n","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The authors’ prose is clear and easily comprehensible.  Definitions are clear, and sufficient (jargon is explained).  There could be more examples to clarify and assure comprehension of concepts, I plan to add these in my adaptation.\r\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is not an overt intra-chapter organization scheme that is consistent from chapter to chapter--each chapter differs in the sorts of content, that some sort of generic outline would feel forced, I think.  The “feel” of the text, though, is consistent, and effectively conveys the content.\r\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Because it uses footnote citations instead of endnotes / parenthetical citations, each page contains all of the references contained on it, which helps with modularity. The portions of the text that are less relevant to the course I teach (i.e. the more technical and statistical chapters, such as Chapters 6, 7, 8, 14, and 15 are easily omitted; I will be able to adapt portions of this text (i.e. the discussion of sampling in Chapter 8) without needing to provide all of the chapters.  Some of the more technical vocabulary will require editing  and explanation, but this seems manageable for me as an adapter.\r\n","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is logically organized and the topics make sense in the order presented.  I agree with another reviewer that the ethics portion seems like an appendix, rather than an essential and structural part of the book.  As I adapt this text, I would address ethics at the beginning (as I do in my current teaching of research methods) and infuse the topic through other sections to address ethics-related concerns at all stages of research design and implementation.\r\nThe author’s choice to use footnotes for references is not the one that seemed logical to me at first - it seems “elegant” to put all the references in a list at the rear of a book; now, reading through the whole text, however, I see some value to having the entirety of a citation at hand when reading through the main body of the text.  Still, I miss the comprehensive list of works cited at the end of the book, which I would add to a text that I create, since an e-text is not limited by the economics of physically-printed books.\r\n","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is workable as presented in the PDF document that I downloaded.  Charts and other imagery are usable.  There are no extra navigation features (a link to take a reader to the table of contents in a header or footer, etc.).  I am left wondering if, in a PDF form, an OER textbook would be more useful with more navigation features, or if they might make the document buggy, cluttered, or otherwise affect use.\r\n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not detect any issues with grammar, usage, etc. in the text.\r\n","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"There is a lack of specific examples that might lend a sense of wide scope / global appeal to the textbook, and create an inclusive atmosphere for a reader/student.  The author has stated that they hope to translate and widely distribute the text - perhaps, as is the case in the syllabus that the author provides, the hope is that in use for a course, additional readings will provide local knowledge and place-, culture-, and discipline-specific details and context. \r\n","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a solid text that will provide a framework for adaptation in another disciplinary / area context.  ","created_at":"2019-10-29T13:26:34.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-29T13:26:34.000-05:00"},{"id":3412,"first_name":"Valerie","last_name":"Young","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Hanover College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I really appreciate the broad focus and examples from social science fields. As a fellow social scientist from a high growth area (communication studies), I would appreciate even more breadth! I supplement with many field-specific resources, so this critique is very minor. An appropriate place and reference might be within the first chapter, under the heading Types of Scientific Research, to give a nod to some of the social science fields and the importance of interdisciplinary questions across disciplinary lines.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I did not find any errors in the content of the book. One critique is that the author rarely cites any sources for assertions or materials. I get the impression that the author is relying on \"commonly known\" ideas regarding research methods and processes, but I have to consistently remind my students to cite all non-original information, and that example is lacking in this text. As an example, regarding evaluating measurement scales for internal consistency, the author references commonly-accepted factor loadings (\u003e.60) but does not reference or provide linked resources for readers to corroborate this or seek additional readings.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text content is relevant and the author has taken care to provide relatively timeless sample research examples throughout. Some examples include areas of social and political interest (conflict, crime), business and marketing, and social psychology.\r\nThe contents of the text are not dated and the author does a fantastic job of offering a variety of relevant examples so that readers of all backgrounds can relate to the content. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Incredibly clear and concise. Main ideas are clearly articulated in headings. Bullet point lists are used infrequently, but appropriately. The writing style is professional, academic in tone, yet relate-able. There is little, if any, discipline-specific references that a graduate student from any area of social sciences could not comprehend; however, this book is empirically-grounded and quantitatively focused. For our readers in fields with lower quantitative literacy, some of the terminology in chapters is better suited for students with basic statistical experience, some research methods or theory coursework completed.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text is consistent and detailed in the use of interdisciplinary, social scientific terminology. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The layout of materials and the concise writing style contribute to an easy-to-visualize text. The page layout and brief chapters make it appropriate to assign supplemental readings along with the chapter topics. Some areas for improvement: use hyperlinks to reference forward and backward within the text so that readers can pop back and forth to related concepts. Include links in the text to reputable online materials or publications. See my comment below in Organization feedback concerning chapter ordering.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"One thing that strikes me as amazing and also challenging about this text is the concision and simplicity for which Bhattacherjee integrates complex information. The chapters are very brief- about half of what would be a typical, field-specific textbook, but the content is simultaneously dense and clear. For example, Chapter 7 addresses scale reliability and validity. In just a few short pages, we get an incredible density of information and terminology, from a formula and brief explanation of Chronbach's alpha to exploratory factor analysis as a method to demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity. There is an appropriate number of tables to visually demonstrate complex topics in-text. Overall, the chapters are well-organized and easy to follow with a working knowledge of basic stats.\r\nThe introductory chapters have been intentionally placed to introduce readers to basic principles. The following chapters could be assigned as readings in any order that fit with the student's needs (but I find the order of these chapters appropriate, as-is): Chapter 9 Survey Research, Chapter 10 Experimental Research, Chapter 11 Case Research, Chapter 12 Interpretive Research, Chapter 13 Qualitative Analysis, Chapter 14 Quantitative Descriptive Statistics, Chapter 15 Quantitative Inferential Statistics. The final chapter, 16, covers Research Ethics, which seems to have been lopped on at the end of the text. It would be a better fit in the first third; perhaps integrated into one of the first several chapters with a nod toward the evolution of social research.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Regarding navigation, the pdf online version does not allow for creative navigation through the document. \r\nGraphics and charts are clear and easy to see in the online pdf version. They are a little smaller than I would like on the page, but the text is clear and the tables and graphs are visually appealing. It looks like most of the graphics were created using PowerPoint. \r\nOne odd thing I noticed is that the paragraph spacing is inconsistent. In one section, the spacing between paragraph lines seems to be set at 1.25, and then, for no apparent reason, the line spacing moves back to single space. This is not visually distracting, just peculiar. \r\nOverall, the graphics in the online version are much clearer than in the softcover print version, which prints only in greyscale, with quite a bit of granulated distortion in the figures.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any writing errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The research topic examples represented a diverse array of research topics, methods, fields, etc. The overview of science, scientific research, and social science was welcomed and unique to this text. \r\nSome areas for improvement would be to include historical scientific figures who are not all male, and link critical methodology in a clearer manner with specific critical and cultural examples of this form of research.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-12-19T23:06:54.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-19T23:06:54.000-06:00"},{"id":3781,"first_name":"Wendy","last_name":"Bolyard","position":"Clinical Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Colorado Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text presents all the topics, and more, that I cover in my master's-level research and analytic methods course. A glossary would be helpful as students often need to reference basic definitions as they learn these new concepts. I would have liked to see more practical examples. For instance, what type of problem is unresearchable? (p. 24)","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The concepts were presented accurately and often with citations.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The great thing about research methods is that the content ages well (does not change over time). The examples were relevant and should not make the text obsolete. Any instructor should be able to provide current, real-world examples to compare and contrast to those in the text. Although the sample syllabus if for a business class, I did not find the text to be relevant only to business students. The authors uses broad social science illustrations that cross disciplines. This text is definitely relevant to public affairs/public administration.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is well-written and provides clear yet concise context.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"When students are learning a new language - research methods - they may be confused when definitions vary. Causality is explained with slightly different language which may be misunderstood by students.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"One chapter includes a summary section. It would have been helpful to include a summary of key takeaways for each chapter, and perhaps include a list of key terms and definitions (since the text does not include a glossary).","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text follows the linear, systematic research process very well.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The font, size, and spacing varied in some sections. The images were a bit blurred.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"A few typos, but otherwise well-written and very clear.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Culturally sensitive with relevant and inclusive cases provided.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I will be adopting this text to supplement other readings assigned in my master's-level research and analytic methods course. I appreciate the clear and helpful context it provides on key concepts that students must understand to become effective researchers. The text is comprehensive yet concise and would not overwhelm students.","created_at":"2020-04-30T20:02:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-04-30T20:02:16.000-05:00"},{"id":3896,"first_name":"Kenneth","last_name":"Gentry","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text provides a great overview of core concepts relevant to health-science research.  An overview of theory, designs, sampling, data collection, data analysis, and ethics are provided.\r\nIt may be helpful in future editions to add additional content relating to qualitative research (i.e. additional types of designs, as well as how trustworthiness and rigor are addressed [for example, what specific steps can be taken by researchers to address dependability, credibility, confirmability and transferability]).","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Information presented appears accurate and unbiased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"While much of the content is 'durable' (not likely to soon become obsolete), the relevance is dependent upon the focus of the instructor/course.  For example, if the emphasis of the course will be on quantitative research, then this text is highly relevant, however, if the emphasis is on an equal balance between the traditions of qualitative and quantitative, then this text is slightly less relevant due to the more limited nature of its content in qualitative (in comparison to content on quantitative).  That is not to say that this text does not address content relevant to qualitative research, however, it does so with decidedly less depth and breadth than quantitative.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"While a subjective interpretation of clarity is highly dependent upon the reader, I found this text to strike a good balance between a scholarly, academic tone, and commonly-understood, easily-relatable descriptions of key concepts.  There were times where I wish that the latter had been more so, however, considering the target audience of this text, I feel that the author struck a good balance.  Occasionally, there were concepts that I anticipated would require additional clarification (beyond the reading) for my graduate students.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Overall, I found the text to be generally consistent in its approach to the content.\r\nOccasionally, there were instances when the flow made sense at the chapter level, however, content might have been spread between chapters (i.e. theory is discussed in Chapters 1, 2 and 4).","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This ties in with my comments on consistency.  Since some concepts are discussed in more than one place, it might be difficult to identify a single reading for a specific topic ... one might need to assign several readings from more than one chapter.  However, having said that, I anticipate that those instances would be infrequent.  On the whole, the text demonstrates a fairly good degree of modularity.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"At the chapter level (i.e. main topics), and within each chapter, information appears well organized.  It is the appearance of content in multiple places that was occasionally problematic for me as I read (i.e. when reading about reliability and validity, I questioned why  the author did not discuss the types of reliability and validity ... I later found that content in a subsequent chapter).","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"While images were viewable, many appeared 'pixelated'/'grainy' (low resolution).  This was more of a cosmetic issue, and did not affect the overall interpretation of the image.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Overall, the content was grammatically strong.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Content was not culturally insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"My sincere thanks to this author, and to the Open Textbook Library and Scholar Commons for this text.  I truly appreciate the investment of resources that were invested.  I just completed instructing 2 semester courses on research in a graduate health science degree program ... I plan to adopt this text the next time I am rotated into those courses again!","created_at":"2020-06-02T11:38:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-02T11:38:58.000-05:00"},{"id":4678,"first_name":"Barbara","last_name":"Molargik-Fitch","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Trine University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook provides a nice overview of several topics related to social science specific research.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The textbook seems to be accurate and error free.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text seems to be accurate, relevant, and useful.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is organized well and had a professional and academic tone while also understandable.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Text seemed to be internally consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Text is easily divisible to be assigned as different points within the course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Text is well organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of significant interface issues that would distract or confuse the reader.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not see any cultural issues.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I will be using this textbook for one of my classes. I am looking forward to using it. I think it has a lot to offer students looking to develop their research skills.","created_at":"2021-03-06T14:31:33.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-03-06T14:31:33.000-06:00"},{"id":4847,"first_name":"Elizabeth","last_name":"Moore","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Indianapolis","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"In Chapter 5 on Research Design there isn't any discussion on how to improve content and statistical conclusion validity. There isn't a discussion of threats associated with the four types of validity. The chapter also does not present how the research design and threats to validity are interconnected. There is a lack of comprehensiveness in the presentation of qualitative research as qualitative research rigor is not addressed.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate, error-free, and unbiased. I would like more examples focused on social sciences. Some of the examples are related to business/industry. There are many social science examples that could be used.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Many of the examples should be updated. With everything that is (has been) happening in the U.S. and world, there are many examples that can come from the social sciences. For example, there are several examples that could represent the concept of technostress, especially with many professionals having to move into online environments. Students would be more likely to read assigned chapters and understand the material presented if the examples were relevant to their profession.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is clear and has high readability. There are several accessibility issues in the document. This should be checked and fixed. There are 5 issues in the document, 4 in tables, 5 in alternative text, etc. Accessibility is a big issue right now. All documents have to be accessible to all students.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"While there is consistency within the textbook, in some topics there is a lock of consistency in how some of the terms and material relate to what is actually used in social science disciplines. For example, in basic social science textbooks in chapters presenting an introduction to measurement of constructs, descriptive statistics that are unfamiliar and rarely used, such as geometric mean and harmonic mean, should not be introduced. This information is usually difficult for novice researchers to understand without adding more advanced descriptive statistics.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"It is confusing as to why research validity is in Chapter 5 - Research Design. There is not a discussion of how different research types are affected by different types and threats of research validity. The title of Chapter 7 is misleading. The word \"scale\" is associated with scale of measurement. It would be better to use designing measurement tools/instruments in the chapter name since the types of validity and reliability discussed are related to creating and developing measurement tools/instruments. I also think Chapter 6 - Measurement of Construction should not come before Chapter 7 - Scale Reliability and Validity since measurement of constructs and scale reliability and validity are related to qualitative research.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I like the organization. It follows the current syllabus I use so it will require very little modifications.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"As mentioned below, bookmarks would improve navigation of the pdf file. Also, having links from the table of contents to chapters would be helpful. Including some of the important subsections of the chapters would also improve navigation of the pdf version of the book. Tables and charts are helpful and supplement the text. Use of images would break-up the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"None were noted.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"See comments above about the relevancy of the material. While it is important to make sure a book is culturally sensitive and not offensive, it is also important to not ignore what is known about social injustices which are well-documented. Look at the lack of diversity in many professions and organizations, this is important to address.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"It would be helpful if bookmarks were placed in the pdf version. While this is a social science textbook, it would be helpful to have subsection in Chapter 4 that introduces at least a couple of the main health behavior theories. These are commonly used by many researchers in social sciences.","created_at":"2021-04-24T04:27:26.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-24T04:27:26.000-05:00"},{"id":4880,"first_name":"David","last_name":"Denton","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Seattle Pacific University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I use this book with graduate students in education taking an initial course in education research. Dr. Bhattacherjee notes the book is organized for semesters with supplemental readings, as shown by the sample syllabus in the appendix. Nevertheless, I have found the book is excellent in meeting objectives for an introductory course in education research, though it is necessary to add education context and examples. Some of the course objectives I have developed from the textbook include i) distinguishing between questionnaire survey method and interview survey method and ii) summarizing criteria for developing effective questionnaire items, among many others. There are some sections that exceed student knowledge without some background in statistics (e.g. description of factor analysis) but omitting these sections as required reading is easy since there are many subheadings used to segment chapters.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Dr. Bhattacherjee has done an excellent job of clearly communicating the content with accuracy. For example, the textbook distinguishes between qualitative and quantitative analysis (rather than qualitative and quantitative research, an appropriate distinction). The textbook makes other distinctions in a way that helps students comprehend concepts (e.g. survey interview and survey questionnaire). At the same time, the textbook does not over-emphasize research methods or design, which might mislead students to think inflexibly about the topic.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"One of the advantages of the book, in my view, is that it will not become obsolete anytime soon. It addresses all major topics of interest for instructors needing to develop student background knowledge in social science research methodology. For example, some topics for which the book provides helpful structure include i) Thinking Like a Researcher, ii) The Research Process, iii) Research Design, iv) and Sampling. In addition, an instructor can easily supplement or provide subject-specific examples where needed since the book is thoroughly segmented by chapter and chapter subheadings.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Dr. Bhattacherjee does a fine job of defining terms concisely. I do not recall use of jargon, or if there are complicated terms, the text provides enough elaboration so that students can at least attain a conceptual understanding. In some instances, definitions are so concise that I find it necessary to elaborate with examples. This, however, is a part of instruction and would be done in any case.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The textbook is highly coherent, in my view. Similar to modularity, consistency is a strength. For example, chapters are grouped into four sections: Introduction to Research, Basics of Empirical Research, Data Collection, and Data Analysis. Further, chapters within major sections are sequential, such as chapters on Science and Scientific Research, followed by Thinking Like a Researchers, followed by The Research Process. In addition, content within chapters is consistent, such as Dr. Bhattacherjee’s logical progression of concepts: empiricism, to positivism, to forms of analysis (qualitative and quantitative), etc","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modularity is one of the clear strengths, again in my view. From a structural perspective, neither the chapters nor subsections are very long because Dr. Bhattacherjee writes concisely. Both chapters and subordinate subsections lend themselves to various kinds of divisions. For example, students in need of supplemental instruction on descriptive statistics, such as content about the normal distribution, can be assigned the subsection on Statistics of Sampling in chapter 8, followed by the subsection on Central tendency in chapter 14. Some non-sequential reading is required if students do not have any background in statistics, but this is not difficult to manage using page numbers or subheadings as reference.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The textbook is well organized. Nevertheless, there are some sections that I found helpful to have students read out of sequence. For example, there is a short section at the end of chapter 5, Scale Reliability and Validity, which is perhaps best read after students cover correlation and normal distribution, dealt with in chapter 14. Again, I did not find it difficult to assign sections out of sequence using either page numbers or chapter subheadings as reference.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The textbook does not have interface issues. Chapter titles are hyperlinked within PDF copies to simplify navigation. Some may judge a few of the images as low resolution, but if this is a defect it is not one that interferes with communicating concepts, which is the purpose of the images.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few minor grammatical errors in the 2nd edition, 2012. For example, on p. 126, Dr. Bhattacherjee notes “five female students” when the Chi-square table appears to show four. This is minor, but if students are new to reading Chi-square tables they may not detect the error and believe interpreting a Chi-square table is different than interpreting a typical data table.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The textbook presents appropriate information without prejudice or unfairness. As mentioned, instructors will likely need to include examples that are specific to their course objectives and student populations. For example, chapter 11. Case Research provides exemplars that focus on business and marketing domains. This seems entirely appropriate given Dr. Bhattacherjee’s research area. Instructors using the text for other domains, such as education research, will be interested in elaborating on concepts using examples specific to the needs of their students.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I greatly appreciate that Dr. Bhattacherjee has shared his book as an Open Textbook.","created_at":"2021-05-03T18:46:10.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-03T18:46:10.000-05:00"},{"id":33514,"first_name":"Dawn","last_name":"DeVries","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Grand Valley State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides a complete summary of the research process. While discussions are brief and concise, the text addresses the main issues and processes providing an overview and general understanding of the research process for social science fields. Two areas could be more in-depth, specifically the IRB discussion and the chapter on surveys. Information provided is accurate and succinct as the author intended, providing a comprehensive overview of the research process.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and presented in an objective manner. There was no perception of bias or conflict that would impact accuracy. The chapters offer a variety of examples, inclusive of a variety of social science fields.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Written in 2012, the information remains relevant with few areas that would ever need to change. The research process and research methods stay fairly consistent with little variation; thus, the text would not need regular updating. Updates, if and when needed, would be easy to implement due to the concise and objective writing and the logical organization of the textbook.\r\nOne area needing updating (or that instructors would need to supplement) is Chapter 9 on Survey Research. The chapter refers to mail surveys, which in 2021, are almost obsolete. Little is presented or discussed on electronic surveys, survey platforms, or the use of social media in recruitment, survey distribution or every survey completion. Furthermore, there is no mention of the ethical issues related to social media research.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Key terminology is bolded with the definition following, making it easy to identify. Definitions are clear and adequate to facilitate understanding of the concepts and terms. The text presents the research process in a logical and understandable way using scaffolding.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapter structure, framework, and style are consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The chapters provide easily divisible readings of 8-10 pages. The chapters are ordered in a logical fashion and flow easily, yet they could be rearranged to fit instructor preferences for order. Chapters are concise, allowing the combination of multiple chapters for a week’s reading if needed. The text is designed for a 16-week semester, but again, because the chapters are not long, several chapters could be read as one assignment. It would be difficult to reduce chapter readings (say, using only 5 pages of the chapter) because of the conciseness of the information and the shortness of the chapters.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is logical and has flow. It starts general (with How to Think Like a Researcher) and builds to specific, more detailed content (Inferential Statistics).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no observed problems with the interface of the text. Images used are clear and display without difficulty. No hyperlinks are used.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No observed issues or concerns related to grammar or mechanics.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No concerns about inclusivity or offensiveness. The text is clear and concise, offering a variety of short examples specific to various social science professions.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The text reminds me of my Research Methods textbook from my doctoral program. It addresses the differences between scientific research and social science methods in a clear and concise manner. While it is an overview of the information, it is specific and concise enough for students who need to understand the research process but won’t be engaging in research as their full-time profession. \r\nContent is brief in a few areas as mentioned, which will allow the instructor to provide supplemental reading or lecture content specific to the university (i.e., IRB) or to the profession. \r\nAs the author suggests, certain chapters could be skipped depending on the program. For example, chapters 13 – 15 on statistics could easily be omitted if the program has a research statistics course. \r\nA nice add is the sample syllabus for a doctoral program.","created_at":"2021-12-09T10:23:38.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-09T10:23:38.000-06:00"},{"id":34079,"first_name":"Cahit","last_name":"Kaya","position":"ASSISTANT PROFESSOR","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"I LIKE THE FIGURE EXPLAINING RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ON PAGE 55.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"IT SEEMED ACCURATE","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"IT IS RELEVANT","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"IT IS CLEAR","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"IT IS CONSISTENT","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"IT NEEDS MORE MODULES","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"IT CAN BE OGRANIZED BETTER","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"YES BUT EVEN THOUGH IT CAN BE IMPROVED","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I DID NOT SEE IT","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"MORE CULTURAL DIVERSE EXAMPLES CAN BE GIVEN","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"N.A","created_at":"2022-10-17T17:46:25.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-10-17T17:46:25.000-05:00"},{"id":34477,"first_name":"Sanaa","last_name":"Riaz","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"While not meant for advanced graduate and doctoral students, this text is an excellent introductory resource for learning about paradigms in research methods and data analysis and prepares the learner to begin writing a successful research project proposal. The text largely privileges the scientific method and labels diverse social science research methods as such. However, the preparatory considerations in beginning social science research have been discussed. The book contains important terms in bold to guide a beginner reader as well as sample syllabi for incorporating it at the graduate level. However, the text could be made more comprehensive with the inclusion of an effective index and/or glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is a quick guide to considerations and terminologies used in social science research. The content is accurate, error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text provides a basic introduction to research methods in the social sciences. Updates in social science inquiry with respect to social media and popular culture platforms and mixed methods research should be easy to incorporate.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text has been written from the point of view of a non-expert. It is free of technical jargon and is meant to provide the essentials of social science inquiry and research considerations.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology within a chapter section. However, it is strongly recommended that the framework is revisited for chapters discussing qualitative research methods and approaches. Qualitative data analysis has not been explored in depth and the basic framework for Chapter 13 will need to be substantially expanded to provide for a smoother transition from a discussion on grounded theory to content analysis and hermeneutic analysis and to incorporate information on other analyses undertaken in qualitative research.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters and sections in the text can be easily reorganized and assigned as per needs of the instructor and the course without causing disruption to the reader.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Chapter sections of the book covering qualitative research are not presented in a logical manner. It is highly recommended that the readers are told about the place of exploratory and other research in social science research inquiry, rather than labeling them as scientific research. Moreover, mixed methods and qualitative visual and social media platform research needs to be discussed. The book overall shies away from delving into approaches and methods in non-empirical research in the social sciences.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate. All words, sections and tables are easily searchable.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is free of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text does not contain any culturally insensitive information as there are hardly any research project examples incorporated.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Incorporating examples and case studies across social science disciplines (after introducing the disciplines in which social science research is employed in the first chapter) would allow readers to see the applicability of one social science research approach, method and data analysis over another based on the research project focus.","created_at":"2023-03-27T12:21:21.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-03-27T12:21:21.000-05:00"},{"id":34513,"first_name":"Ingrid","last_name":"Carter","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook includes many of the important elements of a foundational social science research course. A key element of the course I teach which is not included in the text is how to search for literature to inform the research, how to synthesize this literature, and how to write a literature review.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The content appears to be mostly accurate and unbiased. There is a large emphasis on positivist approaches, and more post-positivist and innovative research approaches should be added to the content.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text is relevant to foundational/introductory social science research courses. As mentioned previously, broader and more diverse perspectives of research are missing.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The content is presented clearly.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is presented with a consistent framework and format. The variety of frameworks included could be greater, with at minimum a presentation of different research paradigms and ideally with discussion or questions to grapple with related to various research paradigms and approaches.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As the author indicates, the textbook consists of 16 chapters which can be used in a 16-week semester. These can be easily assigned for weekly readings.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The textbook is well-organized.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is relatively clear","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were found in my initial review. I have not yet used the textbook for the course I am teaching, and therefore have not reviewed the textbook page by page nor line by line.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"More diverse and culturally relevant example to a diverse audience could be embedded. I did not encounter offensive material.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2023-04-14T11:21:06.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-04-14T11:21:06.000-05:00"},{"id":34617,"first_name":"Kelle","last_name":"DeBoth Foust","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Cleveland State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text really seems to do as it claims; provides the basic overview of the research material needed for graduate students without a lot of other “fluff.” It’s written very clearly, easy to understand and many figures and charts that enhance learning. It covers the majority of the topics that I need it to cover for OTH 740/Research I, at about the level of detail that the students should be able to digest. In particular, I like the sections on survey research, experimental research and that it covers quantitative and qualitative analyses.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"As far as I can tell reading through it, the content is accurate and unbiased (will be able to review further once actually implemented in the intended course).","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is current at least regarding how we continue to teach and use it in our field. Some of the references are a little outdated, although not much has changed in this world in recent years. I also recognize I can pull more recent literature in order to make the examples up to date and relevant for my particular students.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is written very clearly. I feel that the diagrams really help to add and make sense of higher level concepts that students may struggle with. Concepts that are challenging are recognized as such within the text, with appropriate examples that enhance clarity (will be able to review further once actually implemented in the intended course)","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Yes, the text appears to be internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned at different points within the course (i.e., enormous blocks of text without subheadings should be avoided). The text should not be overly self-referential, and should be easily reorganized and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader. – Yes. The division of the content makes sense, and how smaller modules are paired (e.g., qualitative and quantitative analysis paired back to back) is logical to facilitate learning.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text and chapters are laid out in an order that makes sense and provides good flow and continuity between the concepts and analytical applications. In particular, I like how research is introduced, moving into research design and then analysis all within the same text. Will make this more manageable for students.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader. – Very well put together, no issues with the interface. I would consider this to be very user/student friendly. In particular, the authors made a point to keep it “short and sweet” so students should not be intimidated by the length of the chapters (which is excellent for helping to convince the students to actually read them).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text contains no grammatical errors. – None detected.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It should make use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. – No offensive content noted, the majority of the examples used do not have cultural significance and therefore the amount of diversity is sufficient.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This review was written based on a preliminary review of the text prior to use and implementation within the intended course. I will update the review if it significantly differs once students have used it for their course study.","created_at":"2023-06-22T13:55:56.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-06-22T13:55:56.000-05:00"},{"id":35405,"first_name":"Jeonghyun","last_name":"Lee","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Louisiana State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a comprehensive resource tailored for undergraduate students embarking on research in social sciences and related fields. The text adeptly covers an array of topics essential for understanding and conducting scientific research. Its structured approach ensures that readers gain a holistic view of the research process.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is presented with impartiality, reflecting established principles and methodologies in social science research. While some reviewers have noted minor grammatical and formatting issues, these do not detract significantly from the overall quality and reliability of the information provided. The text remains a trustworthy source for foundational research concepts.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"One of the book's strengths lies in its enduring relevance. By focusing on fundamental aspects of research, the material remains pertinent despite evolving research trends.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The clear and accessible prose enhances comprehension, making complex concepts more approachable. Key terms are highlighted, and the inclusion of figures and charts further aids in elucidating intricate ideas.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text maintains consistency in terminology and framework throughout, facilitating a cohesive learning experience. Its modular design allows for flexibility, enabling instructors and readers to engage with individual sections as needed without loss of context.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text was divided into small sections, leaving readers grasping concepts and definitions more easily. Subtitles are well organized and understandable for beginners.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The logical progression of topics mirrors the natural flow of the research process, from conceptualization to execution.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is user-friendly, with well-organized chapters and subheadings that enhance navigation. While the text is predominantly free from significant interface issues, some users have suggested that additional navigation features could further improve usability.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammatically, the text is sound, though a few errors have been observed. Culturally, the book is inclusive and sensitive, employing examples that resonate with a diverse audience. Overall, Bhattacherjee's work stands as a valuable and accessible guide for those delving into social science research.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"(N/A)","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2025-03-02T23:38:54.000-06:00","updated_at":"2025-03-02T23:38:54.000-06:00"},{"id":35464,"first_name":"Rebecca","last_name":"Totton","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Oberlin College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I was generally impressed at the comprehensive nature of this book. However, it fell short in some of the same places that many methodological books do:\n1) There is only one chapter on qualitative methods added somewhat haphazardly after the quant methods chapters and before the quant statistics chapter.\n2) Statistical tools are not built into the chapters, so it limits students understanding of how to analyze the methods they're using\n3) More specific examples would be helpful in many chapters/methods discussed","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book provides simple and clear definitions throughout. I do think it would benefit from citations of direct research for best practice, though.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book will be easy to update and will continue to be relevant over an extended period of time given the content.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I was impressed at how well terms are explained throughout in digestible ways. I do think that the examples provided would benefit from being more specific, but despite this general preference, I find the chapters to be clear and accessible throughout.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is highly consistent in the use of terms, phrases, and best practices. I also appreciate the recognition of updates to best practices in line with more recent methods.","modularity_rating":3,"modularity_review":"Given the nature of this book, it is not overly modular, in the sense that some chapters and understandings need to be present before others can be deeply understood. I do not believe this is as much of a fault of the book as it is just a function of the topic.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"There are certain chapters that make less sense than others (e.g. a full chapter on case studies is unnecessary while multiple chapters on qualitative methods would be appropriate).","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is clear and easy to read. Images are well labeled and while there is limited interface outside of text and photos, those are easy to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is grammatically well written.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book would benefit from including more explicit cultural examples as well as real-world clear examples. While the content is accurate and appropriate for the level of the text, it would be far more engaging if more culturally relevant examples were included.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, I would recommend this as a baseline text- very good for definitions and overall coverage of quantitative methodologies. I would not recommend this if you plan to teach using a cross-cultural lens or teach the benefits of mixed methods approaches.","created_at":"2025-05-04T19:56:05.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-05-04T19:56:05.000-05:00"},{"id":35662,"first_name":"Ryan","last_name":"Liou","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Wabash College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book’s primary strength is its comprehensiveness. It successfully guides the reader through the entire research inquiry, beginning with how to formulate research questions and develop a theory, then moving through a variety of essential methods. The text thoughtfully covers surveys, experiments, case studies, interpretive research, and statistical analysis. I am impressed by its balance, not only between qualitative and quantitative approaches but also between its overall breadth and depth. It grounds the reader by defining and explaining fundamental terms and concepts, such as typologies, validity, measurement, random error, social desirability bias, and the sampling process, with straightforward and accessible clarity. This approach makes the book an excellent fit for undergraduate students. While the coverage is thorough, one area that could be slightly expanded is the comparative case study approach, which felt underdeveloped compared to the other methods presented.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I don’t see any significant errors or biases throughout the book. However, one place might be disputable and merit revisions. In Figure 5.1 (on page 35), a single case study is placed in the area of high external validity and low internal validity; however, I believe this method should be categorized as having low external validity and high internal validity instead.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book is current and relevant. The author wisely grounds the discussion in foundational principles and core methodological concepts rather than in specific software or platforms, giving the book a sense of lasting value.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to follow, as the writing is clear and any technical terms are well-explained.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text uses terms and concepts consistently throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is consistently broken down into multiple sections with clear subheadings. The text is easily reorganized. An instructor could assign chapters out of order without disrupting the reader's flow.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book’s organization is great. It follows a logical sequence that mirrors the research process: starting with scientific foundations (Ch. 1-4), moving to research design and measurement (Ch. 5-8), then covering data collection methods (Ch. 9-12), and concluding with data analysis and ethics (Ch. 13-16). This step-by-step structure makes the content very accessible.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I see no big issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I see no significant errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book uses examples from diverse backgrounds and also references non-Western contexts.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Thank you for writing this book. I have been searching for an excellent textbook for my research inquiry and analysis course, and I believe this one would be ideal. Its combination of logical organization, balanced depth, and accessible writing makes it well-suited for my students.","created_at":"2025-11-03T14:00:39.000-06:00","updated_at":"2025-11-03T14:00:39.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/social-science-research-principles-methods-and-practices","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:10:51.000-05:00"},{"id":465,"title":"Global Women's Issues: Women in the World Today, extended version","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2012,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781622399253","license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"We cannot solve global challenges unless women participate fully in efforts to find solutions. Female participation in the private sector is a crucial economic driver for societies worldwide. Economic security benefits every facet of a woman's life, with positive effects on the health, education and vitality of families. Learn about women who are changing their societies for the better. This book is based on the twelve critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995: The burden of poverty on women, unequal access to education and training, inequalities and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services, violence against women, the effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living under foreign occupation, inequality in economic structures and policies, inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels, insufficient mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women, lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women, stereotyping of women and inequality in women's access to and participation in all communication systems, especially in the media, gender inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding of the environment, and persistent discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child. This extended version of Global Women's Issues: Women in the World Today includes, for each chapter, a summary, key words, multiple choice questions, discussion questions, essay questions, and a list of additional resources. Copies of the original book are also available in Arabic, Portuguese, and Spanish.","contributors":[{"id":4249,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Janni","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Aragon","location":"University of Victoria","background_text":"Dr. Janni Aragon (BA/MA San Diego State University, MA/PhD UC Riverside) is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Victoria. She has taught courses on American Politics, Political Theory, Gender and Politics, Feminist Theory, Gender and International Relations, Model United Nations Simulation, Internship in Political Science, as well as numerous Women's Studies courses at the University of Victoria and San Diego State University. Her research interests include: Gender and Politics, American Politics, Women and Technology, Third Wave Feminisms, Social Movements, and Transnational Feminism. She has been published in New Political Science, Women's Studies Quarterly, and the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics. She is currently working on a project focused on pedagogy, popular culture, and technology entitled, \"Feminist Pedagogical Border Crossing: Using Popular Culture to Teach Globalization to the 'Net Gen.'\" Dr. Aragon was the 2011-13 Chair of the Academic Women’s Caucus at UVic. In this capacity, Aragon represents all women faculty and librarians at all equity, diversity, and human rights meetings. She also sits on the Senate in the Learning and Teaching Committee. She also served as the 2010-11 President of the Caucus for Women and Gender Justice for the Western Political Science Association (WPSA). She has served as the Chair of the Gender and Politics section and Teaching, Research, and Professional Development section of regional political science associations. Dr. Aragon and Dr. Kathleen Jones co-coordinated the Feminist Theory Conference at the WPSA in 2009."},{"id":4250,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Mariel","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Miller","location":"University of Victoria","background_text":"Mariel Miller is an Educational Design Specialist in the Department of Technology Integrated Learning. She works with instructors and programs to facilitate learning through designing, developing, and refining online courses. Her research and professional interests include the design and use of online environments to support regulation of learning as a dynamic and social process. Specifically, her SSHRC funded doctoral research centres on leveraging scripting and visualization tools to support teams to regulate collaboration."}],"subjects":[{"id":47,"name":"Gender \u0026 Sexuality Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HQ1101","visible_textbooks_count":16,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/gender-sexuality-studies"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":390,"url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor=\u0026keyword=\u0026subject=","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","name":"BCcampus"}],"formats":[{"id":674,"type":"Online","url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/browse-our-collection/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor\u0026keyword\u0026subject","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1655,"type":"PDF","url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/browse-our-collection/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor\u0026keyword\u0026subject","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1656,"type":"eBook","url":"https://open.bccampus.ca/browse-our-collection/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=47e557eb-f65f-4586-b08f-ae4600504177\u0026contributor\u0026keyword\u0026subject","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1657,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://opentextbook.docsol.sfu.ca/store/?product=OTB058-02","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":9,"reviews":[{"id":1594,"first_name":"Aimee","last_name":"Richardson","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a comprehensive overview on an in depth subject.  The author does a nice job of touching on one subject per chapter.  This is perfect for an undergraduate intro class on Global Women's issues since most of the chapters can be an entire semester long course.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"For now the information appears to be accurate.  Things change so quickly in this field that it is hard to remain accurate for most printed texts.  I think this format allows better accuracy for this subject due to the ability to edit and add on information. I also think it is challenging to be unbiased on these issues, the writing of the content in and of itself is biased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I think it is written in a way that necessary updates can be easily added in order for the text to stay relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I love the style in which this book has been written, the combination of information, statistics, first hand stories and inspiration people in the field is ideal.  It makes it easy to read and understand , even if the information is new..","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"It seems very consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is a perfect length.  Within the chapter you can also break down the subheadings and assign accordingly with your class.However, none of the chapters are so long that they need to be broken down.  It seems quite easy to reorganize.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"It flows very well and is completely logical.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I had no problems with the interface.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Yeah, grammar is not my strength so....  Looked good to me.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This text did a terrific job of being culturally relevant and inclusive.  The subject is one that needs to be so it is not surprising that the author brought in stories, examples and facts from several different cultures, SES, race, religion and genders.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1680,"first_name":"Monika","last_name":"Sawhney","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of North Carolina at Charlotte","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I very strongly feel that as far as comprehensiveness is concerned, this book does a good job. I specialize in women's health and primarily work in the area of women and children with a special emphasis on girl child. What I really like about this book is that it covers varied areas related to women, such as education, health, media, and employment. Usually I come across books that focus on one or may 2-3 areas, but this book is different in the sense it provides material of different aspects of teaching or working on women issues.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I would say that material mentioned in this book is more or less accurate. However, more data from various international data bases and other related sources could have supplemented the pictures and stories presented across the book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Yes I would say the book is relevant and can be used for a longer period of time. Instructors planning to adapt this book will need to supplement information presented in this book along with data and other snippets from online sources.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"One of the features I have liked about this book is the clarity of material being presented. One suggestion I will have for a book of this kind will be to have more stories and interviews from the beneficiaries. This will make the content even stronger and some thing that audiences will be able to relate to.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Overall the book maintain's its consistency. Though for some of the chapters where there are theoretical models available, the same could be added for future editions","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As highlighted through my comments for earlier section, one feature that makes this book stand out is the different themes/disciplines/subject matter it presents in one book. Instructors looking to teach various aspects related to women can use this text just for that specific material they are interested in covering in their class. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As an instructor and some one who is deeply committed to women issues, I like the organization/structure for the information presented in this book. Those looking to have in-class exercises or assignments on specific issues related to women, will benefit if appropriate databases information is presented across the text.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I personally have liked some of the pictures and other graphics presented across the book. As mentioned in my earlier comments, I would prefer if there are interviews and more in-depth stories of real women/beneficiaries of various programs mentioned across this book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not specifically find any grammatical errors. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The fact that this is a text book on Global Women's issue, it has done a good job of bringing examples of women issues from different parts of the planet. This also offers the audience/s to relate to issues women face across the planet and how policy makers, social workers, and public health professionals can learn from successful experiences else where. For example, the implementation of \"Grameen bank\" related programs based on the success it experiences in Bangladesh.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Just include some more databases information for specific issues for audiences that would be interested in working further on specific topics mentioned across the book.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":3155,"first_name":"Marsha","last_name":"Tongel","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Point Park University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is comprehensive and covers in detail the issues affect women globally that emerged from the 4th U.N. World Conference on Women held in \r\nBeijing, China in September of 1995.  The range of issues discussed in the book is extensive.  The new and extended version of this book added a chapter summary, key words, multiple choice questions, discussion questions, essay questions, and a list of additional resources to each chapter.  What  is missing is a subject index at the end of the book. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book accurately reports on the issues from the World Conference of Women and accurately reflects many of the issues that are of concern to women today. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The overall issues that are discussed in the book are still current and relevant concerns of women today. The statistical data, however, that is shared is a bit outdated. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The layout of the book is very easy to read and maneuver.  The addition of actual case studies to support the issue being discussed shows the relevance and impact the issue has had on women as well as how women in various countries have begun to address the issue.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework is consistent from chapter to chapter.  Each chapter begins with an overview as well as a summary and a listing of key terms.  The issue and its importance to women is discussed.  Profiles and projects that are relevant and support each issue follow the discussion.  The chapter ends with various assessments (multiple choice questions, discussion question, essay questions) that can be used as well as additional resources that can be explored. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters are easily readable and each could be considered a separate module.  The material can be taken in sequence or reorganized as desired to meet course needs. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Very clear, easy to follow and to read.  Each chapter follows the same format when addressing each issue.  Text is broken up into segments.  Pictures in each chapter help to support the issue as well as break up consistent text.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text has images but they actually support and do not detract from the intent of the book and the issues it discusses. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text refers to issues that affect women globally.  As such, the book introduces the issue from various cultural perspectives of women. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is a great resource book on the global issues affecting women. Although the book provides an overall good discussion of each issue and some cultural perspectives of each issue, it doesn't discuss in any detail some of the underlying conceptual frameworks that affect gender bias and which continue to support bias. ","created_at":"2019-08-31T13:24:46.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-08-31T13:24:46.000-05:00"},{"id":3498,"first_name":"Michele","last_name":"Ren","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"I teach an Intro to Women's and Gender Studies with a subtitle \"Women in the World.\" Finding a text that is truly global -- not just the global north or the global south -- and easy for students to read/comprehend is difficult, likely because covering all women everywhere is an enormous task. I had high hopes for this text, but it is ultimately one of those (like *Half the Sky*) that calls itself global, but focuses mainly on developing nations. When students in an intro course read a text like this that claims to be global, but mostly covers \"problems\" in developing nations, it reinforces their ideas that sexism and sexist oppression are things that happen \"in other countries\" and not here in the United States.  ","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"One of the copyright holders is the U.S. State Department and sources include the CIA. , which may explain why the United States is mostly left out of discussion of issues like \"Violence Against Women\" or \"Women, Girls, and Armed Conflict.\" I like to teach my students that we need to amplify women's voices and understand the lenses through which those voices are filtered. The \"voice\" of an Iraqi refugee filtered through the U.S. State Department, for example, may not be entirely \"authentic.\"  ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Preface and overview are by Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Vereer; copyright is by, presumably, the first Obama State Department, which would make the text at least 8 years out of date. Updates from Kerry and the four subsequent Trump appointees should be easily obtained, but possibly not desirable. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to navigate, readable, and visually appealing. Key terms are listed immediately after a brief intro to each chapter, giving readers a \"heads up\" in case there is something they might not know.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There is both a shared language and structure as you move through the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"While structure and tone are consistent throughout the text, the reading is not necessarily scaffolded. Each of the 12 chapters could stand alone or be read in a different order without any sense of confusion as they do not necessarily refer backward or forward, rather they cover only what's in the chapter title. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text uses a typical, thus easily recognizable, format: About, Intro/Preface, Chapters, Conclusion, Bibliography. While the chapters could stand alone, or be rearranged, the current order is fine. Though some topics like \"Women and Poverty\" (Chapter 1) could be placed closer to others, such as \"Women in the Economy\" (Chapter 6). ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"While browser and/or format (online/PDF/.txt) might create a different experience for different users, I found the online version (using chrome) to be pleasant to navigate. I also opened the text in safari on an iPhone XR and had a similar experience, though the (left) margins in some cases were off a bit.  The ability to increase font size was a nice feature. The editable .txt that I downloaded had some image issues. The first image, for example, seemed to be stretched a bit horizontally. The font changes on the first few pages were also a bit distracting, being an editable text, though, an instructor could easily change that. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"While I did not do a line-by-line edit, the text seemed to be mostly error free, though making decision-making one word seemed an odd choice. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Again, leaving most of the world's white women out of the text, as if violence against them, poverty, health concerns, etc. are not problems in the \"West\" is problematic, as is, filtering the voices and views of women in the developing world through the U.S. government. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-01-13T12:05:32.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-13T12:05:32.000-06:00"},{"id":3576,"first_name":"Jeana","last_name":"Jorgensen","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Butler University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book seems fairly comprehensive in its global scope, though as other reviewers have noted, there is an almost exclusive focus on developing nations and the Global South, which might seem to imply that women in developed nations and the Global North are not still struggling. I do not believe there is an index or glossary, and there definitely should be one. I also did not see any references to the specific issues that Pacific Island/Polynesian women face.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I believe some statistics are verging on outdated, but as far as providing a snapshot of the information within the last decade, this seems well done. Having specific numbers to point to when discussing global women's experiences - such as how one in three women worldwide has experienced abuse, assault, or sexual violence - is incredibly useful when teaching this subject. I like that there are brief author bios at the end of every section, so that students can get a sense of how the author's background might position them to approach any given topic.\r\n\r\nThis is minor, but in the chapter on women in the economy, the profiled activist was from Saudi Arabia, and the author failed to mention the highly restrictive laws that might have had some impact on why so few women were in the workforce (e.g. until the last year or so, it was illegal for women to drive in Saudi Arabia, and I imagine that would make it difficult to get to one's hypothetical job). Small quirks like this omission make me wonder if the content could be framed in a better way.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"As noted above, it would probably be helpful to update some of the statistics and demographic information in the near future. Since it's a somewhat long text, these updates might be difficult to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is very readable and is written in plain language. The use of extensive quotes from personal narratives - when innovators in a given field, or survivors of a particular crisis, are interviewed - helps make the text even more accessible.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Overall the book is consistent; however, there are a couple minor issues that make it apparent that the book (which I read online) was once just a physical version (e.g. a reference to a page number in one of the supplementary sections, which would not exist in the online version). Also, it is unclear to me how the key terms at the top of every chapter were selected; some are names and some are concepts, while some seem drawn from the specific case studies and others seem crucial to understanding the topic at hand. There probably should have been a subject index at the end, too.\r\n\r\nAdditionally, I noticed that in some of the quizzes at the end of each chapter, the answer choices were numbered (1, 2, 3, etc.) but in the answer key they were letters instead (A, B, C, etc.). It's easy enough for the reader to figure out the discrepancy, but that also means it'd be an easy enough fix for the authors or editors.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I believe it would work well to assign a chapter or two at a time, in order to supplement other class materials. Students would not need to have read the preface or the whole rest of the book to get something out of individual chapters, since the chapters do not reference other chapters extensively. It would also be possible to take a more innovative approach to assigning the text, and have students read, for example, all the profiles of women leaders in the book to start a conversation about activism.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"There is consistent organization among the chapters, which is helpful, but there does not seem to be any clear reason as to why the chapters appear in the order that they do (or, further, why women and poverty is its own chapter apart from women in the economy, though I agree that women and poverty definitely needs to be covered extensively in a book like this one).","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I primarily read the book through the online interface, which functioned just fine. Reading it from my computer screen allowed me to see the pictures crisply and in color, and I'm not sure if the other interfaces provide that as easily.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book is highly relevant - after all, it chronicles the problems that roughly half the world's population faces on a regular basis, to varying degrees of severity. However, I wish the authors had unpacked their use of gendered terms a bit more, since it can come across as essentializing and biologically deterministic to assume that there is a complete overlap between biological womanhood and social womanhood (not that any of these categories are set in stone). I would have also liked to see a little more attention to the struggles of transgender women globally, since in many cases under patriarchy, transmisogyny operates much the same as misogyny.\r\n\r\nI also wonder if it should simply be assumed that this book will contain traumatic and potentially triggering materials given the nature of the topic, or if specific sections should have a brief content note up top (e.g. \"This section contains specific descriptions of sexual violence\"). I understand that we cannot provide trigger warnings for everything our students may encounter in our classrooms or in the world, but given my knowledge of how trauma works, it's often helpful for a student with a trauma history to have a heads-up about whether material will be in roughly that ballpark or not, so the student can prepare and get some self-care lined up, or alternately, decide that it's not a good time (now or possibly ever) to engage with this topic, since flashbacks can be intensely painful and may derail a student's ability to be present enough to learn. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-02-08T16:05:28.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-02-08T16:05:28.000-06:00"},{"id":4428,"first_name":"Arlene","last_name":"Sgoutas","position":"Professor, Gender Women and Sexualities Studies","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text makes explicit that it will cover all the 12 critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing Declaration in 1995, and it does. As noted by other reviewers, focusing primarily on women's experiences in developing nations and the Global South should be made discussed when teaching this text and supplemental materials provided to students. The text also highlights state and non-profit actors within individuals countries to offer successful solutions. Instructors should consider making connections for students between grassroots activism around the globe and their collective solutions. While there are key terms introduced in each chapter, there is no index or glossary.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"As mentioned in other reviews, some of the content is dated and will need a refresh.  I would not say the content is biased; however, it is filtered through a particular lens to fit the overall frame of the book. For example, in the chapter on Women and Poverty, the emphasis on social entrepreneurship and microfinance as the solution without a critique of capitalism . Although there is a discussion question posed related to the market as the most effective means of addressing poverty, it needs further exploration throughout the course.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The overall content is relevant, and the organization of the text is arranged in a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy to implement. The organization of gender according to a female-male binary is problematic, and at times, essentialist. Certain sections could be easily updated to current day issues (i.e., Women and Health to include the differential impact of the COVID crisis and the inequities across the global)","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written with clarity and provides adequate context for the terms used in each chapter.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in its flow and organization. There is predictability in what the reader can expect chapter to chapter and the profiles add a refreshing change to the usual textbook format.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is divided in such a way that an instructor could use smaller reading sections to fit their approach to global women’s issues. I could even see the use of single chapters in courses across the curriculum (i.e., women and the media in a journalism course)","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented as expected and in order of the critical areas of concerns identified by the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I was able to read the book through the online interface in Safari with no significant issues. A minor navigation concern is when you click on a resource link that does not open in a new page.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"As mentioned above, and in another reviewer’s comments, the use of gender in the text as a strict female/male binary should be critiqued in the classroom.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-12-03T12:14:11.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-26T15:09:56.000-06:00"},{"id":4482,"first_name":"Debbie","last_name":"Engelen-Eigles","position":"Faculty","institution_name":"Century College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is comprehensive in the range of issues it addresses, but falls short in the coverage of these issues. The main issues one would want to address--education, health, poverty, armed conflict, the environment, power and decision-making, etc.--are for the most part included. However, the text is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, United States Department of State, and this shows in the approach to the subject matter, with what feels like a top down perspective and much weight given to governmental international development efforts.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information presented seems accurate, though as mentioned elsewhere in this review, dated and presenting an incomplete understanding of the issues.","relevance_rating":2,"relevance_review":"This is one of the biggest problems with this text. It is woefully out of date--the structure itself is based on the twelve issues of concern emanating from the 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference, and frequently mentions the Millennium Development Goals (since replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015). It is also lacking in discussion of some basic theoretical frameworks central to the overarching topic—a transnational perspective highlighting the interconnectedness of North and South (beyond the work of aid organizations); the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding how gendered experience is shaped by factors such as age, ethnicity, religion, family status, disability, race, and social class (though these do receive some consideration); and frameworks like WID (Women in Development) as compared to GAD (Gender and Development) that have guided the international development work germane to so many topics addressed in the text. The best of the “Profile” and “Project” sections describe work at the grassroots and community levels, such as the piece on COMUCAP in Honduras in Chapter 1, highlighting the links between economic independence and women’s increased status in the family, resulting in a reduction in domestic violence. The “Additional Resources” sections at the ends of each chapter often have the most interesting information (in the form of URLs), though the most recent of these are usually 2016. It is unfortunate that when the text was updated in 2017, some new material was added but old information was not refreshed and brought up to date. The sections that make up the chapters are often more superficial than I would like for my students, even at a lower division undergraduate level.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The prose is clear and accessible overall--mostly written like Time magazine.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is fairly consistent throughout. Some discussion and essay questions at the end of the chapters seem to ask for information not covered in the chapters (such as how transgender women are portrayed in the media) or use concepts that need additional background for students to answer in a meaningful way (neoliberalism, non-state actors versus government programming).","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It would be very easy to pull one chapter, or even one section of a chapter, for use to supplement materials on a given topic. Each chapter is made up of a few \"articles\" written by different authors, so each of those chapter sections can function as a stand-alone reading.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization is very straightforward; chapters and the sections within them are clearly delineated.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Both the html and pdf online versions seemed easy enough to navigate.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No errors jumped out at me.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"There is no discussion of LGBTQ or disability issues at all. Some end of chapter references are provided for transgender issues, none for disability. As described above, there is little to no attention to transnational connections between North and South. Many of the profiles seem to highlight elite individuals, whether within their own countries or on the world stage.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Given my concerns about dated material and the lack of current theoretical perspectives in gender and women's studies, this text in its entirety would not be a good fit for my own class (Gender in Global Perspective). I might, however, pull a chapter section here and there to supplement other materials. The resource lists at the ends of each chapter and the discussion and essay questions can also be useful references.","created_at":"2020-12-27T16:40:36.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-27T16:40:36.000-06:00"},{"id":4770,"first_name":"Hollie","last_name":"Andrews","position":"RN full time faculty at NECC","institution_name":"Northern Essex Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Covers multiple areas of interest but there is no index or glossary.  There are tons of references though.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Information is good and important subject matter.  Although it is all about women it doesn’t appear to be bias by those who wrote it.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"A little bit older, talks about issues in the 90s but woman's issues are and will always be relevant as we continue to improve equality in education and wages.  It will need to be updated in the future as new things emerge in this educational area.  Updates will be easy to add or replace.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Easy to read and very interesting topics discussed.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Themes stayed consistent throughout text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each section has subsections in it.  Could be broken down easily into lesson planning.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics were organized and presented in an easy manner to comprehend.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Images were clear, no problem navigating the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No errors that I noticed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Focused on many cultures and women’s issues around the world.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I enjoyed this book and learned things about women’s issues in other parts of the world I was not aware of before reading.","created_at":"2021-04-14T12:56:26.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-14T12:56:26.000-05:00"},{"id":35921,"first_name":"Julie","last_name":"Webber","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Illinois State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book uses the UN Beijing Conference points as the basis for its comprehensiveness. With chapters covering the status of women globally by each point, students can get a comprehensive view of the problems women face worldwide, as well as international organizations' attempts to address them.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Following and using data provided by researchers for the United Nations and other international organizations demonstrates that the research will be bias-free.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"It's hard to say how long this book will remain relevant. Certainly the ideas in it mark a strong period of time. However, one wonders what the next phase of empowerment might look like, or, if empowerment will continue to be a strong factor in international relations at all.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is easy to read, providing relevant context for each topic.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Using the UN Beijing framework assures  consistency across each platform goal.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I could take a chapter or two for use in my course alongside others, easily. This is something I do anyway, as the topic tends to vary widely by country.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Again, using the Platform assures consistency.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Images are relevant and timely, still.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Using the framework, students can see where states have backed off women's empowerment goals and embraced them. The framework (though controversial in the US) is entirely appropriate for global politics, and women's issues.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2026-06-04T12:00:27.000-05:00","updated_at":"2026-06-04T12:00:27.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/global-women-s-issues-women-in-the-world-today-extended-version","updated_at":"2026-06-04T12:00:27.000-05:00"},{"id":392,"title":"Immigrant and Refugee Families","edition_statement":"2nd Ed.","volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781946135018","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Immigrant and Refugee Families: Global Perspectives on Displacement and Resettlement Experiences offers an interdisciplinary perspective on immigrant and refugee families' challenges and resilience across multiple domains, including economic, political, health, and human rights. This new edition has been revised and updated from the original 2016 edition. Co-edited with equal contribution by Jaime Ballard, Elizabeth Wieling, Catherine Solheim, and Lekie Dwanyen","contributors":[{"id":3946,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jaime","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Ballard","location":"University of Minnesota","background_text":"Jaime Ballard is a research contractor in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on supporting families and parents affected by traumatic stress. Jaime has developed community-engaged interventions to support families, including culturally appropriate, trauma-informed interventions with Karen refugees in St. Paul."},{"id":3947,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Elizabeth","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Wieling","location":"University of Minnesota","background_text":"Elizabeth Wieling is a Professor and Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Doctoral Program at the University of Georgia. She is a family therapist and a prevention and intervention scholar working to develop parenting and family level evidence-based interventions for populations affected by traumatic stress. Wieling collaborates with interdisciplinary colleagues in post-conflict settings outside of the United States and with immigrant and refugee communities locally. Her teaching includes courses on clinical treatments for families affected by post-traumatic stress and topics related to social justice and mental health."},{"id":3948,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Catherine","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Solheim","location":"University of Minnesota","background_text":"Catherine Solheim is an associate professor in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on family finances, family theory, and global and diverse families. She has co-led six learning abroad courses to Thailand, focusing on how globalization impacts family, culture, and the natural environment. Solheim’s scholarship focuses on ways that culture, socio-economic status, and relationships impact the diverse ways families make decisions about their resources."},{"id":5020,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Lekie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Dwanyen","location":"University of Minnesota","background_text":"Lekie Dwanyen is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota. Her research agenda centers on family-level adjustment and wellbeing in communities affected by war and organized violence. She is invested in understanding and advocating for the psychological and relational health of war-affected immigrant and refugee families, as well as families in post-conflict settings. Lekie is also interested in the development of family-level interventions for traumatic stress."}],"subjects":[{"id":46,"name":"Cultural \u0026 Ethnic Studies","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HM621","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/cultural-ethnic-studies"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/social-sciences"},{"id":43,"name":"Sociology","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HM586","visible_textbooks_count":35,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/sociology"}],"publishers":[{"id":472,"url":"https://www.lib.umn.edu/publishing/works/textbooks","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","name":"University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing"}],"formats":[{"id":486,"type":"Online","url":"https://open.lib.umn.edu/immigrantfamilies/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1669,"type":"PDF","url":"https://open.lib.umn.edu/immigrantfamilies/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1670,"type":"eBook","url":"https://open.lib.umn.edu/immigrantfamilies/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2285,"type":"ODF","url":"https://open.lib.umn.edu/immigrantfamilies/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2286,"type":"XML","url":"https://open.lib.umn.edu/immigrantfamilies/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":13,"reviews":[{"id":1041,"first_name":"Winston","last_name":"Seegobin","position":"Professor of Clinical Psychology","institution_name":"George Fox University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The authors did an excellent job of comprehensively describing the immigrant and refugee experience in the United States. Each chapter provided extensive coverage of topics and issues that are very relevant to understanding and working with immigrants and refugees. This book provides an excellent overview of the immigrant and refugees experiences, their journey to the United States, some of the mental health and other health concerns they may present  with when seeking assistance, and specific ways that can be helpful in their resettlement. I especially appreciated the chapter on Resilience and factors that facilitate that process, as often the negative aspects of immigrants and refugees are highlighted. I found the authors' emphases of the book from a systems perspective to be an appropriate model in terms of how we can view the families from a collectivistic rather than individualistic perspective. I think the authors did a great job of presenting both theories and research on this important topic, and comprehensively covered the areas they wanted to include in the book. The only things missing were the index and glossary. This book makes a major contribution to the literature on immigrants and refugees.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This book presented a variety of perspectives on immigrants and refugees. The statistical data presented was accurate and up to date. They often provided links to sources of data for further exploration and information, which is a major strength of the book. The approaches to understanding immigrants and refugees were balanced, as they often presented many views, including opposing views, to ensure comprehensive coverage of the issues. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book makes an outstanding contribution to the literature on immigrants and refugees because of its up to date statistics, research studies, and coverage of currents events such as the Affordable Care Act and its impact on immigrants and refugees. I think that the book is amenable to updates as they become available and can easily be inserted in the appropriate places in the chapters because it is an E-book. I see the contents as being relevant at this time because of the current occurrences related to refugees (e.g. Syrian refugees), and the policies about immigration that are being discussed. This book has an important place in understanding how we, as Americans, can assist in the resettlement of both immigrants and refugees. This book also provides important information for health care professionals in responding in a culturally-relevant manner to the needs of immigrants and refugees.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is written for a very wide audience from the volunteer who desires to assist his/her neighbor who is an immigrant or refugee to the professional who wants to ensure that that she/he has a grasp of how to approach their work with immigrants or refugees. I appreciated that the authors clearly defined some of the terms they used. For instance, they often explained the theories they described in common terminology and provided definitions when necessary. All of the topics they chose to emphasize were clearly delineated and illustrated with case examples.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The overarching theme for the book is how we can understand and assist immigrants and refugees. Consequently, they organized the chapters that build on each other as they tell the story of immigrants and refugees. They provide convincing data to support what they propose and emphasize that there is no unilateral manner to understanding and assisting immigrants and refugees. I like their theme of seeing immigrants and refugees, in the context of their families, throughout the book. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I want to commend the authors on the structure of each of the chapters. They begin with a quote, present the issues for the chapter, discuss the various theories, share a case study, and discuss future directions. I find the topics that they chose to cover in each chapter to be very relevant to an understanding of immigrants and refugees. In terms of use of the book as a text, I think the chapters can be organized as independent units. As a clinical psychologist, I was happy to see the chapters on mental health, intimate partner violence, substance abuse, and resilience.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This book is well organized and flows well. The chapters build on each other, although they can be read as individual units. The book starts out with understanding policies, recognizing the journey, the importance of human rights, economic considerations, mental health issues, including intimate partner violence and substance abuse, the role of resilience, and understanding resettlement. The book covers information that is essential in an understanding of immigrants and refugees.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"One of the advantages of this book is that it can interface with a variety of devices and it displays well. I liked the links to further information. The text is quite readable.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar of the book was fine and there were no significant grammatical errors. In fact, the writing was clear and comprehensible.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"One of the highlights of this book is its cultural relevance. It does a great job of describing culturally relevant ways to approach and work with immigrants and refugees. For instance, it emphasizes the need for health care professionals and psychotherapists to understand the background and experiences of immigrants and refugees and develop culturally appropriate ways of working with them. It also describes the importance of understanding culture in the resettlement process.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"As an immigrant, I was very impressed with this book. I like the research base as well as the practical applications. As a professor in clinical psychology, I plan to use this book in my Multicultural Psychotherapy class. It is very important that psychologists understand how to work effectively with immigrants and refugees in culturally relevant ways. I highly recommend this book for both undergraduate and graduate classes.","created_at":"2017-02-15T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-15T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1065,"first_name":"Kristen","last_name":"Terry","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"What a timely text! This textbook covers the journey that immigrants and families makes from their home country to their destination country, includes relevant policy background and covers common problems that are experienced as a result of this often traumatic and tumultuous journey (substance abuse, intimate partner violence, mental health, economic struggles, etc). I found the immigration policy descriptions especially useful as it explains many political factors that influence the immigration and resettlement process.\n\nThis is great guide in helping us to better understand their situation in context of the family. For most immigrants and refugees, their families are some of the only ties they have to their home country. It can be their greatest source of strength and resilience. The few textbooks offered regarding immigrants and refugees view them as individuals rather than a family-system.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Of course this textbook is written from a pro-immigration perspective which is inherently biased. I did not encounter any grammatical errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text is up-to-date including recent ICE raids for deportation in early 2016. Especially with our current political climate, I feel like the chapter on immigration policy will be ever evolving which will call for updated editions.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I was impressed by the clarity of this textbook. It breaks down all terms and policies that often get confused in a simple and understandable way.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found this textbook to be very consistent in usage of terminology and theoretical frameworks (human rights perspective).","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I found the modularity of this textbook to be especially useful because the chapters logically flow one into the next, taking you through a literal journey with immigrant and refugee families. I can already imagine how I would form a course using this text, perhaps using one family case study to follow each journey: the immigration process and the resettlement process. Students could easily use this text to imagine what each family might be experiencing.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"As mentioned above, this textbook naturally flows and takes you on a step-by-step process of immigration and resettlement.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is very well developed, using case studies, quotes, pictures, discussion questions and helpful links. The only drawback I would mention is that throughout the text there are some large blocks of text that could be discouraging for readers.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not encounter any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I think content matter of this textbook speaks for itself here. It is a culturally competent text.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This will be a great resource for anyone working in any capacity with immigrants and refugees or someone who just wants to be informed. It is very accessible across disciplines.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1166,"first_name":"Cathleen","last_name":"Faruque","position":"Department of Social Work Chair/Professor","institution_name":"Winona State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text covers issues related to immigration in the United States as well as refugees, legal issues, human rights, issues of mental health, chemical dependency and violence in immigrant and refugee families, resettlement issues, and resilience.  The case studies in each chapter provide poignant examples to help the reader understand how immigrants and refugees are impacted on legal, health, chemical dependency, and violence issues.  The text provides in-depth information on how federal policies on immigration have formed over the decades and how it impacts the make up of immigrants in this country today.  \nThis textbook provides more than many texts I have reviewed on the subject of immigrants and refugees.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The textbooks is as accurate as the year it was published (which I cannot find the date of publication but it was sometime around 2016 based on bibliographies).  This makes information quite accurate up to the point of our last election.  As immigration and refugee policies were part of the current administrations campaign promises and indeed recent event have shown this, it will be necessary to make some edits on information as new policies develop.  It is free of bias and has no misinformation but provides factual data backed up by appropriate references in the bibliographies after each chapter.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"With current global upheaval and movement of thousands of refugees across the globe, this is a very relevant book indeed.  I would like to see more on the topic of climate change and refugees as I believe this will be a very relevant topic in the coming years.  The text could easily be updated with the latest information by the authors with minor edits.  I believe edits will be necessary within the next year or two as new immigrant and refugee policies are developed by our current federal government.  More information on global impacts of the massive movement of refugees would be helpful in context to this book as some countries in Europe will be forever changed by the refugee impact.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is very easy to read.  I would place it at the undergraduate level.  It is free from jargon and technical terminology - and when used is defined and explained - including case examples that assist the reader in understanding what the authors wish to convey.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is multi-authored but reads with an easy flow.  There is no differentiation between sections or chapters.  It flows well and is easy to follow.  Case examples in each chapter assist the reader with a clear picture that readily flows from one section to the next.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"What I particularly like about this textbook is that I can uses different sections within a chapter and/or different chapters throughout a course.  I would not necessarily need to use the entire book but can visualize using parts of the book at different times through the course semester that relates to the topic we are discussing in class.  It would not be disruptive to use only part of the text for a class as each chapter does stand alone - yet is organized in such a manner that it flows whether the decision is to go from each chapter in sequential order or not.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Each section and chapter are logically sequenced in a orderly fashion.  The subjects flow naturally from one section to the next with great case examples to enhance the understanding of concepts and terminology.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The interface is okay but it is a little challenging at first to navigate.  Moving from one page to the next is not difficult so much as it is not particularly friendly.  As I think of my online reading - using things such as tablets or a Kindle - I can bookmark a page, I can search a topic and find something that I am looking for with relative ease.  This is a bit more challenging to do that - other than go to by chapters and sections.  It would be nice to have a feature to save your place from one reading to the next.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammar errors in this text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This textbook has nothing culturally insensitive or offensive within sections or chapters. The text is presented free of bias.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I will be using parts of this textbook for my Globalization of Social Welfare class as we discuss immigrants and refugees.  I do not need the entire text but will certainly use specific chapters.  I see this as a very well written book that explains the bio-psycho-social-political-cultural-economic issues that are involved in working with or understanding of immigrants and refugees in the United States.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1624,"first_name":"Jeff","last_name":"Marks","position":"Senior Lecturer","institution_name":"Ohio University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a concise book on a subject that is both wide-ranging and of enormous import.  As such, it will be very useful for those wanting to get a comprehensive overview of a complex situation without getting bogged down by too many particulars.  For someone with interest but without specialized knowledge, such as myself, it provides a valuable orientation.  The effects of immigration, both on the immigrants and the communities that receive them, is an increasingly important focus of my introductory politics course and this text will be useful. Part of the value of this text for me is that it is not too comprehensive; it doesn’t try to cover everything.  ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Not being directly involved in the field I don’t feel qualified to confidently assess this book’s accuracy but I can affirm that nothing I read here conflicts with those what I know of the subject from a lay-person’s perspective.  I would add to this that the sources cited are solid and current.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Given the times, this is an extremely relevant text and, if kept updated, will remain so for decades to come.  There is no doubt in my mind that, with the possible exception of climate change, immigration will become (is becoming) the most urgent issue of our day and this book addresses aspects that are not often part of the public discussion (mental health, substance abuse, partner violence, resilience, etc.).  We should all be better informed about these matters and these readings provide an opportunity to present them in the classroom.  This is such a fluid topic, given both geopolitical developments and constant legislative changes, that it will take a real effort on the part of the authors to keep parts of this text relevant.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Even though I have no particular expertise in this subject matter, this text was direct and clear.  Everything, from the terminology to the history, was explained and illustrated (in most cases) with examples.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This text is consistent throughout, both in its focus on its stated aims and stylistically.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Part of the utility I see in this text comes from the way it lends itself to the presentation of certain individual aspects of the general issue.  For example, I could easily use readings from Chapters 5, 6 and 8 to enrich my course on the politics of Latin America as they tie into other readings I have assigned but the scope of the course does not allow time to include other sections.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The material is organized in a logical manner.  Even if you choose not to use/read the entire text you can easily find the information relevant to your purpose.  Some sections could be broken down further and ordered by a problem-possible solution structure.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I have only accessed this on a Mac computer using Preview.  It works fine and the layout is attractive and easy.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammar errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Given its focus, the ‘cultural relevance’ of this text cannot be separated from its general relevance, which has already been discussed.  ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"As I have mentioned a couple of times already in my responses above, I feel this text could be useful for those, like myself, who want to build a larger component dealing with immigration issues into a course that does not necessarily have this as its primary focus.  In my case, courses on the politics of Spain and Latin America can benefit greatly from a concise look at some of the issues presented here.  I would use these readings primarily to provide a framework for class discussion.  They are not so detailed or “wonkish” as to be inaccessible to those outside the field or newcomers to the issue.  ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1634,"first_name":"Cindy","last_name":"Hunter","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"For a BSW and Family Studies course, this book was exactly what I needed. It had the basics that I could then add to (video, articles or speakers).  It does not cover the plethora of exceptions to \"basic immigration\" - Cubans, Migrant Workers, transmigrants, Temporary Protection, etc. BUT it gives the essence of what beginning practitioners need to understand to begin interacting with immigrants and refugees. I was not looking for detail on the ins and out of policy- I wanted students to be sensitive to what the issues immigrants and refugees are facing and this book more than filled the bill. It is strong on the human rights. Links to more in-depth information was also a bonus. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"It is likely that the book avoids immigration policy details in order to remain relevant for a period of time. I found no inaccuracies. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book is very much up-to-date as it is recently published. I imagine the beauty of an online book is that it is easy to update. It would seem easy to update based on the text but also because the authors include links to information, even the most recent information could be linked to the text. Nonetheless, since it is not a policy book and it does sensitize readers to common experiences, I believe it will be relevant as is with minor updates for several years. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The authors do not assume any particular background through my junior and seniors were better able to relate the content to human behavior in the social environment more readily.  The writing is clear with minor grammatical and spelling errors. There were some points that it would have been nice to have exact definitions- such as for \"human rights\".  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book remains clear throughout. We were even able to skip around to chapters out of order without losing comprehension. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is easy to use with larger print and headings. I am new to using an online book so I could have used some instruction for myself and students as to which format to read it in and how to use tools of innovation - but that is not the fault of the editors. The PDF format was least interesting to read.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Our class needed the final chapter on assimilation and theories of displacement much earlier to have a context for mental health, domestic violence etc. Nonetheless, it was easy to have them read ahead. ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"No students complained or questioned how to interact with the book. I had the most challenges understanding how to use the technology beyond accessing the link and downloading everytime I accessed the book. Again, the PDF was not an easy format to read but the other formats I experimented with worked fine. \nSo, for example, I knew I would be writing this review and wanted to highlight areas that had grammar or spelling errors or places where the definitions were ambiguous but I did not have the skills to highlight, comment, save and re-access that information.   ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Only minor grammatical errors. However, being new and a bit skeptical about open source books, the first few errors made me more suspicious about the quality. I was not at all disappointed. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book was inclusive and referenced a wide variety of immigrant cultures.  ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I want to thank the co-authors Jaime Ballard, Elizabeth Wieling, and Catherine Solheim for writing and making this available. I care deeply about people being able to access this information and I shared the link with our Refugee Resettlement office and other professors at our school. Mid-semester, I took a short workshop that showed how one could annotate and add information, video links, articles and web pages to accompany the text so students could use e-books in a more interactive way. I am now motivated to learn more about the technology. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1671,"first_name":"Siobhan","last_name":"McGuirk","position":"Adjunct Assistant Professor","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"The title of the book is a little misleading: as it is an entirely US-focused text, “global perspectives” is an odd choice. Within the parameters of a book about immigrant and refugee families in the US, the range of issues / chapters is otherwise broad, which is useful but unfortunately comes at the expense of depth in some areas, most notably the first Section, on Context. Chapter 4 is packed full of issue areas that might have been better addressed as stand-alone chapters (covering health, housing, and work) and education is a topic mentioned at multiple different junctions but not focused on specifically. Religion likewise.\n\nGiven the brevity and desire to cover quite a lot of different topics, some areas suffer in terms of detail. Refugee experience outside the US is one of these issues, and it's perhaps beyond the remit of the book in general. For example, in Chapter 3 there's a number of general claims about the particular experiences of women in refugee camps, but with inadequate attention to the hows and whys of issues mentioned, or to complexities and confluences of different causal factors. Across other chapters there’s scope to more deeply connect immigration policy to other policy areas—including labor rights, healthcare, welfare, and foreign policy—which significantly inform the contours of immigration debates and immigrant experience. These issues are explored to some extent in later chapters, but it should be more clearly stated at the outset that immigration as a feature of US life and immigration policy are deeply ideological and informed by socio-political realities, whereas the analyses herein focus more on individual-level (family unit) analysis. That’s understandable given the stated intentions, but it does seem like there is more scope to more explicitly discuss political decisions as lying behind funding for human services; labor protections, etc. Given the attention to intersectionality theory in the penultimate chapter, that decision seems strange in hindsight. \n\nThere’s also scope to explain (or even just to note more clearly) that there are significant differences between states—in terms of policy but also in terms of community-based services, language access, community breadth, etc. across different geographic regions in the US. This important fact is too-often obscured by overly general statements about immigrants in the United States.\n\nI was also surprised that there was not more inclusion of the grassroots immigrant rights organizations, or immigrant-led advocacy groups. The Sanctuary Movement and its influence is notably absent from the historical chapters. “Communities” are given little attention in terms of identified stakeholders and there’s an overreliance on experts’ publications rather than research conducted by community-based organizations. As a result, it feels quite ‘top down’ in tone, with other people’s stories told as “case studies” but with their agency quite diminished. There is also notably little mention of how and why different stakeholders strive to influence policy, and it is unclear from where the “Future Directions” recommendations that end each chapter arise. \n\nIn terms of inclusiveness, I appreciated mention of LGBTQ / same-sex families in the opening chapter, but on the whole the text does not consider how non-normative families can be impacted in particular ways (including other unusual but still relevant family arrangements, such as grandparents or aunts raising children; cousins living together, etc.) \n\nI sense that many, but not all, of these issues could be avoided if the theoretical framing chapter (9) were placed much earlier in the text. In general, the text needs to be complemented by further resources, reading, and debate in most areas.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"There’s an over-reliance on normative claims and a lack of critical engagement with immigration policy at various points. This leads to a few uncomfortable dichotomies being established in the text early on. There is not sufficient attention to how legal status, for example, is often a changing rather than fixed feature of immigrant family experience, and how mixed-status families encounter specific challenges (though this is briefly mentioned at points). More notable is the focus on “documented” versus “undocumented” status, and the strict differentiation between refugees and non-refugees. This leaves little space to explore different types of visa status; to differentiate or draw similarities between asylum seekers, asylees, and refugees; to note how complex and multiple factors prompt migration: i.e. people can seek better financial circumstances while also fleeing persecution, etc. The normative assumptions also somewhat undermine the notion of “global perspectives” mentioned in the title. I am an immigrant in the US, and I conduct research with immigrant communities. I found some of the rationale given for people’s decisions re: healthcare, savings, education, etc. quite conceptually narrow, and possibly not very appreciative of how the hyper-capitalistic / for-profit nature of many U.S. institutions and services can be critically regarded by immigrants, rather than being not understandable, or simply “foreign” to us.\n\nThe overall assertiveness about challenges immigrants face has the unfortunate—and likely unintended—consequence of giving a broad-brush impression of immigrants as on the whole uneducated, disempowered, victims. The chapter on Human Rights and that on Substance Use buck this trend, and in general are more analytical/ nuanced, albeit in different ways. \n\nThe case studies and questions that end each chapter are quite emotive, and seemingly intended to elicit empathy / value judgments rather than critical engagement with policy and structural discriminations as the causes of challenges faced by immigrants. I appreciated the points where those issues are addressed in the text, but found that they were often missing from these Case Studies / questions. In the Mental Health chapter the authors assume that causes of trauma, stress, and depression all emerge from past experiences, rather than present circumstances. This is strange particularly as the chapter follows detailed explanation of how ill-health, low-waged work, labor exploitation, lack of access to housing, financial insecurity, etc. all disproportionally impact immigrant communities. There should be more explicit attention to how racism and xenophobia are causes of stress and depression here, as well as trauma past. Likewise, it appears to be taken for granted that IPV is not a significant issue in the United States, and that U.S. patriarchal norms are not contributing factors to high incidence rates. There are really invaluable data and analyses of attitudes towards and approaches to dealing with IPV and DV in POC and immigrant communities in the U.S. produced by organizations like INCITE!, and these should really be included in such discussions.\n\nIn terms of accuracy of law and policy, I appreciated the links to sites that are (or at least should be) kept up to date, and to research bodies that are continuously publishing analyses of new legislation (such as MRI). Again, however, closer attention to state-level differences would have been useful to tease out the nuances and diversity of experience.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"In general, policy issues are very well suited to the type of easily updated format Open Source web-based textbooks provide. That is clearly an intention of the authors, and there’s areas where that will be quite simply done in the future. Some information is already out of date, however, and seems particularly glaring where there’s direct reference to Obama / Obama-era policies. \n\nSome language choices throughout the text however seem unsuitably assertive, for example: “Never before has policy been so inclusive or aimed so intensely on family reunification.” This type of line is at once unclear (what does “inclusive” mean here?) and given the nuances of the Trump administrations’ approach to immigration, already outdated—or in need of caveats regarding country of origin; qualifications, etc. The links directly to government sites should help here, though reading it in November 2017 it already feels sadly out of date in some areas.\n\nSection I: Context is the most likely to suffer in this sense. The other two sections are more focused on experience, longterm trends, and family needs, rather than specific policies for the most part, so should better stand up under changes to law (to an extent). These are more likely to remain relevant and insightful for the longer term.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is very easy to read, and clear. Organization could be improved: some information is hidden in appendixes that could be more clearly signposted or included earlier to provide more detail. Language is simple and for the most part jargon-free. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Overall, the text is consistent, with the exception of framework—there does seem to be different political perspectives promoted in various chapters. Again, this might have been better explained (not necessarily avoided) by featuring a discussion of different theoretical approaches to the topic earlier on, rather than left until the end of the text. Assigning Chapter 9 early in a course will allow students to identify if a particular set of authors is taking, for example, an assimilationist position as opposed to an intersectional framework. I appreciate the plurality of voices otherwise—though there was scope for more diverse perspectives and inclusion of more grassroots insights—and overall they cohere.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is notably modular, and well-suited to being divided up by the assigning professor within as well as across chapters. Cross-references are rare, and hyperlinked for ease of reading.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Chapter 9, which situates different theoretical frameworks, would have been useful earlier on, as it is really a “Context” chapter. It explains many of the terms used earlier on, and as such would make it easier to understand what chapter authors mean when they choose to use specific language (“acculturation” for example). Other organizational choices make sense overall.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is largely text-based and easy to navigate. There are few tables / images (though scope for more of the former especially). The drop-down menus and hyperlinks work well. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are very few proof-reading errors: an incomplete sentence at the end of a page; a repeated sentence, an errant comma etc. Nothing that is distracting--really only a handful of mistakes throughout. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I wouldn’t say the book is offensive, or necessarily insensitive, but I do feel it is quite ethnocentric, and as mentioned above, quite ‘top-down’ in its approach. I believe that the authors have made a real effort to be inclusive and thoughtful in their language choices, for example explaining why they use “Latino/a” rather than “Hispanic” and why they use “survivor” rather than “victim” when discussing IPV. \n\nI however felt that there were too many broad-bush statements made throughout the text (e.g. “In Asian families, family cohesion stems from Confucian values” is quite an assertion!), and a lack of nuance regarding differences in experience, which is an expected challenge in a book that is addressing “immigrants and refugees”—a huge, diverse population. I'm a queer immigrant woman who studies the U.S. asylum system and LGBTQ immigrant experience, so my own perspectives are quite particular, and evidently shape my response to this text. Perhaps especially because of the recent changes to immigration policies and debates under the Trump administration, and perhaps more so because of recent social trends and incidents, I do feel that more explicit attention to racism, and anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment would make this text more culturally relevant. \n\nI felt that there were opportunities to highlight state-by-state / urban-rural differences within the United States, in terms of reflecting the diversity of experience immigrants can attest to here. There was scope to include perspectives and research conducted by immigrant-led organizations, especially in southern border states, to better round out the case studies and examples, which became repetitive. The subjects of the text felt precisely that—subjects, not agents or interlocutors. Given how central community-based supports are to immigrant families in the United States, this seems to be an oversight. \n","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1761,"first_name":"Deborah","last_name":"Meyer","position":"Visiting Professor","institution_name":"Ohio University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Provides an excellent overview of immigration policy, the experience of immigrants and refugees and many of the major issues confronting the communities who take them in and the families who’ve landed in a new country and culture. The authors clearly highlight the complexities and contradictions of U.S. policy and the convoluted process that immigrants and refugees must navigate. And, they thoroughly cover many of the barriers refugees and immigrants face when fleeing home, trying to enter the U.S. and building new lives in the U.S.This book is especially useful for those who know little about U.S. policy or the issues surrounding immigration. \n\nThe TOC provides a clear overview with active links to the topics listed.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I didn't find any inaccuracy although the authors did generalize at time. They did, however, acknowledge this.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Immigration policy has also swung between extremes, but despite the fact that policy is in flux, most of the information in this book remains relevant. Many barriers that immigrants face and the forces that push and pull them to start new lives in the U.S. don't change even if the specific circumstances do. The topics ranged from national and international policy to individual and family issues that are relevant to a number of disciplines and courses.\n\nI could see using this textbook and supplementing with current news and journal articles that provide updates on policy but also examples of different experiences and cultures. Also, the authors can easily update as new policy and laws are enacted.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Thanks to the TOC that outlines the major topics, the structure is very clear. Additionally, the writing is concise and easy to follow and understand. Each chapter follows a similar format including a case to begin and end each chapter.\n\nCases and questions at the end of the chapters help pull together the issues and would make good class discussion prompts.\n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I didn't find any inconsistencies in the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters were clearly delineated and an instructor could easily assign chapters based on varying course content.  As an instructor, I can easily assign either whole chapters are sections as well as the cases and discussion questions. Each chapter was well-referenced with up-to-date citations that offer additional sources for faculty and students.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is well organized and each chapter is self-contained with a logical flow between chapters. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I only used on my computer as a pdf file and it was easy to navigate and move back and forth as well as search. The images and text were easy to read/view with no distortions.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found a couple of what appear to be typos, but nothing that distracts from the book.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There was nothing insensitive or offensive. As mentioned earlier, the authors did paint immigrants/refugees with a broad stroke, but for the most part that didn't impact the impact or credibility of the content. And, they do address the need to avoid generalizations in Future Directions in the last chapter and at several of other points within the book.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"If I had a negative comment, it would be that authors paint immigrants and refugees with a broad too a brush. For example, they suggest that most are impoverished. They idea that the majority of immigrants work in low-wage jobs is inaccurate. Much depends on their country of origin, their legal status, and the circumstances surrounding their immigration. If not exposed to immigrant/refugee communities and the resilience, strengths and community supports a reader might come away feeling pity rather than awe at what many immigrant and refugee families and communities accomplish. Chapter 8 does discuss resilience, but I would like to see more of the positive examples woven throughout and a couple of cases that present a success before the end.","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":2068,"first_name":"Barbara J.","last_name":"Michael","position":"Adjunct Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of North Carolina Wilmington","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"Comprehensive only in terms of listed topics.  There is no index.  The only bibliographic information is at the end of each chapter, making the bibliographic information difficult to access.  The reader must know what chapter a desired reference \"might\" appear in.  Should have a comprehensive bibliography at the end of the book.  The only definitions given are embedded in the text (in boxes).  There should be a comprehensive glossary at the end of the text.  Some boxes labeled \"Definitions,\" actually do not have definitions, but refer to reader to cited sources.  For example, the authors do not provide their own definition of \"Refugee,\" but send the reader via a link to another document.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Cannot answer this question without reading all the cited sources.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The sources cited are up-to-date.  However, the legal and policy information might change and need updating.  Since the book is essentially a policy manual and a literature review, it should be easy to update.","clarity_rating":1,"clarity_review":"The writing is not interestingly written.  As it stands, it probably cannot be interesting as the beginning chapters read like a government manual and the remaining chapters are essentially an extensive literature review.  The is no indication or presence of the authors.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book follows a consistent pattern and organization in each chapter.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book is modular and divided into sections that could stand alone.","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"In my opinion there could be a more logical organization of the chapters.  For example, the two background chapters (#1, #3) are separated.  I would order the chapters as follows:\n#1 - Chapter 1\n#2- Chapter 3\n#3 - Chapter 2\n#4 - Chapter 4\n#5 - Chapter 9\n#6 - Chapter 8\n#7 - Chapter 6\n#8 - Chapter 5\n#9 - Chapter 7\n#10 - Chapter 10\n","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"There are good links to many of the bibliographic sources.  Perhaps other links could be added.\n\nIt is very difficult to move around in the text.  One has to scroll through each chapter separately.  Actually, one cannot scroll through an entire chapter, but only through each individual section of a chapter.\n\nThere is no index.  And, there are NO page numbers in the book.  It would be impossible to cite anything from the text unless the reader counts and numbers the pages themselves.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are a few errors that got past the editor, but no significant problems.","cultural_rating":1,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally sensitive and not offensive in any way.  \n\nHowever, to me, \"cultural relevance\" means it should consider CULTURE in some depth.  This book does not.  I am hard pressed to find even any sociological relevance without going to the cited works.","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":"I thought perhaps this book would be useful for a new anthropology course I am developing on immigrants and refugees.  The only reason I would refer students to this book is that it is a relatively useful handbook or manual on policy and might be useful as a bibliographic source guide, and, its free.  The book is essentially a book-length literature review, with nearly every sentence having an in-text citation.  I could not identify anything in the text that is evidence of the authors' knowledge, experience, or analysis.  In fact, any sort of analysis if completely absent.  For example, in section 8.1, the authors say \"maybe\" the reason fathers from S.E. Asia, Armenia and Iraq do not work (based only on statistics presented) is because they suffered more trauma.  There is no supporting evidence for making this statement that is likely not true if the authors knew anything about those cultures.  \n\nThe book is not readable but is very dry and \"fact\" and \"statement\" oriented.\n\nThe \"Case Studies\" are anecdotes - not case studies.\n\nThe Discussion Questions ask questions for which there is not enough cultural or sociological information in the text to be able to answer the questions or for which the text does not answer in any way.  For example, one question asks students to discuss the \"immigrant paradox,\" but I could not find that term used anywhere in the text.  By accident I discovered that a cited author uses that phrase in the title of his paper.  Another example of a question for which there is not enough cultural or sociological information\nin the text to be able to answer is the following:  \"How would you explain the attitude toward work and education of most immigrant or refugee families?  What do you think is behind these attitudes?\"\n\nIn-text citations have no page numbers to guide a reader to the exact location of a particular reference.\nIn-text citations should not include more than two authors, but in the case of three or more, should use \"et al.\"  \n\nWhen you open the book online there is no title page that gives title, authors, date of publication.  The authors are identified several pages in.  But the only indication of the title or date of publication I can find is in the Open Text list of titles.  A reader should not have to go to the \"catalog\" to find this necessary information.\n\nThis book exemplifies my skepticism about open and free textbooks.  However, I decided to browse some other examples in your catalog and even with a quick perusal found other texts that were quite different and that meet my scholarly expectations and are ones I might use.  One I believe I will cite for all my future students is Choosing and Using Sources.  This book is a clearly written guide with excellent examples.  Another book I found I would use is Sustaining the Commons.  This book is engagingly written, has helpful diagrams, asks relevant questions not only about the material but ones that lead a student to connect what was read to their own experience - it also has page numbers and can be scrolled though in its entirety.  I'm glad I scanned some other titles as otherwise my skepticism about the quality of free textbooks would have been substantiated had I only looked at Immigrant and Refugee Families.         ","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2091,"first_name":"Sudarshana ","last_name":"Bordoloi","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Saint Cloud State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides a comprehensive overview of the American immigration process and policies with specific emphasis on global immigrants that migrate to the United States. The contents of this book, as they flow from chapter to chapter, effectively captures the socio-spatial, economic, cultural, and political imagination of the long drawn out and often quite complex processes that global migration ensues as well as the unique experiences that immigrants face by being part of it. The selling point of the book lies in the way different topics about immigrants and refugee families are tied together and consolidated in one accessible space, that the book is. For anyone interested in understanding the basics of how an immigrant is defined differently from a refugee or asylum seeker; or what various immigrant policies or human rights protocols mean in various contexts; to more nuanced knowledge of the psycho-social, economic, cultural and health impacts that immigrants endure from the start of the migration journey to resettlement in a new country, this is a definitely 'go-to' book.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I do not find any overwhelming inaccuracy in the data or definitions in the book. For the sake of data validity, the book is well supplemented by links and references to various relevant sources. However, having said that, there is a need to define the word 'global', wherein from the perspective of the book, the word global only seems applicable to 'global immigrants' in the American context, not necessarily to the process or dynamics of 'global migration’ itself. Because there is no specific reference to historical or social contexts of the causal factors that drive the global migration process in the source or destination countries, there seems to be some generalization in treating immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers and their experiences as one simple category.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content of the book is contemporary. However, population and migration data and concepts do change frequently and therefore a suggestion in that regard would be to update data sources and statistics in this book from time to time to keep the content of the book current.\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language of the book is accessible, and the tone of communication is objective and unbiased.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The topics in the book are quite consistent from the start to the end. The book remains true to its purpose, that is, mapping out the immigration process in the United States and documenting the various experiences of immigrants as they re-build their lives in a new nation.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"All chapters are well organized, paragraphs are concise and to the point, and illustrated with reference boxes, flowcharts, data sources, and visuals. All these effectively communicate the purpose of each chapter and the way they link to other chapters. External links to additional sources, discussion questions, and sidebars in each chapter keeps the topic interesting for potential students and provides resources for instructors using this textbook for teaching.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is well organized and chapter transitions are logical. Perhaps an introductory chapter dedicated to some of the theories or concepts that discuss the causes and effects of human migration in an era of globalization, would strengthen the book to a great extent. This is particularly important if the book aims to capture some of the audiences in the traditional disciplines in the social sciences. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book has a good interface, is user friendly, visually interesting, and engaging for its readers. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Except for a few typos, overall grammar seems okay. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"All references in the book are culturally sensitive. However, there isn’t much reflection or discussion on the class-gender-racial/ethnic differences among immigrant communities in the US to the point of generalizing the experiences of immigrants as all very similar and all groups are equal or are at par with each other.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"A slightly misleading aspect of the book is the emphasis on the word 'global' in the title, where readers seeking an internationalist perspective on  immigration or the causal dynamics that has led to heightened human migration in an era of globalization may be disappointed in the very American focus of the book on this matter.","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2415,"first_name":"Ziwei","last_name":"Qi","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Fort Hays State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook provided a comprehensive overall look at the issues relating to immigration and refugee settlement in the U.S. The structure of the book is well-organized. In the book, the authors provided a road-map of the pathway of immigration, including the history and political background, policy initiative, the journey of immigrant families, issues of human rights, challenges and barriers of immigration, social problems, crime and victimization, and more. As a faculty in the field of criminal justice, I believe it would be a great introduction-level textbook for students who are beginners in the topics of immigration and immigration policies.\r\nAs some previous reviewers mentioned, the book invested a great amount of text to the topics pertain to the immigrants who resettled in the U.S. instead of elsewhere in the world. Therefore, the title of the book can be misleading. In chapter 3, the authors touched the important issues of human rights of the immigrants in the United States, as well as the history and general theories of human rights law and domestic sovereignty, particularly in the U.S. Again, the author could add one more chapter to refer to other foreign policies on immigrants and refugee resettlement to boast the “global” perspective. \r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Each chapter, the authors provided a great number of detailed narratives of the topics. The photographs, quotations from the immigrants, well-organized bullet points, and the references are well presented to the readers. I personally have not encountered any issues of inaccuracies or errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Due to the recent changes on immigration policies and political climate, it might require the authors' frequent updates of certain chapters. However, I believe the authors had done a great job to lay out the foundation of issues of immigration and policies. In addition, the references after each chapter include official organization sites. As readers, we can easily get into the source and check on any updates. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook was written in a lucid and accessible fashion. The authors did a great job to lay out the context with highlights, sections, bullet points, and final remarks. Review questions and additional readings help readers to understand these complicated issues. No ambiguity has been found in the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The textbook was organized in a systematic and consistent manner. Again, the authors gave the readers a road-map of the history and current affairs of immigration and refugee settlement. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter of the textbook could be a stand-alone reading module. I have read through the book not in order and has no difficulties to understand the content. Within each chapter, the authors also had done a great job to break down the topics in titles and subtitles. The quotations and policies are introduced separately in a proper manner. It is easy to follow and easy to refer across the book.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The authors have outdone their job on the organization and construction of the chapters. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Overall, the authors did a great job to keep the readers engaged while regarding the book with properly attached pictures, quotations, as well as the review questions and further readings. It would be also helpful if the authors could consider adding a sidebar to list all the key terms.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors have been noticed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The context of the book is culturally relevant. It inclusive, comprehensive, and sensitive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-11-28T16:14:01.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-11-28T16:14:01.000-06:00"},{"id":2607,"first_name":"Brenda","last_name":"Morton","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"George Fox University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book provides a comprehensive overview of a complex topic. The book is timely and helpful to understand the challenges and experiences of those immigrating. The book discusses the challenges of day to day living for immigrants, like access to healthcare. As a professor in teacher preparation, this book will be very helpful for my students to gain understanding of the experiences of families in the communities in which they live and work. The book tackles a complex issue but the book is very accessible. The inclusion of definitions, case studies, discussion questions, and links to resources will make this text quite useful in my classes. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not find any errors. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topic of immigration is complex and data including statistics around migration would need to be updated with some regularity. The authors also included many links to resources, which may need to be checked and updated. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The authors did a great job of stopping to define terms and concepts consistently throughout the text. And, they backed this up with references and links to websites that would provide additional information. This helps the reader ensure they are tracking and engaging with the material using the same definitions as the authors.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in use of terminology and framework. This makes it easy to read and follow and would also make it a good classroom text. The text stays on point by sharing the experiences and significant challenges of people immigrating to a new country. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book has clear organization and layout. Each chapter is divided into smaller sections with titles making it easy to use in a classroom setting. The chapters include photos, charts, and/or other visuals that add to the narrative. The resource links at the end are also helpful to extend the learning. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is well organized and easy to follow. I appreciated the way in which the authors organized the book into smaller sections. The information is rich and the situations complex, so the natural break is helpful to stop and engage in discussions. I enjoyed the case studies that they included in the book and believe these would open the door for  group discussion and deeper understanding of experiences that may not be our own. They also included discussion questions and resources at the end of the chapter. I was particularly excited about the resources as it allows for students to continue to explore a specific topic by following the links. The authors also did a great job of providing detailed definitions and explanations to make sure their readers were tracking the information accurately. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is easy to engage with. It includes photos and links to resources and is visually welcoming. The text boxes at the end of the chapter are noted in two specific colors, making them easy to identify. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a couple of grammatical errors, but they did not detract from the content. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The authors did a really nice job of including the stories and experiences of different groups of immigrants. The authors included stories and case studies that allowed the reader to gain deeper understanding of multiple experiences from different complex situations. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-03-04T13:08:14.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-03-04T13:08:14.000-06:00"},{"id":34090,"first_name":"Amy","last_name":"Elman","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Kalamazoo College","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"First, the book fails to explore what a family is and while one might assume we all know, the absence of an internationally agreed to definition can cause havoc for immigrants and refugees.\r\n\r\nSecond, the discussion of “intimate partner violence” and sex trafficking might benefit from a more forthcoming (feminist) understanding of male violence against women.  Focusing so much on gender-neutral “cycle of violence” theories conceals a stark reality that the overwhelming majority of “intimate partners” who employ violence are men and their victims women and girls.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"See above.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"In general, it seems up-to-date.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is very clear.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent, if one assumes at all times we know what a family is.","modularity_rating":2,"modularity_review":"There is a problem here that could be resolved with a new introduction that explores the difficulties of \"family\" policy because there is no internationally agreed upon definition.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"In general, the organization is fine.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I saw nothing to confuse the reader in this way.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no errors.","cultural_rating":1,"cultural_review":"The book shows little appreciation of the ways in which the very notion of family is itself a cultural artifact.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"Though an interesting and accessible text for undergraduates, Immigrant and Refugee Families offers no engagement with or effort to define what a family is.  In this sense, it mirrors the absence of an internationally recognized definition of “family” that complicates migration and human rights policies.  Nonetheless, attending to just a few of the different policies and practices concerning the definition of a “child” or “spouse”, “relative” or “parent” (e.g., in matters of adoption) would help augment the reader’s grasp of refugee and immigrant policies in significant ways.  For instance, while divorce practices vary by state and have changed over time, once divorced, many cease to be a member of “the family” for purposes of law.  The consequences of this are crucial and cannot be overstated.  While the authors endeavor to analyze the evolution of “the family” through explicit considerations of “gay” marriages/partnerships and dynamic definitions of the “child”, there is no sustained attention to and a deeper appreciation of the different historical and cultural understandings/practices of “family life.”  A revised introduction that offers an explicit operationalization of “the family” and the ways it varies considerably across states, cultures and communities across time could remedy this shortcoming.","created_at":"2022-10-28T16:44:12.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-10-28T16:44:12.000-05:00"},{"id":34749,"first_name":"Douglas","last_name":"Mpondi","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Very comprehensive textbook that covers the reasons for immigrant and refugee movement that includes war, internal conflict, political or religious persecutions or natural disasters. The book also focuses on the challenges that the immigrants face and how they navigate these challenges in a new cultural environment","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book's content is well defined and covers topics such as immigration policy, immigration journeys, human rights, economic well-being, mental health, Intimate Partner Violence, substance abuse, resilience and embracing their new homes in the host country.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book's relevance is solidified by focusing on contemporary issues that immigrant and refugee families face and will continue to face. The case studies in each chapter makes the book more relevant and current,","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language used is simple and clear and explained in a coherent way. The language is easily accessible and easy to read.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent and all the chapters speak to each other and this makes it easier to follow the content and the discussions in the chapters","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book has different sections that are easy to follow and understand","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized in a logical and well structured outline that makes it easier for readers to follow","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no navigation issues in the textbook, the media provided solidify the discussions in the chapter.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text has no grammatical issues that can hinder comprehension of the content being discussed.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"It is culturally relevant as it include case studies from different countries around the world. However, the focus is on immigrant and refugee families in the United States only","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"A relevant book on global and international affairs courses in the university","created_at":"2023-11-20T22:15:43.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-11-20T22:15:43.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/immigrant-and-refugee-families-global-perspectives-on-displacement-and-resettlement-experiences","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:10:00.000-05:00"},{"id":340,"title":"First Amendment: Cases, Controversies, and Contexts","edition_statement":"Second Edition","volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":[],"description":"This Casebook (Second Edition, December 2019) is intended to be used in an upper-division course covering the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Its 14 chapters are substantially the same length, with the exception of Chapter One, the introduction, and Chapters Eleven and Twelve which in combination are the usual length. It is intended for 13 or 14 week semester that meets once or twice per week. Each Chapter contains a “Chapter Outline” at the beginning for ease of reference. The Casebook is organized with the Speech Clauses as Part One and the Religion Clauses as Part Two. Unlike many other courses, there is no accepted organizational scheme within these broad areas. As the Introduction notes, First Amendment doctrine, especially within freedom of speech, presents a varied and haphazard landscape. The Casebook follows a scheme that has proven effective in Professor Robson’s years of teaching the course to hundreds of students. The selection of cases tends toward the most recent and these tend to be less heavily edited. These recent cases often contain extended discussions of earlier cases that are not included in the Casebook.","contributors":[{"id":3618,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Ruthann","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Robson","location":"City University of New York Law School","background_text":"Ruthann Robson, is Professor of Law \u0026 University Distinguished Professor. She is the author of Dressing Constitutionally: Hierarchy, Sexuality, and Democracy (2013), as well as the books Sappho Goes to Law School (1998); Gay Men, Lesbians, and the Law (1996); and Lesbian (Out)Law: Survival Under the Rule of Law (1992), and the editor of the three volume set, International Library of Essays in Sexuality \u0026 Law (2011). She is a frequent commentator on constitutional and sexuality issues and the co-editor of the Constitutional Law Professors Blog. She is one of the 26 professors selected for inclusion in What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard University Press, 2013)."}],"subjects":[{"id":67,"name":"Administrative Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3400","visible_textbooks_count":14,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/administrative-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/law"},{"id":51,"name":"Religion","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"BL1","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/religion"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"}],"publishers":[{"id":251,"url":"https://www.cali.org/books/first-amendment-cases-controversies-and-contexts","year":2019,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-10-21T19:36:30.000-05:00","name":"CALI's eLangdell® Press"}],"formats":[{"id":407,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.cali.org/sites/default/files/Robson_FirstAmendment_2dEd_2020-cover-Aug182023-ISBN.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":408,"type":"eBook","url":"https://www.cali.org/sites/default/files/FirstAmendmentRobson2nd-EPUB2-2019Dec16.epub","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1829,"type":"MS Word","url":"https://www.cali.org/sites/default/files/Robson_FirstAmendment_2dEd_2020-Aug142023.docx","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":4,"reviews":[{"id":1008,"first_name":"Lana","last_name":"Whited","position":"Professor of English and director of the Boone Honors Program","institution_name":"Ferrum College (Virginia)","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"In reviewing Robson's text, I am comparing primarily to the traditional media law text which I have used in recent semesters, Don R. Pember and Clay Calvert's Media Law. Now in its 19th or 20th edition, Media Law is the most widely used text for undergraduate media law courses and has been for a long time.  The Robsonn text is very different from Media Law in two ways: first, Robsonn's text is broader in its scope than a media law textbook, as Robsonn is concerned with First Amendment law and media law falls within only two clauses of that Amendment:  speech (or expression) and media. (The Robsonn text has additional sections concerning the religion clause, which obviously would not be included in a media law text.)  A reasonable comparison, then, would seem to involve the typical issues covered in a media law course, as they are treated in both books:  libel, prior restraint, hate speech, copyright, obscenity, the distinction in First Amendment rights at public and private institutions or employers, etc.  There are a few important areas of media law which are NOT addressed in Robson's text:  protection of news sources, controversies deriving from the Freedom of Information Act, and issues relating to the Free Press - Fair Trial dichotomy are the most obviousl\n\nA second distinction between Robsonn's book and a tradition media law text is in the manner of presentation to students.  Robsonn organizes excerpts from court opinions into subject areas such as legal issues having to do with the \"Government as Employer and Educator.\"  Students are reading excerpts of actual case law, and there is very little writing by Robsonn by way of summary or synthesis (occasionally, there are a few sentences of preface).  This approach has its advantages: it presents students with more examples of primary texts (the opinions) than they would normally encounter in a media law course, where they might read little actual law.  It also allows them familiarity with these cases without the filter of a textbook author who would summarize and analyze these cases (as those such as Pember and Calvert do).  But there is a significant disadvantage for undergraduate students, who may find reading original case law difficult and who may need the summarizing and synthesizing role of a more traditional textbook editor.  For this reason, Robsonn's text may be more appropriate for first-semester or first-year law students than for undergraduates. \n\nThe approach of a tradition textbook is to organize discussion around specific topics in media law.  Libel, for example, gets three chapters in Pember and Calvert's text. In Robsonn's text, libel is the subject of cases listed in a section called \"Freedom of the Press and Tort Actions.\"  Thus, students who are new to the discussion of media law would probably appreciate the more streamlined table of contents of a text such as Pember and Calvert, wherein chapter headings comprise a handy list of media law issues.  In other words, the focus of Robsonn's approach is different and perhaps less transparent to undergraduates.\n\nTraditional media law texts also include an introductory chapter or chapters on the American legal system, with which students often are not sufficiently familiar.  With the Robsonn text, this background must be supplemented by the faculty member. \n'\nFinally , the Robsonn text does not include an index, which undergraduates (and faculty) find very useful.  ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"In general, I have not discovered errors in accuracy, with the exception of the phrasing of the First Amendment in chapter one, where the last clause of the amendment is written as \"and to petition the government from redress of grievances.\"  I remembered the wording of that clause differently, and in most versions of the amendment I consulted, the wording of that last phrase is \"and to petition the government FOR A redress of grievances.\" While it seems a fairly egregious error to misquote the First Amendment, there may be some factor here with which I'm unfamiliar.  \n\nGenerally, accuracy is not a problem, as the text of the book is primarily comprised of excerpts from actual opinions. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Again, as the text is primarily comprised of actual case law (excerpts), these could be easily replaced or extended.  Cases included are as recent as 2013, 2014.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The excerpts from court cases are surprisingly easy to read, for legalese, but it is difficult to comment on clarity as that terms generally applies, when it is mostly NOT the author's writing that would be the subject of this evaluation. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Because it follows the clauses in the First Amendment, this is strong.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapter divisions are sensible, although some chapters are too long for treatment in one class meeting.  However, modules within chapters are also sensible.  ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"In overall framework, the book follows the order of clauses in the First Amendment, focusing on speech, media, and religion.  Cases concerning the assembly and petition clauses and the so-called \"missing\" clause, association, are interspersed in the sections on speech and media, as multiple clauses or doctrines often emerge in any individual case. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"It is very easy to navigate this book, and I have tested that in iBooks, Kindle, and .pdf.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Any  errors in a text such as Robsonn's would have to be typos, as her method is to excerpt relevant court opinions.  In other words, very little of the text is her original writing:  there is little place for error.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Again, there is little original writing from Robsonn, and her selections cover a wide range of ethnicities and issues, as she is attempting to reflect varying tests to the First Amendment clauses.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"It is important to note that I am using Robsonn's text this semester for the first time, and the class has only studied four chapters to date.  My assessment of the remainder and totality of the book is based largely on skimming and selective reading.  ","created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1284,"first_name":"Joe","last_name":"Mirando","position":"Professor of Communication","institution_name":"Southeastern Louisiana University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"In regard strictly to the First Amendment, the book is a very thorough treatment of the First Amendment's five clauses -- freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. The author simply could not have been more effective in covering the subject for a class limited to lessons directly related to the First Amendment, and the discussions of what the First Amendment prohibits (censorship, prior restraint, licensing, taxation and compelled speech) are strong as well. However, for a typical mass communication law class, the book treats areas that are indirectly affected by the First Amendment with much less depth, such as the student press, libel, privacy, copyright and access to information. It would be difficult to justify using this book as the primary textbook for a class covering these indirect areas, and it may be even more difficult to justify as a secondary material because of its length.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not dictate any factual errors in both the specific content areas and the background areas. For example, the discussion of how the First Amendment became the First Amendment instead of the Third Amendment is thorough and mindful of history. It should also be pointed out that no clear advocacy of a debatable position is emphasized in any part of the book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"If this book will continue to be updated every year, relevance/longevity will be one of its strongest aspects. The 2016 edition of this book featured treatment of First Amendment cases heard by the U.S.Supreme Court during the 2015-16 term, making it as up to date as possible. This aspect is especially important because it's possible that any one decision could radically change the direction of the law.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The length of the book is clearly a concern, but the author more than makes up for it with a writing style that is appropriate. Nearly all of the most important cases do not end with guilty/not guilty verdicts, so it's important that the style is kept simple.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Some familiarity with Black's Law Dictionary is needed, but upper-level college students who are not especially strong with legal terminology and courtroom procedure should be able to handle the discussion.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The same approach of introduction and breakdown with background is consistently followed throughout.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"It's important that teachers have the ability to assign readings without having to stick with a strict chronological approach to the book. The chapters are ordered in such a way that any teacher who has designed a schedule of readings inconsisternt with the book will still be able to provide a coherent approach.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Other than headings and subheadings, the book does not contain display features. It is very gray throughout, which is what should be expected of a textbook so dependent on content.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No significant problems were seen in parts the author wrote. It is possible a person could take issue with the grammar of parts quoted from law books, but historical accuracy is a more important value.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I feel that the quantity of material devoted to freedom of religion appears to be much more than is necessary. It's not necessary for all of the five freedoms to be treated evenly, but it does appear that the author provides too much to religion. However, it should be pointed out that this is a minor flaw, and in some semesters when a case like Snyder v. Phelps occurs, this can actually be an advantage.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall, I feel I will have to decline to adopt this book as the required textbook for my class in media law. It is far too long and too limited to strict First Amendment issues to be appropriate for my course. However, it is still an excellent book on the topic.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1646,"first_name":"Kerry","last_name":"Tripp","position":"Senior Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Maryland, College Park","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I reviewed this book in contemplation of whether it could supplement a law course I teach to both undergraduate and (non-law school) graduate students but a review based on that perspective would be unfair.  As the author notes in the introduction, this book is designed for an upper level law class.  For my purposes, its deficits (e.g., failing to provide a primer on how the legal system works) would not create a similar problem for an upper level law student as it would for my students.  Yet, one major deficit may still apply to both audiences: the book contains Spartan analysis.  The substantial majority of the book is reprints of excerpted cases.  \nTo give credit, the book hits all of the expected cases on the subject and organizes them in a way that allows the reader to ferret out an analysis that progresses on an issue. But the author relies on the reader to make that analysis.  Most of the time, the author’s own contributions is limited to three or four questions asked after a series of lengthy case (excerpt) reprints.  When the author does provide some analysis it is easy to see why she is a student favorite.  Occasional nuggets like the author’s discussion of the case of a student who claims a religious exemption to her school’s dress code for her body piercing because she is a member of the Church of Body Modification or the influence the “Catholic vote” had on Justice Douglas’ when he was thinking of running for president, help to bring the law alive for students.   \n A second comment is that this book is s limited in its focus on constitutional law, to just the issues of free speech and freedom of religion.  As to the latter issue, however, I am especially grateful.  I too find the issue of what is religion fascinating and worthy of much intellectual discussion. The book’s narrow focus allows this. Perhaps it is my own bias, but I think the author saved the best for last, and if teaching the course I would reverse the subjects to hook in my class early in the semester.  When looking only at those two issues, the book ranks high, covering a large scope.\nLast, given the small amount of original contribution from the author, would the Open Textbook’s goal of making textbooks affordable be better fulfilled if the many cases were merely cited in lists and not reprinted? To her credit, the author calls this a casebook and that it is.  The book is almost 1200 pages with the substantial majority of the text case reprints. But, the cases are the usual workhorses on the issue and, as such, are freely available on the internet.  If the author would contribute more insight and the case reprints were removed (and just listed), this textbook might better satisfy the Open Textbook’s goals.\nIn conclusion, if your course is for upper-level law students who have already taken a traditional Con law class and are looking to delve into the issues of speech and especially religion, this book fits that niche.\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Disturbingly, the author misquotes the First Amendment. It is not a typo as it occurs at the beginning of the book and is later repeated. This makes the reader unfairly question the author’s competence in the materials.  A full reading of the book and its clear presentation of the expected cases eliminates that.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The textbook contains the expected first amendment cases on speech and religion, including relatively recent ones that could impact prior precedent like the Hobby Lobby case or Citizen’s United . As the U.S. Supreme Court looks further at these issues this year, the book’s digital format should easily allow for future editions to include new cases illustrating the impacts of these decisions.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"With the author’s original text often limited to three questions following several case excerpts, it is unclear how to rate the textbook for clarity.  Focusing on the questions and the occasional more detailed analysis, the author has a nice writing style.  Her questions got to the heart of the cases and help to build on the reader’s analysis. But without the author’s analysis, the reader must await classroom discussion.   ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent and the cases that are covered are as expected for a class on the First Amendment.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"With fourteen chapters, the book is designed to cover a topic per class (and for the most part the materials could be covered in a single day).  In each of the two major sections, press and religion, the book covers topics in a logical progression that builds on the next with an eventual proficiency. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Overall, the book flowed well.  The cases selected built nicely upon each other to encourage analysis of the issue selected.  As discussed above, I would reverse the two major topics just because I think the religious cases allow for more intellectual exploration.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This book bridge nicely as a PDF.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"With little original contribution, grammatical errors are not a problem.  Typos, however, are and should be cleaned up for the next edition.  These, plus the author’s misquoting of the First Amendment, discussed above, could easily be avoided by a more detailed edit.  ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Satisfying a culturally relevant pedagogy given the format of this book, with its extensive case reprints, is difficult.  The book does include the expected cases on the topics, including those on the ability to limit the right to free speech in a school setting.  Given the timely and culturally relevant issue of free speech in the university setting, a future edition would benefit by including a discussion on this lively topic and would empower students emotionally and intellectually.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I look forward to the author’s next edition and hope she includes more of her insights into these two intellectually interesting areas of our constitution and our country. \n \n","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":34916,"first_name":"Jakob","last_name":"Miller","position":"Assoc. Prof. of Pol. Science","institution_name":"Taylor University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book focuses heavily on the speech and religion clauses of the first amendment. Press receives a short chapter of its own, and the rights of assembly and petition receive almost no attention save a mention at the beginning of the book. Of course, this reflects to some degree the amount of attention the Court has paid each part of the first amendment, but a class using this book will be focused on the speech and religion clauses by necessity.\r\n\r\nAs for comprehensive coverage within those subjects, it is hard to see any major aspect of speech or religion left untouched, or any major cases one would expect to find which are missing. Students using this casebook will grapple with all the major cases, concepts, precedents and tests one would expect. It is admirably comprehensive.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This is a difficult category to rate in a legal casebook. The cases are presented exactly as the Court issued them (with light editing) and the author’s main direct voice in the book consist of the pre-chapter notes, the first chapter and other introductory notes, and the notes that follow each set of cases. Most of the notes following sets of cases are composed of questions for students, or simply pointing out interesting connections between presented Supreme Court cases and other cases not directly discussed in the book, leaving little room for inaccuracy. Indirectly, of course, the author’s voice is present in the selection, arrangement, and editing of cases, which I’ve covered in the comprehensiveness section above. \r\nIn regards to the accuracy of the author’s direct notes, I’ve found no significant errors or any causes for concern. I would only echo another reviewer’s concern that the text of the first is seemingly presented with a textual error (“from” in place of “for”).","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The book was last updated in 2020, which means that are some major cases that the book will not include. Cases such as Shurtleff, Kennedy v Bremerton School District, or Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta. All casebooks have this issue, since the Court constantly makes more work for casebook writers, but it should be noted that using this book will mean having to supplement the section on the Lemon test, for example, with its latest death in a case from outside the book.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I won’t be grading the opinions by the Justices here, save that to say that the author has edited them lightly but in a way that should improve their readability and remove some unnecessary distractions to students. \r\n\r\nThe author’s own writing is clear and lucid. The examples given are especially compelling – the section on the Heckler’s Veto particularly stood out to me as an example that should be vivid for students while being a clear demonstration of discussed principles. \r\n\r\nI should note here in the interest of clarity for my own review that I am only reviewing the casebook itself. The website mentions that there is supplementary information available for instructors, but I was not able to access it. From the presented work, I have no doubt that the author would perform to same admirable standard.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent both with itself and established legal terminology. Students should have no issue on that account.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is broken neatly into two parts – speech and religion – and 14 chapters, which fits neatly into a 13 or 14 week semester (two chapters are shorter than others, and the layout of the book is clearly explained up front). Each chapter is also divided into several subchapters. While cases naturally interconnect, there is nothing preventing an instructor from remixing the chapter order or dropping a given chapter or subchapter, and the clear divisions make this a fairly simple task.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"While there is no set organizational scheme within each of the two large sections, it follows a plan based on the teaching experience of the author. It looks to my eye as someone who has taught a great deal on the first amendment like a plan that would lead students naturally through the major topics in an intuitive way. Should an instructor wish, however, it seems simple enough to remix the chapter order or add or remove some chapters if needed.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"It’s a text-heavy PDF, with few illustrations or tables. It should display cleanly on any device that can read PDFs – I encountered no issues while reading the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Aside from the bit pointed out about the text of the petition clause (see also page 6 of the book), the book seemed to have no notable errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Some of the cases do involve material that may offend students, but that cannot be avoided when dealing with the first amendment. (After all, the first amendment is hardly needed to protect popular speech.) The cases chosen well reflect the broad range of religious groups and political beliefs that have been before the court over the nation’s history.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I heartily recommend this casebook to those interested in a First Amendment law course, provided you can access the teacher’s materials and add in coverage of cases such as Kennedy v Bremerton on your own.","created_at":"2024-03-04T11:20:50.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-03-04T11:20:50.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/first-amendment-cases-controversies-and-contexts","updated_at":"2026-05-18T12:03:50.000-05:00"},{"id":264,"title":"Good Corporation, Bad Corporation: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781942341253","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This textbook provides an innovative, internationally oriented approach to the teaching of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and business ethics. Drawing on case studies involving companies and countries around the world, the textbook explores the social, ethical, and business dynamics underlying CSR in such areas as global warming, genetically modified organisms (GMO) in food production, free trade and fair trade, anti-sweatshop and living-wage movements, organic foods and textiles, ethical marketing practices and codes, corporate speech and lobbying, and social enterprise. The book is designed to encourage students and instructors to challenge their own assumptions and prejudices by stimulating a class debate based on each case study.","contributors":[{"id":3037,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Guillermo","middle_name":"C.","last_name":"Jimenez","location":null,"background_text":"Guillermo C. Jimenez is a tenured professor in the Department of International Trade and Marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY) in New York City. He also holds adjunct teaching appointments at Iona College (New York) and at the International School of Management in Paris, France. Prof. Jimenez teaches courses on international law, international management, multicultural management, and international corporate citizenship. He is the author of four previous books, including The ICC Guide to Export-Import, 4th edition (ICC Publishing, 2012), the first book on the new legal discipline of fashion law; Fashion Law: A Guide for Designers, Fashion Executives, and Attorneys (Fairchild Publishing); and a multi-disciplinary review of political psychology, Red Genes Blue Genes: Exposing Political Irrationality (Autonomedia, 2009). Prof. Jimenez received his B.A. from Harvard and his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. As an international policy and legal expert, he has lectured in over 35 countries and collaborated with such intergovernmental organizations as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and European Commission."},{"id":3038,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Elizabeth","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Pulos","location":null,"background_text":"Elizabeth Pulos is Senior Manager of Compliance Administration at Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), a nonprofit dedicated to promoting ethical manufacturing around the world through certification and education. She has a BS in International Trade and Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she was president of the CSR Club and recipient of the World Trade Week, New Times Group and PVH scholarships, as well as the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence. Prior to FIT, Elizabeth studied Music Performance at Mount Royal Conservatory and Environmental Science at the University of Calgary. A classically trained violist, she has performed in New York, Canada, Europe, the UK and Australia."}],"subjects":[{"id":2,"name":"Business","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"HF5001","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/business"},{"id":4,"name":"Economics","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HB171.5","visible_textbooks_count":46,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/economics"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"}],"publishers":[{"id":154,"url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-04-15T13:38:55.000-05:00","name":"Open SUNY"}],"formats":[{"id":218,"type":"PDF","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download-page/?dlm-dp-dl=1281","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":219,"type":"eBook","url":"https://milneopentextbooks.org/download-page/?dlm-dp-dl=1279","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":220,"type":"Online","url":"https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/good-corporation-bad-corporation/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":6,"reviews":[{"id":1002,"first_name":"Deanna","last_name":"Lewis","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"The University of Arizona","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers important topics in CSR, and given the current climate areas such as social media's role in CSR, Millennial's role in CSR would have added much value to the text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information provided is accurate and provided strong examples.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Addressing social media's role in CSR and Millennials would have contributed significantly to the books relevancy.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The context of each chapter is clear and appropriate language is used throughout.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework and layout of the book makes it an easy to use reference. The terminology is appropriate for both community college and undergraduate use.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The sections of the book are divided into accessible  components and are easy to access.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of the book is good and presents a logicval flow to the content.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is excellent. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not note any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book provides a number of examples that are free of bias and cultural insensitivity.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2017-02-08T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1242,"first_name":"Richard","last_name":"Peters","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Xavier Uinversity of Louisiana","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book definitely tackles many of the contemporary ethical, social and environmental problems and debates facing modern corporations. From GMOs to Climate Change, the authors try to cover a broad range of topical and controversial issues, providing readers with ample literature to better appreciate the complexity and dynamism of the subject matter.\nWhile no text can cover every relevant area of CSRS, this book tries to educate the reader holistically and achieves this breadth in my opinion, very effectively","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I would argue that the book is relatively unbiased, and tries to provide fact and objective sources to discuss the points raised. However, Chapter 2 seemed suspicious and relatively out of place, especially the section that deal with 'winning an argument for CSRS'. I treat CSRS, like any other management or academic pursuit, as one that requires scientific scrutiny and objectivity. This chapter seemingly suggests to students that their role is as CSRS disciples. In my opinion, this undermines the rest of the text that keep subject matter open for debate","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Here is where perhaps my biggest concern lies. The book seems centered around important contemporary topics. Whether or not these topics will continue to be relevant or prioritized is highly debatable. I would liked to see the authors perhaps use topics to illustrate theory and principles rather than make than the focus of chapters.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is generally well written. But there are instances where I feel the authors could have been more succinct. Undergraduate students may find this a long, if not difficult read","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"There is a great consistency. However, ironically, the beginning of the book, in my opinion doesn't lay an effective framework for the overall layout.?","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I definitely agree that it is modular. This I think is one of its key strengths. It would be very easy to assign specific chapters to students","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"As I stated here, there was consistency, but I wasn't always convinced about the flow.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book seemed very clear and easy navigate. The illustrations were effectively reproduced","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I found no real grammatical issues","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Like in most instances, there was a western or North American bias. But this is to be expected due to the nature of the material. Where possible, 'global' examples were used","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2283,"first_name":"Karen","last_name":"Meyers","position":"Assistant Visiting Professor","institution_name":"Miami Unversity     Oxford, Ohio","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is comprehensive in the topics it covers with three exceptions which are Corporate Fraud and Disclosure Challenges Based on Accounting Practices and The Impact of Sales Goal and Performance Reviews on Unethical Behavior and Related Cover Up and Retaliation Practices, as well as The consequence of Cultural, Race and Gender Bias.  Related to and embedded in those three topics are stakeholder analysis and impact with associated monetary and reputation loss. It would also benefit from an update of occurrences since 2012-13 in all the denoted topics and current chapters.\n\nIts Chapter Format and Divisions are exceptionally well done from a teaching and learning perspective.\n\nA Glossary of terms would also be helpful.  Chapters 1 and 2 lay out a superb frame for critical thinking.  They could be enhanced with a Stakeholder Identification and Impact Methodology.\n\nThe Index Could be expanded to include Sub Topic and Company references.\n\nAll in all this is a good text from many perspectives. With improvement in topical coverage and some of the above noted items it will become an excellent text.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate.  No blatant errors were identified.\n\nBias is a difficult issue in the covered topics  When reading I kept coming back to  How is Corporate Social Responsibility Measured?. There is no such thing as absolute consensus on this topic.  That said Chapter 1 does a very good job of defining the term and related topics.  The case of the Undecided Voter gives both the democratic and republican potential arguments, however the arguments seemed a bit titled away from financial impact and free market in a corporate social environment climate.  Expanded arguments might well solve this issue.  Also the first reading about the Corporation as a \"Psychopathic\" Creature is definitely biased.  Possibly it should not be the first reading and more balanced readings  would be helpful from a financial consideration viewpoint.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The arrangement of the chapters is excellent.  The two additional topics noted above need to be included for relevance. Adding new updated material should be an acceptable process.  The book has the potential for a long life as long as updates and emerging topics  are included.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text  is absolutely terrific as to clarity.  It affords the opportunity to facilitate critical thinking on the topics it discusses.  A glossary would help as noted above.  The chapter subdivisions are impressive.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text  is absolutely terrific as to consistency.  It affords the opportunity to facilitate critical thinking on the topics it discusses.  A glossary and expanded topics would help as noted above.  The chapter subdivisions are impressive.  Readings after every chapter would also enhance the text if available.  Maybe labeling endnotes as also potential readings would be something to consider.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is able to be \"modularized\" and used at various times in a course.  I would suggest that concept  be supported in Review's Notes and encouraged integration into Courses be emphasized based on the premise of reading Chapter 1 and 2 first although not required will make the learning experience more valuable . Possibly those two chapters could be summarized for modular use by to the reader.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The covered topics are presented in a logical clear fashion which can be easily modularized . Moving Chapter 10 to Chapter 12 would create a global discussion at the end of the study of the entire text.  While not necessary I feel that would be a better placement.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is absolutely  free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.  The subdivision of the chapters is impressive and facilitates learning.  The topics covered are salient and important.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammar is excellent on the included topics.  No further comments are needed.","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"Cultural relevance could be expanded in topics which involve Title Seven violations or the 'ME Too Movement' regarding Sexual Harassment.  Discussing these issues, bias,  and financial impact to corporations including insurance coverage is critical to understanding corporate social responsibility.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Possibly include suggested review checklists to facilitate critical thinking even further.\n\nA good text for included topics can become a great text with expanded topics and additional learning tools as deemed appropriate.","created_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-08-02T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2601,"first_name":"Keith","last_name":"Tierney","position":"Faculty","institution_name":"Linn-Benton Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is not extensive but is a good secondary text.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book is accurate but not extensive.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Text is relevant as a introduction to topic but not current.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is clear, concise and well written.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in the application of Corporate Social Responsibility.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is easily divisible into subtopics and will be a good secondary text.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is easy to follow and topical issues are easy to follow and apply to the major theme of the book.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is a good secondary text to major topic of business ethics and has no distortion in charts and figures.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammar mistakes were noted.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The topic of ethics and corporation social responsibility has no cultural issues.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Book Review\r\nGood Corporation, Bad Corporation- Corporate Social Responsibility in the Global Economy, Guillermo C. Jimenez, Elizabeth Pulos, Open SUNY Textbooks 2016\r\nThis book is well written and researched with good references.  It is a good secondary text.  It has 12 chapters in 175 pages with four appendices.  In the first 2 chapters it introduces and explains the differences between Corporation Social Responsibility (CRS) and ethics.  The remaining 10 chapters are examples of CRS.   It does not provide an extensive study of ethical theory.  Some current areas of CRS not covered include banking fraud, financial abuse and product liability.  Chapter topics  include Climate change, Genetically Modified Organisms, Marketing Ethics, Organic Food, Fair Trade, Sweat Shops, Corporate corruption in International Business, Citizens United and Corporations first Amendment rights in Politics and Animal Rights. Each Chapter provides a discussing of the topic followed by Affirmative and Negative positions, List of Readings, Synthesis Questions and Endnotes.\r\n","created_at":"2019-03-03T12:21:52.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-03-03T12:21:52.000-06:00"},{"id":33378,"first_name":"Dorothy","last_name":"Nelson","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Virginia State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers many topics from climate change to GMOs to fair trade to animal rights. There may be a few other topics that could be covered more thoroughly and extensively in an updated text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book seems to be accurate, error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This book was published in 2016 and I believe there is room for updating and adding relevant case studies and examples for incidents that have occurred in the past 6 years. One thing that could be addressed is the COVID-19 pandemic and how that has changed the corporate landscape.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"This book would be most appropriate for a higher-level or graduate-level class. Undergraduate students may find it to be a bit challenging.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book seems to be internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The way the book is broken down allows for this book to be used in application to different course topics.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics seem to be organized in a logical, clear fashion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book seems to be free of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not see any specific culturally insensitive or offensive content.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is an interesting text and I can see it being used in a class focusing on corporation ethics, etc. To be used in my own personal courses I would like to see it focus even more on the textiles industries and discuss more on pollution, emissions, sustainability, etc. in addition to the topics of fair trade, sweatshops, and animal rights--though those particular chapters could be used to supplement course material. There is discussion of organic food, but not organic textiles, etc. The discussion on animal rights and fashion is interesting, though it would be helpful to mention and discuss (more in detail) the companies that work very hard to be animal cruelty-free. They mentioned Patagonia, for example, but only once and did not go into detail on many of the things they have done for CSR.","created_at":"2021-08-28T16:22:55.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-08-28T16:22:55.000-05:00"},{"id":33940,"first_name":"Pavlina","last_name":"McGrady","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Southern Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers a comprehensive list of topics related to CSR. Common topics such as climate change, social entrepreneurship, fair trade, marketing ethics, and issues with sweatshops are included. I think that it is important that topics such as corruption and the relationship between corporations and politics are also part of the book. Although corruption is sometimes added to frameworks for sustainability (e.g., the UN Global Compact), the topic of politics is often omitted, perhaps due to the “inconvenience” of the political discussions, particularly in the classroom. Yet, the role of corporations in politics is so major that it should certainly be added to the CSR discussion. \r\nOn the other hand, although the topic of GMOs is also important, I think that it perhaps does not deserve a complete chapter.\r\nLastly, I think that social aspects of CSR should be added – topics of diversity, equity =, and inclusion are certainly part of CSR but perhaps were not as prominent at the time of writing this book. Another topic that has become more critical in the last few years is regeneration, which is also omitted. To sum up, I do think that the topics covered are all relevant, but some new critical topics are missing. \r\nOn the positive side, I truly enjoyed the variety of cases from different sectors and from around the world. The definitions provided at the beginning of the chapters are very valuable from a student's perspective. That is one challenge I struggle with in my corporate sustainability classes – there are students for whom that is the first sustainability-related course and others who know a lot about the topic. Thus, it is important to lay the foundation to ensure that everyone is on the same page before getting into specifics.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found the content accurate and very unbiased. Each chapter offered the two sides of the idea – e.g., the views of republicans and democrats, climate change – pro and skeptics, pro and con GMOs, pro and con organic, pro and con fair trade, etc. Additionally, a few topics were addressed from the perceptions of the various stakeholders – e.g., health food perspective, the hospitals perspective, etc.\r\nI did not detect any errors, but a lot of data is very outdated - references from the early 2000s were abundant, and the most “current” references were from 2013-2014).","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"This is perhaps the biggest weakness of the book. Although the topics of climate change, GMOs, fair trade, sweatshops, etc., are still very relevant in 2022, there were quite a few references from the early 2000s throughout the book, which is over twenty years ago! The most “current” references were from 2013-2014, and thus, they are still very outdated. That is particularly important for statistics, tables, graphs, etc., but some outdated comments were noted in the text. For example, there was a discussion about how renewable energy is still very expensive and not widely available, which is not the case in 2022.\r\nUpdates will not be very easily implemented.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text uses accessible language, and technical terms are explained - the key terms and ideas are first explained at the beginning of most chapters (e.g., CSR, climate change, IPCC, GMO, fair trade, etc.). As pointed out earlier, it is important to lay the foundation to ensure that everyone is on the same page before getting into specifics. \r\nThe text is very clear and adequate in terms of language and organization.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent as all chapters and case studies are directly linked to the idea of CSR, exploring both sides of the story – pros and cons, adding perceptions from the various stakeholders’ perspectives.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is very well-organized and easily divisible into smaller reading sections. I think that the core topics are covered well at the beginning of the chapter as n overview, followed by some case studies (sometimes integrated into the overview). I appreciated the discussions and the variety of readings and summaries. Once again, a lot of the readings were outdated, but the debate topics were very interesting. \r\nI liked the comment that productive discussions are “those that open our eyes to different perspectives and different types of facts.” The affirmative and negative sides of the cases were great, and I really liked the synthesis questions.\r\nEach chapter is split up into smaller, manageable subsections, with opportunities for reorganization if needed; subheadings are clear.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes, everything is organized clearly with subheadings, great case studies, discussions, and synthesis questions. My only comment is that “real” page numbers are missing – the numbers are 1.2.4, for example, indicating that it is the fourth page of the second chapter, but I would like to see the 1-150 page numbers so that I can easily find a specific page 😊","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is well-organized, and no interface issues were noted. Charts, images, etc., are not distorted.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammar errors were noted.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No culturally-offensive examples were noted. I found the text inclusive in terms of examples and case studies. Perhaps more companies from underdeveloped countries could be referenced, but overall, no major issues in terms of cultural aspects.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2022-06-30T23:50:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-06-30T23:50:39.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/good-corporation-bad-corporation-corporate-social-responsibility-in-the-global-economy","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:10:08.000-05:00"},{"id":822,"title":"A Quick Guide to Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2020,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This resource is intended as an easy-to-use guide for anyone who needs some quick and simple advice on quantitative aspects of research in social sciences, covering subjects such as education, sociology, business, nursing. If you area qualitative researcher who needs to venture into the world of numbers, or a student instructed to undertake a quantitative research project despite a hatred for maths, then this booklet should be a real help. The booklet was amended in 2022 to take into account previous review comments.","contributors":[{"id":5110,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":"Ph.D","first_name":"Christine","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Davies","location":"Carmarthen, Wales","background_text":"Christine Davies, Ph.D"}],"subjects":[{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"},{"id":43,"name":"Sociology","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"HM586","visible_textbooks_count":35,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/sociology"}],"publishers":[{"id":801,"url":"https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/1218/","year":2021,"created_at":"2020-04-19T11:44:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-06T13:31:53.000-05:00","name":"University of Wales Trinity Saint David"}],"formats":[{"id":1442,"type":"PDF","url":"https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/2017/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":14,"reviews":[{"id":3869,"first_name":"Michelle","last_name":"Page","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Worcester State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is exactly intended to be what it says: A quick guide. A basic outline of quantitative research processes, akin to cliff notes. The content provides only the essentials of a research process and contains key terms. A student or new researcher would not be able to use this as a stand alone guide for quantitative pursuits without having a supplemental text that explains the steps in the process more comprehensively. The introduction does provide this caveat.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"There are no biases or errors that could be distinguished; however, it’s simplicity in content, although accurate for an outline of process, may lack a conveyance of the deeper meanings behind the specific processes explained about qualitative research.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is outlined in traditional format to highlight quantitative considerations for formatting research foundational pieces. The resources/references used to point the reader to literature sources can be easily updated with future editions.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The jargon in the text is simple to follow and provides adequate context for its purpose. It is simplified for its intention as a guide which is appropriate.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each section of the text follows a consistent flow. Explanation of the research content or concept is defined and then a connection to literature is provided to expand the readers understanding of the section’s content. Terminology is consistent with the qualitative process.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"As an “outline” and guide, this text can be used to quickly identify the critical parts of the quantitative process. Although each section does not provide deeper content for meaningful use as a stand alone text, it’s utility would be excellent as a reference for a course and can be used as an content guide for specific research courses.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text’s outline and content are aligned and are in a logical flow in terms of the research considerations for quantitative research.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The only issue that the format was not able to provide was linkable articles. These would have to be cut and pasted into a browser. Functional clickable links in a text are very successful at leading the reader to the supplemental material.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were noted.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There are no cultural insensitivities noted.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a very good outline “guide” to help a new or student researcher  to demystify the quantitative process. A successful outline of any process helps to guide work in a logical and systematic way. I think this simple guide is a great adjunct to more substantial research context.","created_at":"2020-05-30T06:45:56.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-05-30T06:45:56.000-05:00"},{"id":4284,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Fischer","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Marymount University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"It is meant to be an overview, but it incredibly condensed and spends almost no time on key elements of statistics (such as what makes research generalizable, or what leads to research NOT being generalizable).","accuracy_rating":1,"accuracy_review":"Contains VERY significant errors, such as saying that one can \"accept\" a hypothesis. (One of the key aspect of hypothesis testing is that one either rejects or fails to reject a hypothesis, but NEVER accepts a hypothesis.)","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Very relevant to those experiencing the research process for the first time. However, it is written by someone working in the natural sciences but is a text for social sciences. This does not explain the errors, but does explain why sometimes the author assumes things about the readers (\"hail from more subjectivist territory\") that are likely not true.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Some statistical terminology not explained clearly (or accurately), although the author has made attempts to do both.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Very consistently laid out.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters are very short yet also point readers to outside texts for additional information. Easy to follow.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Generally logically organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Easy to navigate, images clear. The additional sources included need to linked to.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Minor grammatical and usage errors throughout the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Makes efforts to be inclusive.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"The idea of this book is strong--short guides like this are needed. However, this book would likely be strengthened by a revision to reduce inaccuracies and improve the definitions and technical explanations of statistical concepts. Since the book is specifically aimed at the social sciences, it would also improve the text to have more examples that are based in the social sciences (rather than the health sciences or the arts).","created_at":"2020-07-31T22:16:46.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-31T22:16:46.000-05:00"},{"id":4396,"first_name":"Pierre","last_name":"Lu","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As a quick guide to quantitative research in social sciences, the text covers most ideas and areas.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Mostly accurate content.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"As a quick guide, content is highly relevant.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Succinct and clear.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Internally, the text is consistent in terms of terminology used.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily and readily divisible into smaller sections that can be used as assignments.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I like that there are examples throughout the book.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Easy to read. No interface/ navigation problems.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors detected.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I am not aware of the culturally insensitive description. After all, this is a methodology book.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think the book has potential to be adopted as a foundation for quantitative research courses, or as a review in the first weeks in advanced quantitative course.","created_at":"2020-11-20T07:51:15.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-11-20T07:51:15.000-06:00"},{"id":4526,"first_name":"Yang","last_name":"Cheng","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"North Carolina State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"It covers the most important topics such as research progress, resources, measurement, and analysis of the data.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book accurately describes the types of research methods such as mixed-method, quasi-experiment, and case study. It talks about the research proposal and key differences between statistical analyses as well.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book pinpointed the significance of running a quantitative research method and its relevance to the field of social science.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book clearly tells us the differences between types of quantitative methods and the steps of running quantitative research for students.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent in terms of terminologies such as research methods or types of statistical analysis.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"It addresses the headlines and subheadlines very well and each subheading should be necessary for readers.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book was organized very well to illustrate the topic of quantitative methods in the field of social science.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The pictures within the book could be further developed to describe the key concepts vividly.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The textbook contains no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It is not culturally offensive in any way.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a simple and quick guide for this important topic. It should be valuable for undergraduate students who would like to learn more about research methods.","created_at":"2021-01-06T13:44:35.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-01-06T13:44:35.000-06:00"},{"id":4852,"first_name":"Hsiao-Chin","last_name":"Kuo","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Northeastern Illinois University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"As a quick guide, it covers basic concepts related to quantitative research. It starts with WHY quantitative research with regard to asking research questions and considering research paradigms, then provides an overview of research design and process, discusses methods, data collection and analysis, and ends with writing a research report. It also identifies its target readers/users as those begins to explore quantitative research. It would be helpful to include more examples for readers/users who are new to quantitative research.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Its content is mostly accurate and no bias given its nature as a quick guide. Yet, it is also quite simplified, such as its explanations of mixed methods, case study, quasi-experimental research, and action research. It provides resources for extended reading, yet more recent works will be helpful.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book is relevant given its nature as a quick guide. It would be helpful to provide more recent works in its resources for extended reading, such as the section for Survey Research (p. 12). It would also be helpful to include more information to introduce common tools and software for statistical analysis.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written with clear and understandable language. Important terms and concepts are presented with plain explanations and examples. Figures and tables are also presented to support its clarity. For example, Table 4 (p. 20) gives an easy-to-follow overview of different statistical tests.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework is very consistent with key points, further explanations, examples, and resources for extended reading. The sample studies are presented following the layout of the content, such as research questions, design and methods, and analysis. These examples help reinforce readers' understanding of these common research elements.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book is divided into seven chapters. Each chapter clearly discusses an aspect of quantitative research. It can be easily divided into modules for a class or for a theme in a research method class. Chapters are short and provides additional resources for extended reading.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the chapters are presented in a logical and clear structure. It is easy to follow to a degree. Though, it would be also helpful to include the chapter number and title in the header next to its page number.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is easy to navigate. Most of the figures and tables are displayed clearly. Yet, there are several sections with empty space that is a bit confusing in the beginning. Again, it can be helpful to include the chapter number/title next to its page number.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"No major grammatical errors were found.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"There are no cultural insensitivities noted.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Given the nature and purpose of this book, as a quick guide, it provides readers a quick reference for important concepts and terms related to quantitative research. Because this book is quite short (27 pages), it can be used as an overview/preview about quantitative research. Teacher's facilitation/input and extended readings will be needed for a deeper learning and discussion about aspects of quantitative research.","created_at":"2021-04-26T17:36:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-28T15:08:33.000-05:00"},{"id":4917,"first_name":"Heng","last_name":"Yu-Ku","position":"Professor","institution_name":"University of Northern Colorado","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers all areas and ideas appropriately and provides practical tables, charts, and examples throughout the text. I would suggest the author also provides a complete research proposal at the end of Section 3 (page 10) and a comprehensive research study as an Appendix after section 7 (page 26) to help readers comprehend information better.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"For the most part, the content is accurate and unbiased. However, the author only includes four types of research designs used on the social sciences that contain quantitative elements: 1. Mixed method, 2) Case study, 3) Quasi-experiment, and 3) Action research. I wonder why the correlational research is not included as another type of quantitative research design as it has been introduced and emphasized in section 6 by the author.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I believe the content is up-to-date and that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to read and provides adequate context for any technical terminology used. However, the author could provide more detailed information about estimating the minimum sample size but not just refer the readers to use the online sample calculators at a different website.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. The author provides the right amount of information with additional information or resources for the readers.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text includes seven sections. Therefore, it is easier for the instructor to allocate or divide the content into different weeks of instruction within the course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes, the topics in the text are presented in a logical and clear fashion. The author provides clear and precise terminologies, summarizes important content in Table or Figure forms, and offers examples in each section for readers to check their understanding.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface of the book is consistent and clear, and all the images and charts provided in the book are appropriate. However, I did encounter some navigation problems as a couple of links are not working or requires permission to access those (pages 10 and 27).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were found.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"No culturally incentive or offensive in its language and the examples provided were found.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"As the book title stated, this book provides “A Quick Guide to Quantitative Research in Social Science. It offers easy-to-read information and introduces the readers to the research process, such as research questions, research paradigms, research process, research designs, research methods, data collection, data analysis, and data discussion. However, some links are not working or need permissions to access them (pages 10 and 27).","created_at":"2021-05-13T11:17:51.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-13T11:17:51.000-05:00"},{"id":33515,"first_name":"J. Marlie","last_name":"Henry","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"University of Saint Francis","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Considering the length of this guide, this does a good job of addressing major areas that typically need to be addressed. There is a contents section. The guide does seem to be organized accordingly with appropriate alignment and logical flow of thought. There is no glossary but, for a guide of this length, a glossary does not seem like it would enhance the guide significantly.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is relatively accurate. Expanding the content a bit more or explaining that the methods and designs presented are not entirely inclusive would help. As there are different schools of thought regarding what should/should not be included in terms of these designs and methods, simply bringing attention to that and explaining a bit more would help.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"This content needs to be updated. Most of the sources cited are seven or more years old. Even more, it would be helpful to see more currently relevant examples. Some of the source authors such as Andy Field provide very interesting and dynamic instruction in general, but they have much more current information available.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language used is clear and appropriate. Unnecessary jargon is not used. The intent is clear- to communicate simply in a straightforward manner.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The guide seems to be internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. There do not seem to be issues in this area. Terminology is internally consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"For a guide of this length, the author structured this logically into sections. This guide could be adopted in whole or by section with limited modifications. Courses with fewer than seven modules could also logically group some of the sections.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This guide does present with logical organization. The topics presented are conceptually sequenced in a manner that helps learners build logically on prior conceptualization. This also provides a simple conceptual framework for instructors to guide learners through the process.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The visuals themselves are simple, but they are clear and understandable without distracting the learner. The purpose is clear- that of learning rather than visuals for the sake of visuals. Likewise, navigation is clear and without issues beyond a broken link (the last source noted in the references).","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"This guide seems to be free of grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"It would be interesting to see more cultural integration in a guide of this nature, but the guide is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. The language used seems to be consistent with APA's guidelines for unbiased language.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2021-12-09T15:44:52.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-09T15:44:52.000-06:00"},{"id":33662,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Capello","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text claims to provide \"quick and simple advice on quantitative aspects of research in social sciences,\" which it does. There is no index or glossary, although vocabulary words are bolded and defined throughout the text.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is mostly accurate. I would have preferred a few nuances to be hashed out a bit further to avoid potential reader confusion or misunderstanding of the concepts presented.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is current; however, some of the references cited in the text are outdated. Newer editions of those texts exist.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is very accessible and readable for a variety of audiences. Key terms are well-defined.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There are no content discrepancies within the text. The author even uses similarly shaped graphics for recurring purposes throughout the text (e.g., arrow call outs for further reading, rectangle call outs for examples).","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The content is chunked nicely by topics and sections. If it were used for a course, it would be easy to assign different sections of the text for homework, etc. without confusing the reader if the instructor chose to present the content in a different order.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The author follows the structure of the research process. The organization of the text is easy to follow and comprehend.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"All of the supplementary images (e.g., tables and figures) were beneficial to the reader and enhanced the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no significant grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I did not find any culturally offensive or insensitive references in the text.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This text does the difficult job of introducing the complicated concepts and processes of quantitative research in a quick and easy reference guide fairly well. I would not depend solely on this text to teach students about quantitative research, but it could be a good jumping off point for those who have no prior knowledge on this subject or those who need a gentle introduction before diving in to more advanced and complex readings of quantitative research methods.","created_at":"2022-01-18T14:25:09.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-01-18T14:25:09.000-06:00"},{"id":34301,"first_name":"Shari","last_name":"Fedorowicz","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Bridgewater State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is indeed a quick guide for utilizing quantitative research. Appropriate and effective examples and diagrams were used throughout the text. The author clearly differentiates between use of quantitative and qualitative research providing the reader with the ability to distinguish two terms that frequently get confused.  In addition, links and outside resources are provided to deepen the understanding as an option for the reader.  The use of these links, coupled with diagrams and examples make this text comprehensive.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is mostly accurate. Given that it is a quick guide, the author chose a good selection of which types of research designs to include. However, some are not provided. For example, correlational or cross-correlational research is omitted and is not discussed in Section 3, but is used as a statistical example in the last section.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Examples utilized were appropriate and associated with terms adding value to the learning. The tables that included differentiation between types of statistical tests along with a parametric/nonparametric table were useful and relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The purpose to the text and how to use this guide book is stated clearly and is established up front.  The author is also very clear regarding the skill level of the user.  Adding to the clarity are the tables with terms, definitions, and examples to help the reader unpack the concepts. The content related to the terms was succinct, direct, and clear.  Many times examples or figures were used to supplement the narrative.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent throughout from contents to references. Within each section of the text, the introductory paragraph under each section provides a clear understanding regarding what will be discussed in each section.  The layout is consistent for each section and easy to follow.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The contents are visible and address each section of the text.  A total of seven sections, including a reference section, is in the contents. Each section is outlined by what will be discussed in the contents.  In addition, within each section, a heading is provided to direct the reader to the subtopic under each section.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The text is well-organized and segues appropriately. I would have liked to have seen an introductory section giving a narrative overview of what is in each section. This would provide the reader with the ability to get a preliminary glimpse into each upcoming sections and topics that are covered.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book was easy to navigate and well-organized. Examples are presented in one color, links in another and last, figures and tables.  The visuals supplemented the reading and placed appropriately. This provides an opportunity for the reader to unpack the reading by use of visuals and examples.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No significant grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not offensive or culturally insensitive. Examples were inclusive of various races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This quick guide is a beneficial text to assist in unpacking the learning related to quantitative statistics. I would use this book to complement my instruction and lessons, or use this book as a main text with supplemental statistical problems and formulas.  References to statistical programs were appropriate and were useful.  The text did exactly what was stated up front in that it is a direct guide to quantitative statistics. It is well-written and to the point with content areas easy to locate by topic.","created_at":"2022-12-16T11:02:22.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-16T11:02:22.000-06:00"},{"id":34840,"first_name":"Finn","last_name":"Bell","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Michigan, Dearborn","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"For it being a quick guide and only 26 pages, it is very comprehensive, but it does not include an index or glossary.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As far as I can tell, the text is accurate, error-free and unbiased.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This text is up-to-date, and given the content, unlikely to become obsolete any time soon.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is very clear and accessible.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Given how short the text is, it seems unnecessary to divide it into smaller readings, nonetheless, it is clearly labelled such that an instructor could do so.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is well-organized and brings readers through basic quantitative methods in a logical, clear fashion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Easy to navigate. Only one table that is split between pages, but not in a way that is confusing.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no noticeable grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The examples in this book don't give enough information to rate this effectively.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This text is truly a very quick guide at only 26 double-spaced pages. Nonetheless, Davies packs a lot of information on the basics of quantitative research methods into this text, in an engaging way with many examples of the concepts presented. This guide is more of a brief how-to that takes readers as far as how to select statistical tests. While it would be impossible to fully learn quantitative research from such a short text, of course, this resource provides a great introduction, overview, and refresher for program evaluation courses.","created_at":"2024-01-03T10:47:45.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-01-03T10:47:45.000-06:00"},{"id":34927,"first_name":"Tiffany","last_name":"Kindratt","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text provides a brief overview of quantitative research topics that is geared towards research in the fields of education, sociology, business, and nursing. The author acknowledges that the textbook is not a comprehensive resource but offers references to other resources that can be used to deepen the knowledge. The text does not include a glossary or index. The references in the figures for each chapter are not included in the reference section. It would be helpful to include those.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the text is accurate. For example, Figure 1 on page 6 provides a clear overview of the research process. It includes general definitions of primary and secondary research. It would be helpful to include more details to explain some of the examples before they are presented. For instance, the example on page 5 was unclear how it pertains to the literature review section.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"In general, the text is relevant and up-to-date. The text includes many inferences of moving from qualitative to quantitative analysis. This was surprising to me as a quantitative researcher. The author mentions that moving from a qualitative to quantitative approach should only be done when needed. As a predominantly quantitative researcher, I would not advice those interested in transitioning to using a qualitative approach that qualitative research would enhance their research—not something that should only be done if you have to.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is written in a clear manner. It would be helpful to the reader if there was a description of the tables and figures in the text before they are presented.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The framework for each chapter and terminology used are consistent.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is clearly divided into sections within each chapter. Overall, the chapters are a similar brief length except for the chapter on data analysis, which is much more comprehensive than others.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics in the text are presented in a clear and logical order. The order of the text follows the conventional research methodology in social sciences.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not encounter any interface issues when reviewing this text. All links worked and there were no distortions of the images or charts that may confuse the reader.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"There are some grammatical/typographical errors throughout. Of note, for Section 5 in the table of contents. “The” should be capitalized to start the title. In the title for Table 3, the “t” in typical should be capitalized.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The examples are culturally relevant. The text is geared towards learners in the UK, but examples are relevant for use in other countries (i.e., United States). I did not see any examples that may be considered culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I teach a course on research methods in a Bachelor of Science in Public Health program. I would consider using some of the text, particularly in the analysis chapter to supplement the current textbook in the future.","created_at":"2024-03-09T22:52:07.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-03-09T22:52:07.000-06:00"},{"id":35010,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Taylor","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Texas A\u0026M University-Corpus Christi","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This resource is a quick guide to quantitative research in the social sciences and not a comprehensive resource.  It provides a VERY general overview of quantitative research but offers a good starting place for students new to research.  It offers links and references to additional resources that are more comprehensive in nature.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is relatively accurate.  The measurement scale section is very sparse. Not all types of research designs or statistical methods are included, but it is a guide, so details are meant to be limited.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The examples were interesting and appropriate.  The content is up to date and will be useful for several years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text was clearly written.  Tables and figures are not referenced in the text, which would have been nice.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework is consistent across chapters with terminology clearly highlighted and defined.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters are subdivided into section that can be divided and assigned as reading in a course. Most chapters are brief and concise, unless elaboration is necessary, such as with the data analysis chapter. Again, this is a guide and not a comprehensive text, so sections are shorter and don't always include every subtopic that may be considered.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The guide is well organized. I appreciate that the topics are presented in a logical and clear manner.  The topics are provided in an order consistent with traditional research methods.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface was easy to use and navigate.  The images were clear and easy to read.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The materials are not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I teach a Marketing Research course to undergraduates.  I would consider using some of the chapters or topics included, especially the overview of the research designs and the analysis of data section.","created_at":"2024-04-18T16:09:08.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-04-18T16:09:08.000-05:00"},{"id":35391,"first_name":"Dianna","last_name":"Jones","position":"APT Assistant Professor of Practice","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text states that it is a guide and provides an overview of quantitative research. The six sections and additional sources provided covered all of the necessary information to draft a quantitative research proposal.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Yes, the information was accurate, if brief. Consider more recent sources of knowledge and examples that expand on the key concepts and processes of development. For example, Section 2: Literature Review, students typically will conflate a literature review with an annotated bibliography, so additional information or graphic that depicts the differences and what is required for quantitative research.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Text has multiple sources that are 10 or more years old and updated in 2022. Consider more recent sources to reduce editions of updates.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Text provides accurate technical terms and information. Accessibility, grammar and other written text may be lost in translations.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent with other published knowledge, including the terminology and processes. For example, highlighting the typical research designs, including mixed methods (Creswell, 2017).","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is organized in Sections that can supplement a more comprehensive text. Perfect for beginners and students in research that may not understand the brief information contained in the text.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics are logical and guides the reader through the key steps from conceptualization of a research study to development of the research question and other considerations. Consider expanding introduction of the preceding procedures and developing the initial research questions. However, this text is a great supplement.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues with Interface of the materials.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Some grammatical errors were present, however, overall, the grammatical errors can be attributed to the known grammatical differences between American English and British English.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally sensitive and provides the basic information. Consider additional examples to represent additional quantitative study in social sciences.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"The book is a short guide and useful for anyone seeking to understand quantitative research to demonstrate the importance of quantitative research processes in analyzing social sciences from a quantitative lens. Great guide.","created_at":"2025-01-22T21:22:14.000-06:00","updated_at":"2025-01-22T21:22:14.000-06:00"},{"id":35669,"first_name":"Hakseon","last_name":"Lee","position":"Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers main topics in research methods in social science such as research question, research design, operationalization/collection of data (measurement, observation, surveys), data analysis, and discussion of results. It also includes practical examples and references for further reading. While it does not cover advanced statistical models such as multivariate analysis, it's understandable because it's written as a \"quick guide.\"","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the textbook explains the core concepts of research methodology, paradigms, data types, and the logic behind selecting statistical tests (e.g., Chi-squared for categorical association, correlation for scale relationships) accurately. It aligns with established principles of quantitative social science research.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The content is overall very relevant. The textbook focuses on foundational elements such as paradigms, research design, descriptive vs. inferential statistics that form the enduring principles of quantitative research. Its focus on test selection is a pragmatic and highly relevant approach for a contemporary researcher who relies on statistical software. It can still be more relevant if more recent publications are added to the references.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is very clearly written. It is targeting readers who have little knowledge on statistics. It uses plain English, providing contextual examples from social sciences. In addition, it provides good summary tables for complex topics such as paradigms and statistical test selection. Still, some long sentences can be broken down for easier reading.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The book is highly consistent in its structure. It maintains a consistent and practical voice throughout. The organization adheres to the natural progression of a research project: research question → research design → data collection/management→ data analysis → discussion. Terminology and concepts are built logically from one section to the next as well.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The book is divided into seven sections, allowing readers to jump to specific topics (e.g., Research Designs, Data Analysis) as needed. The author clearly states it is a resource book/guide that readers can \"come back to every time you start a new piece of quantitative research.\"","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization/structure is excellent following a logical, step-by-step flow mirroring the normal/usual quantitative research process in social science. Also, it provides visual aids such as tables and charts that should help read understand the materials.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is user-friendly for a quick reference guide. It has a clear table of contents, numbered sections, and well-designed tables to present key information concisely. Hyperlinks to external resources are included, which is good for digital use as an e-book. Specifically, Table 4 should be highly helpful for readers who look for a quick answer: choosing a relevant statistical test when they have specific/exemplary research questions.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The book is professionally written and free of significant grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Examples are drawn from diverse contexts (education, nursing, sociology, business) and no culturally insensitive language was found. I think an example of research concerning the lives of women in an African region (page 5) demonstrates an effort to include diverse global contexts. Still, for example, only GDPR in the EU (page 8) is mentioned and other regions' regulation/guideline on data protection can be added.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, the book is beginner-friendly, practical, well-structured, including examples and references. While it may provide only limited depth for advanced users, but it should serve as an excellent starting point for most quantitative projects.","created_at":"2025-11-11T10:10:45.000-06:00","updated_at":"2025-11-11T10:10:45.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/a-quick-guide-to-quantitative-research-in-the-social-sciences","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:06:53.000-05:00"},{"id":544,"title":"International Relations Theory","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781910814208","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":null,"description":"This book is designed as a foundational entry point to International Relations theory – structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in an accessible manner. The first half of the book covers the theories that are most commonly taught in undergraduate programmes. The book then expands to present emerging approaches and offer wider perspectives. Each chapter sets out the basics of a theory whilst also applying it to a real-world event or issue, creating a lively, readable and relevant guide that will help students to see not only what theories are – but why they matter.","contributors":[{"id":4464,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Stephen","middle_name":null,"last_name":"McGlinchey","location":null,"background_text":"Dr Stephen McGlinchey is the Editor-in-Chief of E-International Relations and Senior Lecturer of International Relations at the University of the West of England, Bristol. He is the author of International Relations (2017) and US Arms Policies Towards the Shah’s Iran (2014)."},{"id":4465,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Rosie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Walters","location":null,"background_text":""},{"id":4466,"contribution":"Editor","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Christian","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Scheinpflug","location":null,"background_text":""}],"subjects":[{"id":41,"name":"Geography","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"G128","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/geography"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":506,"url":"http://www.e-ir.info/publication/international-relations-theory/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:40.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-01-02T23:46:57.000-06:00","name":"E-International Relations"}],"formats":[{"id":855,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.e-ir.org/p/international-relations-theory","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":5476,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"https://www.e-ir.org/p/international-relations-theory","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":8,"reviews":[{"id":3073,"first_name":"Jaroslav","last_name":"Tir","position":"Professor","institution_name":"CU Boulder","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Yes, it is definitely comprehensive. Maybe a bit too comprehensive, with some of the theories being from really far afield. It will be up to the instructor to guide the students in understanding which theories are the mainstream ones, which are the key challengers, and which ones are more of curiosities rather than leaders in IR scholarship. Spelling this out in the intro would be helpful to the uninitiated readers, so that they are not lost in the sea of theories presented.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content is unbiased for the most part.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Yes, this is something that can definitely be built on, which could be done easily.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Yes, no issues here.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Pretty much. There are a lot of different chapter writers, so some inconsistency is to be expected. This will be more of an issue for IR beginners than experienced readers used to various IR terminologies.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is one of the strongest assets of this book. An instructor can definitely and easily pick and choose among the many theoretical options provided.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Yes. This is basically a list of various IR theories, with the mainstream ones being up front and the others following. Such organization makes good sense.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No such issues were noticed.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Maybe a few here and there, but nothing of major concern.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book does well on this score.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-07-01T12:58:58.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-01T12:58:58.000-05:00"},{"id":3368,"first_name":"Shyam","last_name":"Sriram","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor ","institution_name":"Butler University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides a mostly thorough understanding on the topic of IR theories with a diverse and highly-qualified set of authors from universities around the world. The myriad of intellectual styles contributes nicely to a book that feels more like an edited volume and less like a standard textbook (but this is a positive). Students will find thorough and salient discussions of the influence of various theories in the 21st century, and how the development of certain theories were motivated by previous schools of thought. ","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"I found most of the content to be accurate and free from error. I also did not see any broad ideological bias, but certain chapters did \"lean\" towards the left. I was surprised, however, to see a discussion of intersectionality in Sheila Nair's chapter on \"Postcolonialism\" without attribution to Kimberle Crenshaw, the scholar who coined the term. While Nair does cite bell hooks, the lack of a Crenshaw citation is troubling. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"In its current form, the book IS relevant and timely. Updates will most likely be required every two years, but can be supplemented by online readings (which are already available). Since the first half of the textbook focuses on \"established theories,\" the text cannot become obsolete.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text and its editors have done a marvelous job asking the chapter authors to unpack each theory in concise and cogent ways. From that perspective, this textbook is accessible by undergraduates as well as graduate students. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"While there are many authors with many different writing styles, I found the book overall to be consistent. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is probably the best feature of this textbook. I would suggest my colleagues offer just the introduction in certain courses; it provides an overview of key theories; makes suggestions about study skills; and references online resources to help those still struggling to understand. The modularity also works because the book can be broken up by chapter, but also paragraphs within each chapter, and can be assigned out of sequence. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"I am not fully convinced that splitting the book into \"established\" versus \"emerging\" approaches is the best way to organize this book. Doing so results in an awkward situation where students might be led to believe that the second half of the book is experimental while the first half is tried and true. While there are some political scientists and diplomats who might like to think so, undergrad students might be confused. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I found the book very easy to read and navigate. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are occasional punctuation and grammatical errors, but nothing that takes away from the project as a whole. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book does an excellent job of respecting cultural, ethnic, sexual, and racial differences, and I found it mostly inclusive. I did appreciate the detailed discussion in Benabdallah et al.'s chapter on the \"Global South\" on the omission of African theorists from IR, and why it is impossible to reduce a multi-generational and cultural legacy to one singular \"African theory.\"\r\n\r\nI would have appreciated a more diverse tone in Yeophantang's chapter on \"Asian Perspectives\" because it was too reductive; India, China, and Japan do not make Asia. Here again the author posits that a single unifying \"Asian theory\" of IR is absurd, but I believe the absurdity is focusing only on a few countries and presuming they speak for others. Doing so minimizes Asian political theoretical influence ... which is precisely what the author wanted to avoid. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I was surprised to see no discussion of white nationalism in the textbook. I can understand that the term has gained popularity since the election of President Trump, but white nationalism affects global politics. It has influenced rhetoric, violence, elections, campaigns, public opinion, and policy across the world. White nationalism and its connection to Islamophobia, \"replacement theory,\" and antisemitism must be mentioned in ANY work on international relations theory. ","created_at":"2019-12-12T01:22:18.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-12T01:22:18.000-06:00"},{"id":3383,"first_name":"Margaret","last_name":"Gonzalez-Perez","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Southeastern Louisiana University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the various theories of International Relations, ranging from traditional perspectives such as Realism and Liberalism to newer and emerging theories, including Green Theory, Queer Theory, and Securitization Theory. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The theoretical foundations presented are accurate and reflect the views of scholars in those fields, including women and people of color. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The theoretical content is very current and each chapter offers an empirical example or case study of the theory as applied to a contemporary event. For example, a brief discussion of the Islamic State and global conflict illustrates the nature of Realism and an overview of migration and refugees illuminates the chapter on Marxism. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is engaging and well-written, as well as accessible to an introductory class, and the book defines and explains terms specific to the field of International Relations.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book's structure is uniform and consistent. The Introduction provides brief definitions of each International Relations theory, followed by a chapter on each theory. The established or classic theories of IR are explained clearly and each chapter includes a case study. The newer, evolving theories are presented in a second section of chapters that follow this pattern. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Because the chapters are not overly dense or lengthy, they are suitable for assigned readings in an IR course. Each chapter is independent of the others and students need not have read the preceding chapters to understand later chapters, so an instructor could easily rearrange the order of the chapters as reading assignments. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The structure of the book is well-organized and consistent. Each chapter follows the same method of presenting a specific IR theory. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no interface or navigation problems with this book, as each theory is presented in a stand-alone chapter. The book does not contain any boxes, maps, charts, or images to distract from the material, and frankly, such extraneous matter would not be helpful. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a handful of typographical errors, but nothing that detracts from understanding the text. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The material is not presented in a culturally biased or insensitive manner and the references include significant authors in the field who are female and/or people of color. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-12-16T10:41:01.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-16T10:41:01.000-06:00"},{"id":3452,"first_name":"Erika","last_name":"Masaki","position":"Faculty Member","institution_name":"Lane Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is extremely comprehensive, if not overly so. Some of the theories covered are a bit far-fetched. Some of the examples used are limited or not included where they would be in other introductory texts on IR theory. For example, there is no mention of the Kantian Triangle and in the realism chapter, the author mentions Thucydides, but really does not provide any context for why his writings are argued to form the roots of realism. The book does not contain an index or glossary, but terms are relatively well defined within the text so that students could reasonably find definitions, although there are no boxes or bold letters as one might find in a traditional textbook. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the context is accurate. I believe some of the discrepancies can be attributed to differing perspectives in IR scholars. For example, chapter 6, entitled critical theories, indeed addresses critical theories, but makes some of the theories covered in other chapters appear to not be critical theories, such as Marxism and feminism because those theories are not covered explicitly within the critical theory chapter. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content and examples provided are extremely up to date. The format of the chapters, with the basic explanations at the beginning and the contextual example toward the end makes it easy and straightforward to update should the need arise. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is well written and accessible for nearly any level of reader. Any use of jargon/technical terminology is well defined, although not always as obvious in this text as it might be in other textbooks (e.g. with boxes, definitions in the margins, etc.).","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is extremely consistent in its presentation of the theories. Each chapter provides an explanation of the theories and historical context and follows with a clear and relevant example. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The book is very well formatted for modularity in a syllabus. That is, an instructor can easily pick and choose the relevant theories to assign for the course. This makes it incredibly desirable. Additionally, there is not an excessive amount of references to other theories within each chapter (which some may see as a weakness for comparison purposes), but that means that it is possible to learn about one theory (say feminism) without having to have read the chapters on realism and liberalism. Each of the chapters has very few subheadings, but I think this is appropriate. ","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Overall, the theories are presented in a clear fashion. The exception to this is the discussion of critical theories, which appears as chapter 6 and should probably be sooner, perhaps before the discussion of constructivism. Additionally, the division between \"Established Theories\" and the \"Expansion Pack\" seems a bit odd to me and is more of a reflection of the editors' own delineation of what is established vs. \"expansion\" in the discipline. One organizational issue is that all of the references are found at the end rather than at the end of each chapter, making it more difficult for students to pursue original source material. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No interface issues found during the review. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors found during the review. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book does a great job in including many theories that other texts often omit, highlighting opportunities in international relations to be more inclusive. The examples used are also well-rounded and not completely Western-centric. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-01-02T01:06:54.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-02T01:06:54.000-06:00"},{"id":4338,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Trevathan","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Oregon State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The editors here provide a comprehensive overview of the varied theoretical perspectives that can be found within the discipline of international relations. They begin with the established theories (e.g. realism and liberalism) that have dominated thought in the field historically, but then delve into numerous critical perspectives that are often not discussed in detail, or at all, in traditional IR textbooks (e.g. green theory, critical geography, indigenous perspectives). The editors also include a few chapters at the end of the text that serve its readers by contextualizing the competing theories presented, and some of the theoretical contests that persist within the discipline. The chapters are well cited, written, and detailed giving students new to the field a relatively easy entry point into the discipline's rich theoretical foundations while not overwhelming the reader overly burdensome jargon.\r\n\r\nWhile the coverage of the number of IR theories presented is rich, the depth and detail provided is somewhat sparse. I think the text best serves as a centerpiece in which additional \"outside\" readings are used to supplement the theoretical core that is presented here. The indexing here is admittedly limited for hard copy editions of this text (which the authors readily admit), but the authors do point the reader toward solutions utilizing the PDF versions of the text.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Each theory is given its own chapter and as an entry point this serves its readers well. The content presented is fairly clear, concise, and bereft of any controversy from an academic perspective. I would argue, however, that relative brevity of each contribution may not give its readers a complete view of each theory presented. Now in many cases, especially when one is trying to introduce these many theories, this text is fine and will certainly serve its purpose. There may be cases, however, where more depth and detail is desired or warranted. For instance, the chapter on realism misses out on the depth and richness of the realist project. There is no detailed discussion of offensive, defensive, or neoclassical realism, and consequently these areas would need to be supplemented by a professor that wants to delve more deeply into realism (and other theories). The depth I am writing of here, however, is not the aim of this text - it provides an introduction to theories - but I do think this is something one should consider when considering how best to incorporate this text into any course offering they may be planning.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"International Relations Theory gives us a good balance of both the foundations of each theory and its modern applications. Some theories can trace their origins backs millennia while others were \"born\" in living memory. The authors give its readers a balance of both the foundational works, but also its more recent additions, innovations, controversies, and paths forward. The nature of the material itself, as well as its recent publication, suggest that this text could be used  for quite some time without any need for major revisions or additional readings to keep the theories contained relevant for years to come.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Each chapter is written by a different author, but the overall style and tone of the chapters seamlessly meld together presenting a coherent whole. The selections provided here give novices an accessible entry into the discipline by avoiding unnecessary jargon and detail which often serves to detract, rather than enhance the reading and learning experience for undergraduates. Arguably, this text and its chapters are best used to supplement an introduction to IR course where professors seek to include more, or diverse, IR perspectives. To this end, this text serves its purpose. I would, however, argue that more detail and depth is needed if one were to use this text as the only (or main) reading for a text designed for an IR Theory course designed for political science/IR majors in an advanced course.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text consists of theories and perspectives that are often engaged in a conversation about how global politics works. This results in each chapter (theory) often having a different starting point, and in some cases directly contesting what was posited in previous chapters. While this could be confusing to someone entering the field, the text does a good job of keeping the reader focused on each theory being presented, and the editors synthesize these theories into a coherent view of the discipline.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text shines in this aspect of its organization. International Relations Theory possesses 20 distinct chapters, of which 18 of the chapters, cover distinct IR theories ranging the so-called traditional theories (realism) to middle ground theories (English School) to numerous examples of critical theory. Each chapter is easily digestible and gives the reader a relatively pain-free introduction to IR theories. Consequently, this text serves as an excellent spring board for any professor seeking to create their own IR theory course utilizing any of the chapters as they please, while extending and expanding the scope as the will.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The flow of the text is presented in what most in the field (I would think) is a logical progression. Building upon the foundational theories of the discipline the editors then proceed to unveil the theoretical progression of the discipline from its historical roots to the modern day.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"International Relations Theory is well written and easily accessible to any reader. The typeface and formatting are straightforward and do not present any major pitfalls for its readers. One thing missing, however, are opportunities to include pictures, diagrams, tables and similar items that could be used to more clearly depict the concepts, terms, assumptions, and relationships within and between the numerous theories presented here. While their absence does not detract from the text, their addition would certainly assist some initiates to the discipline.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is clean and well written.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This entry provides its readers with a wide array of views. This diversity of thought is not limited only to the number of theories, but also the types of theories included. For instance, several chapters directly and indirectly engage the prominence given to Western IR theories. Non-Western perspectives are given a fair amount of attention in this text, including entries on global, Asian, Global South, and Indigenous perspectives.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2020-08-24T16:01:28.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-08-24T16:01:28.000-05:00"},{"id":33553,"first_name":"Dimitri","last_name":"Tsarouhas","position":"Visiting Associate Professor","institution_name":"Virginia Tech","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all IR theories and some, it is the most comprehensive volume I have come across in this regard. It does not limit itself to theories but endorses \"perspectives \" as well (More on this below). On the other hand, the book does not include an index. This is only available in electronic format and students who own a hard copy need to download the index so as to get access to it. Instructions are given on the volume's last page.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This is a very good volume and a welcome addition to a literature on IR theory textbooks that has long been dominated by mainstream approaches to the detriment of alternative voices. The structure of the book is clear and crisp, allowing for the basics of each theory to shine through and thus offering students an easy-to-reach starting point should they wish to dwell further on any of these theories.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The book will not be made obsolete any time soon. It is very rich in content and includes all sorts of theoretical perspectives. The subject matter helps in that regard - International Relations theories have multiplied in recent decades but that is a slow-moving process. The book's shelf-life is therefore likely to be long.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This is probably the volume's biggest advantage. With very few exceptions that do not negate the overall impression, authors use a largely jargon-free language that makes their chapters accessible to students. This should allow at least some students to become more interested in IR theory and hopefully engage with it systematically going forward.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The volume is largely consistent. Given the diversity of authors contributing to it, the book does a very good job in using key concepts clearly and effectively.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I wonder if the attempt to be inclusive eventually backfires. The high number of Critical Theories, all of which get their own stand-along chapter, may prove too much for an undergraduate IR student. Further, the chapters on “perspectives” do not work well. Is there really an “Asian” perspective in IR? Should we go down the path of identifying a specific tradition pertaining to the discipline in each geographic region, with all the problems that such a simplification would entail? My answer is no, and that is despite the very welcome attempt by most authors in this volume to move IR theory scholarship beyond the western-centric lenses that have dominated the discipline for too long. In practical terms, the “perspectives” section serves, in my humble opinion, little purpose given that Amitav Acharya’s excellent 10th chapter addresses most of the issues contained in that section of the book.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The first part of the book provides a concise summary of all major theories and some. Yet with the exception of the chapters on Realism, Liberalism, the English School and partly Marxism, none of the other theories entails a short critique or counterargument to those theories’ assumptions. That is problematic as it weakens the stated purpose of the editors for students to avoid dogmatism and refrain from adopting any on IR theory as “their own”. It is refreshing and important to include non-mainstream theories in a textbook, and the second part of the book delivers on this promise.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"A  limitation of the book is the absence of any graph, figure or picture. The editors clarify this issue from the start and make an argument for their choice. Yet in today’s visual culture and given the association between text and picture that our cognitive perception is accustomed to, such an omission places an undue burden on students’ own effort to connect the dots. Why not entail graphs and bullet points to summarize key arguments? Visually complementing a written text traditionally works well for entry-level subjects. \r\n Although the editors' attempt to force students to take notes themselves is laudable, students would benefit from a concise summary at the end of each chapter. This is especially true for this book, given its comprehensive coverage of eighteen different IR theories. Entry-level students are likely to get confused, and it is unrealistic to expect all of them to read each chapter thoroughly, hence the need for key points at the end of each chapter.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No issues.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The mix of senior and junior scholars is refreshing, allowing for contemporary approaches to IR theory to blend with more traditional perspectives. The team of authors is mostly UK-based but has enough of representation from other parts of the world to claim that this is an international volume. On the other hand, and that is a limitation for a book that seeks to accommodate “mainstream” and non-mainstream theories and views, only two of the authors in this volume are based outside the West.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I enjoyed reading this volume. It is very comprehensive and reader-friendly. It comes with a lot of advantages for students and allows for a critical enquiry as to the content and assumptions that IR theories come with.","created_at":"2021-12-17T10:54:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-17T10:54:00.000-06:00"},{"id":33585,"first_name":"Mary M.","last_name":"McCarthy","position":"Professor of Politics and International Relations","institution_name":"Drake University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is comprehensive, covering both the major paradigms introduced in the traditional IR classroom and additional perspectives that may need to be integrated more into the classroom for students to have a fuller comprehension of the academic field and the practice of international relations. Individual instructors can choose which chapters to include in their course based on their own needs in the classroom and pedagogical goals. \r\n\r\nStill, the editors acknowledge that the theoretical perspectives included in this book are not exhaustive of IR theory. From my perspective, there are a couple of glaring omissions. One is the lack of a chapter on race. Although elements of race are integrated into some of the chapters (such as that on postcolonialism), there are now many texts available that talk about the importance of this paradigm for the study of IR, so it warrants its own stand-alone chapter. Another omission is psychological perspectives. These are both paradigms I use in the classroom and this book would be more useful for my purposes if it included such chapters.\r\n\r\nThe text divides theories among the three categories of traditional (realism and liberalism), middle (English school and constructivism) and critical (all the others). In the classroom I divide theories among the individual, domestic, and systemic (or structural) levels of analysis. Although either type of categorization you use (or any you choose to use) has its advantages and disadvantages, any instructor seeking to assign this book as a whole, rather than individual chapters, should be aware of this in order to consider whether it matches their approach.\r\n\r\nInstructors may also need to supplement the text with some background information about what a theory is, particularly in the social sciences. For example, the difference between deterministic and probabilistic theories, and empirical and normative theories. As well as the difference between a theory and a theoretical program or paradigm.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"One goal of this text is simplicity, to introduce IR theoretical programs in a way that is readily accessible to undergraduates. In practice this means that some of the complexities of the programs are not discussed. Individual instructors may find this useful but also limiting at times. After gaining an understanding of the common core assumptions in a “theory family,” more attention may need to be given to specific distinctions or contradictions across theories within paradigms.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Each chapter includes both a theoretical overview and a case study, either historical or contemporary but focused on the 20th or 21st century. New chapters to represent additional paradigms could be added to the expansion pack easily.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is appropriately written for undergraduate students, in either an introductory international relations course or an upper-level course focused on IR theory. The editors also include a useful section in the introductory chapter about how to study most effectively with focus and the ability to retain or return to important information later, as well as how to assess sources.\r\n\r\nThere is no glossary of terms. There is also no index, following the practice of the E-IR textbook series. But a student can search for a word using the pdf format of the book or an e-book app, as the note on the last page of the text describes.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"All chapters in the book follow a common framework and use of terminology.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It is very easy to use this text modularly. I have assigned individual chapters without needing to assign the introductory chapter or any other chapters. Although all chapters fit within a general framework so can be used together, each is also a stand-alone contribution.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"There is an introductory chapter that provides an overview of the book as a whole as well as a summary of the main theoretical schools included. There is then an ordering of chapters across the traditional, middle, and critical categories. But an instructor can easily reorder the chapters according to any flow that best suits their needs in the classroom.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is solely text, by purposeful design, to avoid what the editors perceive as the distractions of charts and pictures.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not discover any major grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I did not discover any culturally insensitive or offensive material. Still, none of the contributors are based in the countries mentioned as having major burgeoning IR programs outside the West: China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, this textbook is an important addition to those available in the IR field and can be used in whole or in part to supplement other course material in an introductory international relations course or upper-level IR theory course.","created_at":"2021-12-27T23:50:24.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-27T23:50:24.000-06:00"},{"id":35492,"first_name":"Nick","last_name":"Dorzweiler","position":"Senior Professor of the Practice","institution_name":"Wheaton College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"International Relations Theory would be an excellent volume to assign in an introductory class in international politics, or IR theory more specifically.  The book contains 20 chapters overall, each devoted to a specific theory or conceptual framework in studies of global politics.  Most of the chapters are devoted to critical theoretical approaches, broadly construed.  Although I have some questions about the framing and organization of these chapters (more on this below), I found the inclusion of a wide range of “non-mainstream” approaches helpful and refreshing.  And it is worth noting that the book begins with several good chapters devoted to the “Big Three” – realism, liberalism, and constructivism – so students can get a solid introduction to mainstream IR theories if they read the book sequentially.  \n\nGiven that each chapter is short – purposefully so – if I were to use this book in one of my classes I would probably pair a section (e.g. the chapter on “Realism” alongside a longer and denser reading (e.g. Waltz’s “The Origin of War in Neorealist Theory”).  My sense is that giving students a short, clear, and accessible reading on realism would allow them to engage with primary texts much more effectively.  In this way, International Relations Theory is an excellent volume to have on hand for any undergraduate instructor.\n\nI should also note that I found the introduction to the book extremely helpful for the way in which does not just introduce students to the content of International Relations, but also to ways of thinking and reading as a student in the field.  Like the editors, I too find the myriad charts, tables, and boxes in most textbooks ancillary, at best, and distracting, at worst, so kudos to them for explicitly eschewing them.  Furthermore, the suggestions for students to do things like take brief breaks while reading, jot down notes as they are reading, and favor reading printed rather than digital texts are immensely helpful.  I wish more introductory textbooks offered foundational skill-building tips like this.\n\nThe book contains no index or glossary, although given that each chapter is organized by a single “keyword,” I did not find the lack of these items problematic.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Given the short length of the chapters and the fact that each chapter is meant to give only a brief, accessible introduction to a theory or conceptual framework, the book is accurate and error-free.  Moreover, since the books includes so many approaches, students are given a relatively wide-ranging and pluralistic overview of the discipline of International Relations.  \n\nLike all introductory textbooks, however, the emphasis on breadth does mean that nuance is sometimes sacrificed.  The chapter of liberalism, for instance, regards democratic peace theory rather than complex interdependence as the most important contribution to this theoretical approach, while the chapter on poststructuralism tends to describe power as functioning in “top-down” ways that do not mesh well with arguments of key poststructural thinkers such as Foucault or Deleuze and therefore does not clearly distinguish the approach from other critical theoretical frameworks like Marxism.  However, such questions of interpretation are focused on a level of detail that is beyond the intended scope of this book and are precisely the kinds of things that could make for fruitful discussion with students in class.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"International Relations Theory is designed to be and succeeds in being a highly relevant text.  This is due to both its content and organization.  In terms of content, the book covers a wide range of theoretical approaches and conceptual frameworks, the majority of which are of more recent ilk than traditional approaches such as realism, liberalism, constructivism, and the English School.  In my own experience, students value studying the traditional IR approaches but are eager to be introduced to newer and more critical theories.  On this score, International Relations Theory is greatly appealing.  \n\nIn terms of organization, each chapter is divided into two parts.  The first surveys the conceptual and historical foundations of the theory in question, while the second provides a contemporary example or case study to which the theory could be fruitfully applied.  A great strength of this volume, then, is that it allows students to see how each theory – even the ones that may seem to them to be the most “abstract” or “conceptual” – can in fact inform or transform how we see and understand the world.  Although I expect that each case study in the book will be relevant for some time, it may be that the editors of the book will want (or need to) update these sections in the coming years or in future editions.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"International Relations Theory is an eminently accessible book.  Each chapter has clearly been written with the introductory undergraduate student in mind, providing clear definitions of abstract concepts and showing how specific theories can be applied to practical, pressing problems in international politics.  Moreover, each chapter is titled by the name of the theory discussed, which means that students are provided a very clear, well-organized roadmap of the book.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Broadly speaking, the text is internally consistent in terms of its conceptual framework.  The volume is organized in two parts, the first of which addresses “Established Theories” ranging from realism to postcolonialism, while the second comprises an “Expansion Pack” that engages approaches such as green theory, queer theory, and indigenous perspectives which are often underdiscussed if not outright ignored in most IR textbooks. \n\nI do, however, wish the book was clearer in terms of the conceptual affinities, relations, and/or differences among the various theories considered.  Thus, while Part One includes chapters on Marxism, poststructuralism, and critical theory, the close connections between these approaches and those of, say, critical geography or Global South perspectives (addressed in Part Two) are never discussed or defined.  This is not to say that important differences among these various theoretical approaches do not exist.  For conceptual clarity, however, it would be helpful if the book defined their perceived relations and differences.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modularity is a great strength of this book.  Given that each chapter is devoted to a specific theory or conceptual approach, it would be very easy to assign a chapter for a particular session.  Moreover, each chapter is relatively self-contained, in the sense that I could assign a chapter out of order from how it appears in the book and not worry that students would have missed necessary information to understand that chapter.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The overall organization of the book is clear and logical, in that the book is divided into two parts that broadly map onto “traditional” and “progressive” approaches within the discipline, and in that each chapter is devoted to a single theory or concept.  As noted above, I believe the organization could benefit from clarifying the conceptual relations among and/or distinctions between some of the critical theoretical approaches discussed.  It would also be helpful if a reference list was included at the end of each chapter, rather than a single reference list at the end of the book.  However, these issues do not overshadow the usefulness of this volume as a teaching tool.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not identify any serious issues of interface.  Although I find that line breaks between paragraphs clunky, this is a personal stylistic preference and did not hamper my ability to read the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I only identified one typographical error (a misplaced hyphen on p.126).  Otherwise, the text was free from grammatical issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Owing to the wide range of theories and conceptual approaches included in this book, International Relations Theory offers a perspective on global politics that is far more diverse and inclusive than most introductory textbooks.  This is a strength of the book.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2025-05-27T11:53:41.000-05:00","updated_at":"2025-05-27T11:53:41.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/international-relations-theory","updated_at":"2026-08-03T09:05:30.000-05:00"},{"id":448,"title":"International Relations","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2016,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781910814185","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This book is designed to be a ‘Day 0' introduction to International Relations. As a beginner's guide, it has been structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in the most accessible way. The chapters offer a broad sweep of the basic components of International Relations and the key contemporary issues that concern the discipline. The narrative arc forms a complete circle, taking readers from no knowledge to competency. The journey starts by examining how the international system was formed and ends by reflecting that International Relations is always adapting to events and is therefore a never-ending journey of discovery. Unlike typical textbooks, there are no boxes, charts, pictures or exercises. The philosophy underpinning this book is that these things can be a distraction. This book, like others in the E-IR Foundations series, is designed to capture attention with an engaging narrative. The chapters are short, with simple paragraphs and clear sentences placing the reader inside crucial issues and debates so they can understand how things work, and where they fit in the world around them.","contributors":[{"id":4155,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Stephen","middle_name":null,"last_name":"McGlinchey","location":"University of the West of England","background_text":"Stephen McGlinchey is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of the West of England, Bristol and Editor-in-Chief of E-International Relations. His main research interests are in US-Iran relations during the Cold War."}],"subjects":[{"id":41,"name":"Geography","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"G128","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/geography"},{"id":51,"name":"Religion","parent_subject_id":6,"call_number":"BL1","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/religion"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science"},{"id":9,"name":"Social Sciences","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"H1","visible_textbooks_count":285,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/social-sciences"}],"publishers":[{"id":361,"url":"http://www.e-ir.info/2016/12/07/e-ir-foundations-textbook-international-relations/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-01-02T22:39:33.000-06:00","name":"E-International Relations"}],"formats":[{"id":621,"type":"PDF","url":"https://www.e-ir.info/publication/beginners-textbook-international-relations/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":20,"reviews":[{"id":1338,"first_name":"Emily","last_name":"Channell-Justice","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Miami University of Ohio","comprehensiveness_rating":2,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is presented as a beginner's guide to International Relations and in this way is comprehensive in its presentation of basic issues relevant to the subject. But the book refuses to use \"buzzwords\" like \"globalization\" because the authors do not want to get \"bogged down in big debates\" around complex terms. This seems like an inappropriate stance, as many beginners may be studying IR precisely to better understand such words. The book does not have an index. It has a bibliography, but throughout the text, is uses very few references, even when it seems obvious that the reader would like to know more.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"The book appears accurate, but with so few citations, it's quite hard to know the perspectives of the authors of each chapter. It is not unbiased; the book is extremely Eurocentric. Countries in the global south are presented as object of diplomacy, or as the sites of problems like famine, rather than presented as active participants in globalization (I guess if they'd be willing the use the term globalization, they could have avoided this problem).","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book seems up to date, including citations from 2015. Because the text is so theory heavy and includes almost no examples, this might prevent it from seeming out of date quickly. At the same time, the second half (\"global issues\") that focuses on contemporary problems, would have to be updated quite regularly (i.e. examples like the environment, global food crisis). But the book should do this, because students need to be presented with examples of how IR works and how we can respond to these global issues.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The book is written clearly, if dispassionately. There is little jargon, as was the author's intention, but this makes the writing seem even too simplistic for college students. Why should we not be asking them to understand challenging terms? The book's introduction also gives recommendations for how to read, which, if idealistic, could be useful to college freshmen who are not used to reading long texts. Additionally, the authors state clearly that the chapters should not be \"cherry picked\" and must be read one after another--I did not find this to be the case and had no issues jumping around.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is very consistent. Each chapter looks quite the same, although several of the \"global issues\" chapters are quite short. Again, the book is meant to be read completely linearly, so this consistency was a priority for the authors.","modularity_rating":1,"modularity_review":"The book presents itself as NOT predisposed to modularity. As a reader in the field, it seemed to me that this was a little strict and that a good professor could easily reorganize the book in order to, for example, assign an \"issues\" chapter along with a \"basics\" chapter in order to illustrate some points. But the authors do not encourage any sort of creativity so such a task would require significant extra work on the instructor's part.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The book is clearly organized based on the priorities of the authors: this means that it is theory heavy up front, features one completely inadequate chapter about \"culture,\" and then presents a series of \"issues\" to bring IR into the real world. The book fits clearly into the authors' pedagogy.","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"There are no images or any other illustrations. This is another part of the authors' pedagogy in which they find such things distracting. There are no interface errors, but the book is entirely page after page of similar-looking text. This is ridiculously boring and very far out of touch from how students actually learn.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not note any errors.","cultural_rating":1,"cultural_review":"The book is very Eurocentric and is focused on the diplomatic world through the eyes of Europe and North America. This is an archaic way of teaching and learning about the world. There is one chapter about \"culture and religion\" (which, first of all, each deserve there own attention) which tells us nothing about how cultural diversity impacts international relations. The \"global issues\" section is extremely weak. For instance, the chapter on the environment focuses almost exclusively on international agreements, but not on differential expectations for countries, debates around these policies, and the real-life impacts of climate change and environmental policy. This book is not culturally sensitive because there are no people in it. It's as if the authors see IR as outside of the realm of human relevance.","overall_rating":5,"overall_review":"Since there are no images or suggestions for discussion or further reading, a faculty member using this book would have to do a huge amount of work to make the text engaging for students. The instructor would have to find creative ways to do any practical exercises, and this seems like way too much work when much better texts exist. This book is not worth using just because it is open access. Why on earth would you want to teach IR without thinking about any examples and without getting students thinking about what policies have what impact on the people living around the world?","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1392,"first_name":"Alexis","last_name":"Henshaw","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Miami University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book at least touches on all of the subjects that I routinely cover in my introductory course on international relations, but the coverage of the subjects vary greatly. I thought the chapters on the environment and food security were particularly well-developed, but other chapters like the one on connectivity, communications, and technology would have been made stronger through more details or applied examples. The historical context given to today's political world is also a bit shaky. Some historical developments are more thoroughly explained than others, and students using this book might find it confusing that some background material is spread across chapters. Also noteworthy, the book contains no finding aids (index, glossary) which would make it cumbersome to students trying to use this in an introductory course.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found the book to be accurate on the topics it covers.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"It was not clear to me whether or how the publishers plan to update this text. This is particularly key for an international relations textbook with such a heavy emphasis on current world affairs. Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that the book is less than a year old, some sections are already debatably in need of updating (particularly Ch. 17, as it relates to U.S. foreign policy). While the basic information conveyed in each chapter will remain relevant, I would want to know the editor's intentions for updating the text before implementing it in a course.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is written in a very accessible way, and the various authors do a good job of explaining terms fully in the text.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters are consistent in length and style.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapter structure is well-defined and appropriate for an introductory course. Potential users may want to be aware that the text is designed to flow in a certain order, so in most cases rearranging chapters out-of-order would not be advised.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is mostly well structured. I did have some issue with some concepts or historical developments being explained out-of-order or across multiple chapters, for example the history and development of the UN--which is spread across chapters 4, 5, and 6--and the Cold War, which is discussed piecemeal in multiple chapters.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"My biggest issue with the interface is that there is none. The book contains no links, pictures, charts, graphs, or visuals at all--even where the addition of these materials could help students using the text. I appreciate the editor's note indicating that these items were sacrificed in order to produce a free text, but I feel there were some extremely low- or no-cost ways of enhancing the text that would have been beneficial. Even having authors use bold font for key terms would facilitate student learning. Authors might also have been encouraged to recommend further reading or links to online resources related to each chapter. Combined with the lack of finding aids, I think the lack of interface would frustrate some students.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any obvious grammatical errors in the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is largely inclusive, and the individual authors are representative of the global nature of the discipline.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, my impression of this book was that it could not be a standalone text for an introductory, college-level IR course. The professor using this text would almost certainly need to supplement it with additional readings, and would probably also need to put a good deal of thought into designing exercises, lectures, tests, and study guides based on this material. Most importantly, I personally would not want to adopt this textbook without understanding the plan for updating it, as some of this information will likely seem outdated or obsolete in the next 5-10 years.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1639,"first_name":"Doga","last_name":"Eralp","position":"Professorial Lecturer","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This edited volume provides a comprehensive yet not so well integrated coverage of the issues and theories that define the international relations field today. Although the book lacks an index, as the editor noted as being too costly to compile.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Book provides often times an objective view of global politics, but on issues there have been instances where some authors refer to their personal experiences as a way to open up debates and introduce paradoxes which in some ways impact the overall bias on the issues introduced. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The edited volume captures the relevant debates in IR and provides an overall view of open topics in a manner to insuniate longer term discussion. updates for that matter would be rather easy in the coming editions.  ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"terminology is very clear and almost too simplistic.\nit would have helped if the editor pushed the contributing authors to adapt a more nuanced language for their chapters. ","consistency_rating":2,"consistency_review":"the edited volume definitely deserves a more consistent narrative across chapters. As is chapters do not necessarily follow each other. The language is inconsistent and calls for a major revision to keep the use of terminology and frameworks the same across all the chapters. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"each chapter of the book could be assigned separately as part of the weekly readings of an intro to IR theory course. in that respect it accomplishes a decent job; however, in terms of complementarity of chapters with one and another, it clearly fails. ","organization_rating":2,"organization_review":"organization of the edited volume seems to be all over the place.\nthere is a number of redundant discussions along with a lack of integration of different topics. it does not flow very well. ","interface_rating":1,"interface_review":"the edited volume obviously needs more charts, figures along with images. \nif the idea is to attract the attention of younger college age readers, it fails to achieve that. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"no problems with the grammar. ","cultural_rating":1,"cultural_review":"Yet another compilation of IR chapters from a very western oriented set of authors. There have not been a lot if any mention of contributions of non-western thinkers and scholars to the field of IR. As is such works contribute to the domination of western thinking in international politics. ","overall_rating":6,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1667,"first_name":"David","last_name":"Mislan","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"International Relations is an edited volume that attempts to cover all of the common themes in an introduction to IR course. On this, it does relatively well. It follows the basic format that most intro texts cover-- it starts with big themes and theories, and then proceeds to contemporary issues. The text lacks a glossary, boldfaced terms, and an index. These three omissions lessen the usability of the text. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The accuracy varies from chapter to chapter. One thing I'd like to see is more attention to key concepts in the first few chapters. The book lacks clearly written definitions of terms (e.g. state). Readers can infer definitions from context, however. This is good for a smarter, more experienced reader, but it's a problem for most novice readers. One thing I liked about a few of the chapters was the attempt to incorporate new and non-traditional theories of IR, e.g. critical theory. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"A few of the chapters reference current events or contemporary individuals, and thus will appear dated soon. Other elements are deeply historical and unlikely to need updating anytime soon. Some teaching cases embedded in the chapters were sufficiently historical, so they are won't need updating anytime soon. ","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Again, the quality of the prose varies from chapter to chapter. There are some stylistic differences (e.g. first person in some, third in others) and more than half of the chapter read like they're transcripts of lectures. In this sense, I don't think that the book is written in a way that's appropriate for a first-year student being introduced to a topic. I understand that IR is interdisciplinary and rooted in the arts and humanities, but I also think that IR can be presented in a straight-forward and clinical way that makes reading and writing on the topic simple and accessible. Starting with boldfaced terms and a glossary would be good. Adding discussion questions at the end of each chapter, as well as a summary of key themes, would greatly help the reader. I suppose that faculty members adopting this book can create their own glossaries and materials. Let's face it, though-- who has time for that? ","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Some of the chapters reference concepts and theories in prior chapters. Not all do, however. I think the book would be better if there was a more concerted effort to integrate. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This text can be divided up according to one's own schedule. ","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"The organization of this text is nearly identical to all standard IR texts. It begins with some history, quickly moves to theory, and then surveys issues. My chief complaint-- and this is true of most IR texts-- is that the latter third (issues) rarely refers back to concepts and theories. It sends the message to the reader that \"here are these theories, let me show you how irrelevant they are with the rest of this book.) At best, this organization is a missed opportunity. At worst, it works against the basic goal of the course-- to show that the scholarly study of IR is useful. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There were no major issues. One minor observation is that the left justification seemed to be in different spots from one page to the next. I'm not sure if this is normal for an e-book. It didn't bother me. ","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"The grammar is fine. There are some basic style issues for some of the authors, though. Some authors rely on run-on sentences and page-long paragraphs. Both of these stylistic errors make it more difficult for students to read and comprehend the text. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"I didn't see anything offensive, but I think there could've been more attention paid to non-Western examples. The last chapter was a bit weird, especially the bit about England's legacy for world affairs today.","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"I think that this book is a good alternative if you're looking to assign a free book. There are definitely better books out there, though. Students learn best when their texts have clear, simple, and accessible organization and prose. This book is, for all intents and purposes, a series of smart introductory lectures. I might not be the smartest guy, but I think that I already deliver smart introductory lectures. So, when I'm looking for a book, I'm looking for a reference guide/companion to my lectures. This book is not that. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1744,"first_name":"Azamat","last_name":"Sakiev","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Pennsylvania State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook is comprehensive in range of concepts it covers. Some topics, however, are dispersed throughout various chapters and could benefit from being looked at in a single section/chapter. The textbook does not provide and index or glossary, but since it is available electronically looking up terms and words of interest is of no difficulty. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content appears accurate. No major inaccuracies were detected as of this review.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The textbook is up-to-date. The events, concepts and examples used in it are durable enough that it will not need to be regularly updated. Certainly not on an annual basis. The emphasis on concepts rather than smaller current event make it last for several years before needing re-edition.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The textbook reads easily. It flows from chapter to chapter and theme to theme rather seamlessly. It would not be a difficult read for an undergraduate level course.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The textbook has a decent consistency.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"As it stands the textbook would require some effort to divide into readable chunks for assignments. I would organize is differently in terms of the chapters. However, when combining various chapters from parts 1 and 2, the reading assignments are coherent. For example, the chapters 8 and 10 cover topics that are usually taught in sequence. Thus, most likely they should be assigned as a combined reading block.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Organization is the one area where I would recommend re-work. As it stands the textbook is rather fragmented. Many chapters could be combined for a more streamlined presentation. Bringing down the number of chapters would also help in fitting the text into a standard 15 week semester long classes (at least in North America). ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The textbook could benefit from some graphic representations. Since the undergraduate audience is the primary target, pictures, graphics and other visual representations would significantly increase the textbooks appeal. It would also enhance its teaching ability.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No major comments. As of this reviewing no major grammatical issues detected.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The textbook presents a very euro (western) centric view of the international relations. This is more telling of the state of the IR curriculum, rather than the critique of the text per se. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This is a decent textbook. It accomplishes most IR requirements in an open format. As such it is a valuable resources in instances when textbook costs are a prohibitive barrier. ","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1928,"first_name":"Peter","last_name":"Funke","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"University of South Florida","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"While comprehensiveness is not achievable, this edited volume covers main areas of the field. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"This is of course always depends on one's perspective but from what I could tell, it seems accurate. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Seems mostly fine although some chapters reference current events, which will be outdated at some point.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Clearly written.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"There is some referring back to other chapters and topics but there could be more given that it is a textbook.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Yes, it is.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Dozen of ways to do it but it follows a somewhat standard approach. From broader and theoretical debates to issue areas.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No issues that I could detect.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Fine.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"It has a somewhat Eurocentric bend as there is little on colonialism or non-western examples or approaches.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"No index but you can search as it is available electronically. A glossary might be helpful.","created_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-03-27T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2031,"first_name":"Boris","last_name":"Barkanov","position":"Teaching assistant professor","institution_name":"West Virginia University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covers an impressive range of topics.  However, there is not much on IR theory.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I did not see any factual errors. There is some non-standard use of concepts.  For example, the chapter on diplomacy calls the reaction of common alarm in response to the development of nuclear weapons in a previously non-nuclear state a norm (p.25). The more common but contested interpretation is that this is interest in security. This is an important and fruitful area of debate but the chapter does not go into it and there is not enough theory in the book for students to recognize and make sense of it.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"It is mostly up to date and relevant. More focused and comprehensive discussion of 20th century cases, especially WWI, WWII, and the Cold War, would be useful, at least for American students. Also, I would expect more on the war/crisis in Ukraine (there is no mention of Maidan at all) and contemporary relations with Russia, which are addressed cursorily and from a very obviously Euro-Atlantic security community perspective.\n\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I think it is very student friendly.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found it consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is a strong point. Because of the topical focus, instructors can easily integrate the various chapters into their course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization/structure/flow are fine.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"It would be nice if clicking on a chapter title or page number in the table of contents took you to the chapter.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Fine.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book tries admirably to include many perspectives and address issues of global relevance. I agree that it reflects views more common among European scholars than in the USA.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I will certainly include some of these chapters as supplements to my intro to IR course.  However, there is not enough theory to be my main text.","created_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-05-21T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2213,"first_name":"Elissa","last_name":"Alzate","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Winona State University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The first section of the book, \"The Basics,\" did not cover the basics in as much detail as I would have liked to see. The first 4 chapters are really foundational for the rest of IR and the rest of the topics in the book, but the information is very cursory. For example, the IR theories are not covered in as much depth as they should be, and the author of that chapter seems to be somewhat dismissive of them. Also, there is no glossary. Each chapter should really end with its own list of sources cited, rather than having one long references section at the end of the book. I would also like to have seen each chapter end with a brief Further Reading list for students interested in the topic of the chapter, particularly since the main chapters in the first section are quite short.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not see any problems with errors or bias.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"IR is a discipline that is always changing. Perhaps old information does not become obsolete, but new developments are always happening. The authors of this book did well writing about the topics in a way that it will not become obsolete within a short period of time.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Obviously, with any edited volume, the tone of the book will change from chapter to chapter based on each author's writing style. I found some of the chapters to be written in an incredibly simple way, beneficial for introductory students. Other chapters were not as accessible.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Again, it is difficult with an edited volume to make sure everyone is on the same page in terms of terminology, but the editor did a great job of ensuring that the terms and ideas were used consistently across the chapters. This was particularly true since a key theme of the book is that the ideas of IR being international and focused on states is somewhat outdated, shifting to adopt terms such as global, globalisation, and non-state actors.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter was well laid out with subheadings.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"Some of the topics are presented in an odd order and appeared repetitive across chapters. For example, chapter 2 was really the first substantive chapter in the work, and it was on diplomacy. It would have been nice to get some more introductory concepts from some of the later chapters such as levels of analysis and actors before addressing one particular foreign policy tool. Additionally, the the subject of diplomacy itself was not explained very well or in much depth before the chapter went into quite a bit of detail covering nuclear proliferation, which seems to me to be something that should be discussed after basic concepts are covered.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface was fine. There were no interface issues or distractions. Very simple text and outline.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I saw no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I saw no problems with cultural insensitivity or exclusion of any group. To the contrary, most chapters went out of their way to acknowledge that the traditional conceptions governing IR arose out of the Western tradition.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I wish the first four chapters of the basics section were covered much better. It seems that the editor chose breath over depth. In many ways, this is appropriate for an introductory class, but not when the basic themes and concepts are covered in less detail than the issues. The chapters in Part 2, \"Global Issues,\" were covered in much greater detail. I don't find many of the chapters to be particularly useful for my purposes, but some other instructors might. I did particularly like Chapter 12, \"Connectivity, Communications, and Technology,\" because it discusses things like the internet and internet commerce that relate directly to students' lives. Some of the other chapters did not seem as relevant and might have been better left to a textbook for a higher level IR course.","created_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-06-19T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":3100,"first_name":"Xiaowen","last_name":"Zhang","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Augustana College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"A wide range of topics are covered. However, there is no index or glossary. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I didn't find any factual errors.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Several chapters reference current events heavily, which will need updates soon. However, updates should be relatively easy.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is very accessible to beginners, although a glossary would really help.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The frameworks used by the contributors clearly vary a lot. It would be great if at least the issue chapters in the second part are written under the same framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Helpful subheadings throughout. Easy to be divided into smaller reading sections that can be moved around as the instructor sees fit.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Contributors in Part One tried to present the logic behind the flow from one chapter to another, but it is still odd to put a chapter on Diplomacy right after chapter 1 and before the chapter introducing the main actors of IR. ","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"There were no major interface issues other than there are no images/charts. It would help if each chapter is followed with its own references, rather than putting all the references at the end of the book. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Fine.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Many perspectives are included when issues are being examined. However, it could have included more non-Western perspectives/examples.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I can see myself including some chapters as supplemental reading material to my intro to IR course. However, using it as the primary text for college students in the United States would require a lot of extra work (developing a glossary,discussion questions, finding the images,charts, figures going along with the text, etc.). ","created_at":"2019-07-17T15:06:14.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-17T15:06:14.000-05:00"},{"id":3180,"first_name":"Stephen","last_name":"Bagwell","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor","institution_name":"DePauw University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Overall, very comprehensive for an introductory textbook. In my introductory course, I tend to delve a bit deeper into a number of issues, but this textbook overall provides a good framework to build those discussions off of. Still, I'd have liked to see at least a short discussion on the changing nature of global finance in the global political economy chapter- there is a discussion of trade and multinationals which easily transitions into course discussion of GATT/WTO, and FDI, but no mention of sovereign credit or debt, which is by far the most commonly access form of global capital.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found no errors related to accuracy in the book. It was very well researched and proofed.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"While some of the specific data will need to be updated (references to the debt/deficit as it stands now, etc), overall the theoretical discussion and the overall structure of the book should enable extended longevity. The updates should be fairly straightforward to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Textbooks are never the most gripping reading, but even with advanced knowledge of the material in the book I found it fairly compelling, particularly because of the focus in the second half of the book on global issues. The second half takes the book from \"good\" to \"fantastic\"","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is well put together and I found no issues in regards to consistency in terminology or framework.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Overall, each chapter is well written, and each chapter and section has a number of natural breaks. However, the book is written, as it says in the intro, not to be broken up or only have selections assigned. Students should use the book to progress through, which limits the ability of the instructor to structure the course prioritizing different information.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Same as above comment in \"modularity\". Overall, well done, but not much freedom to use a chapter here or there or rearrange chapters to fit the desired flow of the course.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There were no navigation problems (the table of contents was accurate). There were no images or charts or other display features, however.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book was written by a large number of individuals with different backgrounds and identities, and it shows: I found no examples that were culturally insensitive or offensive, and found the inclusiveness of the viewpoints brought by the variety of authors to be refreshing.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I look forward to adopting this book in the Spring- while there are some issues with the ability to design a course around it (ie the text itself isn't flexible to starting from a different point than the text does), I believe it is worth the effort. We'll see exactly how much effort is required when I begin developing the syllabus for next semester.  While the preface indicates that there are \"no boxes, charts, pictures, or exercises\" because \"these things can be a distraction\", I find that in particular to be counterproductive. The overall narrative is engaging, but including visualizations only helps to keep that engagement, particularly with undergraduates. Additionally, visualizations offer an opportunity to discuss how data is used, often erroneously, by the media or government. Being able to point to good visualizations (charts, in particular) in the textbook would be much more of a strength than a distraction.\r\n\r\nIn all, I like this book, but it could have been made better with a few tweaks. For my purposes, the book is probably about 4.75/5 stars- as good or better than many existing textbooks, and close enough to the best textbooks to justify the switch given my desire to adopt open access educational resources.","created_at":"2019-10-10T11:55:22.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-10T11:55:22.000-05:00"},{"id":3215,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"McNeal","position":"Adjunct Instructor","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"See review pasted into the text window below.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"International Relations, Stephen McGlinchy, ed.\r\nA book review for the Open Textbook Library\r\nBy Michael J. McNeal, Ph.D.\r\n\r\n\r\n\tStephen McGlinchy, et. al. provide students of international relations a broad and substantive introduction to the discipline. McGlinchy has organized the chapter contributions in a sensible and accessible manner that succeeds in covering all of the major subjects and themes of the discipline. \r\n\tMcGlitchy’s volume is comprehensive thematically, but certain sections would have benefited from deeper and more sustained analysis, for instance in the section on International Relations Theory. The content is accurate and given the general relevance of the text to the subjects covered the text should enjoy a fair degree of longevity.\r\n\tIn the first chapter, The Making of the Modern World, by Eric Ringmar, the emergence of the norm of sovereignty is examined as a foundational development toward the Westphalian system of nation-states that emerged in Europe. Ringmar then focuses upon how this system was universalized over centuries via European imperialist conquests and colonialism. He then explicates how the resulting international system that is with us today operates and persists according to the post-war institutional framework for cooperation and conflict resolution.\r\n\tMcGlinchy himself authors chapter two, taking up the issue of diplomacy through a number of illustrative cases. In the first case he examines efforts to regulate and prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, including the recent case of Iran. He provides an overview of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its diminution in recent years. The second case he focuses on is that of the 1979–1980 Iranian hostage crisis, the transformation of U.S. – Iranian relations in its wake and the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran in the future. \r\n\tCarmen Gebhard provides an introduction to the levels of analysis method of international relations theorizing. This chapter covers the individual, group, state, and systems levels of analysis and the implication of it for comprehending international relations. She also explicates the ways in which the levels of analysis framework determines the findings of researchers working in IR, as well as how it affects and is effected by the evolving ambitions of the discipline.\r\n\tThe fourth chapter, which introduces international relations theory, is co-authored by Dana Gold and Stephen McGlitchy. They begin with a helpful introduction to the particular use of terms in IR theory, then proceed to define each of the “traditional” theories of liberalism and realism that have long dominated the discipline. Insufficient attention is given to the “more modern versions” of these traditions, namely neoliberalism and neorealism, which have prevailed over roughly the last four decades. They move into the so-called “middle ground” (their phrase) in assessing the consequence of the English School of IR theory, before examining Constructivism. The overview of the Critical Theory school starts with Marxism, proceeds to Feminism, moves on to Poststructural thought in IR. The chapter then employs each theoretical framework to assess by the lights of each theory, respectively, the United Nations. This is an effective exercise, but ultimately does not compensate, as it were, for what are rather insubstantial explications of the IR theories themselves.\r\n\tChapter five, written by Knut Traisbach, introduces public international law. It covers the UN system, legal treaties, intergovernmental and the global organizations that since the Second World War have provided for the international legal regime we now enjoy. It begins with the contents of international law, including the aim of preserving international order and providing for greater justice in foreign affairs between states. The chapter also contends with the laws of peace, and international humanitarian law, including the related laws of war. Traisbach traces the development of international law from its complete absence, to the patchwork of laws characterizing the nascent regime, to the semblance of global governance provided by international law today. \r\n\tShazelina Z. Abidin contributes the sixth chapter, on International Organizations. The differences between and respective functions of inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations is explicated. The author begins with the UN and moves through a clear description of the forms governmental organizations take, their geographical limitations, and their various aims are examined. The purpose and function of non-governmental organizations are similarly examined. The chapter then takes up hybrid organizations examining the ways in which certain agencies cooperate with formally collaborate with governments throughout the world. Finally, the chapter concludes by illuminating the ways in which international organizations shape the world.\r\n\tThe remaining chapter contributions include introductions to a broad range of important but more specific subjects, including global political economy, religion and culture, global poverty and wealth, protecting people, giving people a voice, communications technology, terrorism, the environment, hunger, global security, and a concluding chapter on “doing IR” in a relevant way in the contemporary world.\r\n\tIn conclusion, the text McGlinchey’s introductory level International Relations volume is clear, and the writing is well edited. While it employs British spelling and phrasing in places, this should enhance the experience of American students for whom it is unfamiliar. The book’s chapters, while authored by different contributors, are consistently edited, giving the text a high degree of consistency. The respective sections of the text can also be assigned separately. The organization, structure, and flow of the text are effective, and assigning the sections in a different order would not be detrimental to this. Finally, the text is sufficiently sensitive in cultural terms, and should present no issues to educators who assign it.\r\n\r\n","created_at":"2019-10-24T22:36:09.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-24T22:36:09.000-05:00"},{"id":3370,"first_name":"George","last_name":"Amedee","position":"Professor","institution_name":"SUNO","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book is very comprehensive. It clearly covers all of the major themes, theories, concepts and trends in an extremely dynamic subject matters. It does well in covering traditional, enduring, and emerging issues and problems in international relations. The most recent emergence of the IR world Post Trump is the addressed in this text,especially with respect to the recent threats to NATO. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"For the most part, the book is accurate and error free. However, it addresses early in the book  the historical existence of  pre-state areas in a European context only. Some scholars might prefer to also understand the nature of government in lands,  territories and empires prior to the emergence of \"the state\" in the context of other non-European pre-states. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is extremely up to date. I believe this is because book is more of a reader with many scholars focusing on a specific area of IR. Sometimes with one or two writers the content can be limited by the writers knowledge and interest. Each write in this book obviously bring considerable in depth, current  knowledge about the special subject in IR. The basics Of IR are covered and most modern global Issues are addressed.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written clearly and  at a level that undergraduate college students should have no problems There is no assumption that the reader has been exposed to the field of IR.  Every major facet of IR is covered in clearly written terms. The jargon and technical terminology used is clearly defined in language accessible to our students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text has a strong internal consistency. I begins with basics of defining key terms and the historical context of IR. It then focuses on helping the reader to understand the various principle and theories, structure, key actors, and international organizations both state and nonstate . Most of the historical and contemporary issues, challenges, and problems then flow in the ensuing chapters addressing major issues one at a time. . ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The division of the text into smaller readings sections is fairly good. However, headings are good but most students are aided by vignettes, tables, graphs are other pictures that bridge the gap between words and pictures that help to further help to absorb the context of the readings. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a very logical and clear fashion.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"In this case, the book can benefit from an interface with images, charts and other displays that would further the readers understanding of the key concepts, structures, and institutions and there role in IR. Also, most books also provide a multiplicity of weblinks and other online sources throughout each chapter. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text did not appear to have major grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Overall, the book is not culturally insensitive. As mentioned previously, the inclusion pre-state history that focus on Europe only, makes one wonder about areas outside of Europe.  Beyond that introduction of the advent of sovereign state, the book goes on to address the  international global condition satisfactorily encompassing all regions and peoples.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Obviously, I am excited about using this book to teach my class in International Relations. The writers of each chapter appear to cover all of the themes that have been traditionally a part of IR and frankly have made major steps in incorporating today's issues as such connectivity, technology and cyberissues, terrorism, religion and culture factors, climate and environmental  and the emergence of new power bases in Asia and the Mideast. Of course, I have already begun researching supplemental material in the form of pictures, graphs, weblinks to supplement this outstanding reading. ","created_at":"2019-12-12T14:01:02.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-12T14:01:02.000-06:00"},{"id":4434,"first_name":"Abigail","last_name":"Post","position":"Assistant Professor of Political Science and National Security","institution_name":"Anderson University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"I would not classify this as a comprehensive text of introductory international relations. It misses some key components, the most obvious being interstate and intrastate war. My sense is that this omission emerges from its European perspective. In the United States, we still include segments on the causes, conduct, and consequences of both interstate (between states) and intrastate (within state) wars in our introductory IR courses. These text's underlying theme (obvious though never explicitly stated) is that of globalization as a cause of peace.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not identify any factual inaccuracies, although I would have liked more frequent citations. Since I use introductory courses to introduce students to basic research and citations procedures, I like texts that are very good at this.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The authors make a concentrated effort to make this text relevant to twenty-first century politics. Unfortunately, its relevance (like the relevance of so many political science textbooks) will take a hit due to the global pandemic. Its underlying, yet subtle, theme is that of globalization, and globalization has taken a hit with the pandemic.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The authors are clear in their presentation but they have watered down their approach so much that the text lacks conceptual clarity. Many key terms (anarchy, balance of power, collective action) are introduced but in an ad-hoc fashion. I imagine that it would be difficult for students to figure out what points were important to focus on. It's easy to read, however.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"In general, the text is consistent in terms of terminology and framework, although inevitably multiple authors get repetitive.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is quite self-referential at first. That being said, I think that the chapters on international organizations and the environment would be two excellent standalone chapters that I could assign in any of my classes. The first 3-4 chapters were too interconnected. The editor himself argues that the text should be read in order in the \"Getting Started Section.\"","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"I could not understand the organization of the chapters. I believe it is because the editor did not set out a clear organizing theme for the test. As I mentioned earlier, the underlying theme seems to be that of globalization. However, this concept does not explicitly organize the text, making it difficult to grasp the main points. The current IR text I use (World Politics by Frieden, Lake, and Schultz) is far superior on this point – but they are so expensive!","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The only downside is lack of index, which I presume is a costly endeavor. However, the text does not include images/charts, so the text is relatively easy to navigate.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any typos, but the authors used informal/casual writing that I ban my undergraduates from using. For examples, the authors used the trite writing crutch: “It is important....” Several of the authors used contractions (didn't, isn't, etc.), which I forbid my students to use. I worry that assigning this text might teach bad writing habits.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There was nothing at all offensive about this book, but people should be aware that it is a European-worldview IR text.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a basic introductory text that to my mind holds promise. However, it requires a more explicit and systematic theoretical/conceptual framework to operate as a stand-alone text for an Introduction to IR class. I will, unfortunately, not be adopting this text as I had hoped.","created_at":"2020-12-04T13:07:39.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-04T13:07:39.000-06:00"},{"id":4440,"first_name":"Sahil","last_name":"Mathur","position":"Adjunct Instructor","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Given the inherently interdisciplinary nature of the academic field of International Relations (IR), any textbook on the subject is bound to be lacking in some aspects. Despite the daunting task it takes on, this textbook does an impressive job of covering a range of topics that form the focus of scholarly inquiry in the field. Part One provides excellent, succinct overviews of the fundamentals, or “basics,” of the field, while Part Two delves into specific global issues of contemporary importance. As an introductory, “day-zero” IR text, the book provides readers with enough detail to kindle curiosity, without overburdening them with a flood of information. A minor criticism, however, is that some chapters in Part Two do not adequately tie the discussion of the issue to concerns and debates in IR.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"In general, the book presents accurate accounts of the key themes in IR, from a range of perspectives. Several chapters use case studies and examples—accurately described—to illustrate complex ideas and abstract concepts. While some individual chapters might appear biased toward a particular lens (e.g., a US- or Western-centric view of the world), other chapters present contrasting perspectives, thereby according the book with a semblance of overall balance. As an introductory textbook, the book is composed of considerably simplified narratives. In a couple of rare instances, the simplified presentation might be construed as inaccurate or, at least, controversial. However, these are almost always on deeply contested issues in the field; interested readers could consult other sources for more nuanced analyses.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The textbook’s content is up to date in two ways: the topics explored in Part Two (“Global Issues”) are contemporary, pressing problems in international relations, and the case studies peppered throughout are largely drawn from recent, relevant events. Most, but not all, chapters are designed to first briefly introduce the topic or concept, followed by illustrative cases to help the readers’ comprehension. This design makes the text adaptable for updated editions, as newer cases could be added. Individual chapters also work as standalone pieces, thereby facilitating easy addition (or removal) of chapters on particular global issues, if required.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is generally written in a conversational tone, doing a good job of explaining the substantive content of each chapter in a simple manner. The prose is lucid and accessible. A handy “Getting Started” section prior to the first chapter guides the reader on how to navigate the text, elaborating on some of the field’s jargon—which is used sparingly—as well as on the use of academic citations. A couple of the chapters, however, appear to assume some prior subject knowledge on the part of the reader; while written clearly, the narratives in these chapters may not be as simple as a basic text would demand.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Insofar as the chapters construct the fundamental building blocks of IR, the book is internally consistent. While the chapters generally avoid jargon, the terms used reflect the scholarly language of the field. Consistency in terms of chapter format, however, is lacking. Some chapters make effective use of case studies, but others do not employ cases as an explanatory technique. Some chapters are simplified to the level of an introductory textbook, while others use formal academic prose. Some chapters tie the conversation to broader debates in IR better than others. Perhaps the biggest inconsistency is quality: some chapters, especially chapter 11 on “Protecting People,” stand out as sharp and clear—a highwater mark for pedagogical effectiveness. But not every chapter presents as concise and comprehensive a picture of the topic as might be desired.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"While the text provides a good picture of the field overall, each chapter covers a distinct topic or issue and stands on its own. Further, the chapters make effective use of subheadings to present the material, while remaining coherent. Moreover, each chapter begins with a few sentences tying it to the preceding chapter(s). Individual chapters can, therefore, be easily assigned for specific course subunits, without losing any of the book’s broader context. This is especially useful given the previously noted inconsistency in quality across chapters.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The broad organization of the text into “The Basics” (Part One) and “Global Issues” (Part Two) and the sequencing of the chapters in Part One are logical. Part Two, on the other hand, can come across as a set of issues put together in no particular order. Greater effort to align the discussion within Part Two’s chapters to the basic themes elaborated in Part One might have improved the book’s organization. While the standalone quality of the chapters on global issues ensures modularity, it also serves as a dent in the book’s logical organization.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text’s interface is remarkably simple: just plain, narrative text (with references). There are no images, charts, or boxes; rather, case studies serve as illustration. While one might fault the textbook for not having a “catchy” appearance, its simple presentation ensures minimal distraction for the reader. Indeed, the accessible and conversational, yet informative and interesting, narrative style serves to distinguish the text from other introductory IR textbooks.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There are no major presentation errors in the book. Minor errors are rare (I caught two). Aside from these exceedingly rare instances, the book has undergone a thorough editing and proofing process, thereby minimizing distraction from the content.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book makes an effort to include a diversity of perspectives in IR, reflecting the theoretical and empirical diversity that the field is striving toward. In its relatively short chapters, it manages to introduce readers to both traditional and critical perspectives. Examples are drawn from different parts of the world. Despite these efforts, there remains much scope for further diversity: even as case illustrations from the Global South are present, Western examples still form the majority. The Eurocentric nature of the first chapter (albeit, with a degree of self-awareness from the author) can be transformed to offer a more global perspective as the book’s foundational stone. The book could have also strived for—and consequently benefitted from—greater diversity among the chapter authors, who are overwhelmingly from the West.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The book is currently the sole open-access textbook in the field of IR, and promises to expose significant numbers of prospective students of IR to an informed, academic introduction to and assessment of the field. While no basic textbook could possibly cover the vast and diverse landscape that is IR, this text makes a sincere attempt to balance breadth and depth. Future editions of the book would benefit from further diversifying the set of authors; including more contemporary, pressing global issues (such as, for example, the rise of China); and streamlining the structure of individual chapters to follow a common, pedagogically effective standard.","created_at":"2020-12-06T18:20:17.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-06T18:20:17.000-06:00"},{"id":4467,"first_name":"Michelle","last_name":"Allendoerfer","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"The George Washington University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers a very wide and comprehensive set of topics in a concise way.  There are many topics that I don't typically cover in an Intro to IR course but that I could see being interesting to students (e.g. technology, food) and the short chapters mean the students could quickly gain insights into those topics.  However, compared to other introduction to International Relations textbooks, the treatment of conflict and explanations of war is not as comprehensive as I would need for an Introduction to IR course.  I think as an overview of the discipline the book would work well, but would likely need supplemental material - especially with respect to interstate war and international political economy - to fully flesh out an Intro to IR course.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The book is accurate and error-free.  I also think it does a good job being unbiased.  I especially appreciate the efforts to highlight ways the discipline of IR is traditionally taught from a Western perspective, why that is problematic, and to point out differing perspectives.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I believe the book is very relevant and up-to-date but not in a way that would make it obsolete.  The treatment of the various topics integrates both historical and contemporary cases in a way that makes it relevant without too tied to the publication date.  I think the aspects that are current could easily be updated without a complete overhaul of the book.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I appreciate the readability of the book.  The author avoids jargon and presents the ideas in a way that I think undergraduates would find compelling and accessible.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Overall, the book's flow is consistent.  I do wish there was a more explicit organizing principle or thread throughout the book that you often find in introductory textbooks.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter can stand alone. It will be easy to assign single chapters.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization is logical and given the modularity of the text, instructors who adopt the book could easily change the order if needed for their purposes.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors that I noticed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"As mentioned above, I appreciate that the book acknowledges the ways that IR as a discipline traditionally takes a Western approach.  The author takes many steps towards pointing that out and incorporating different perspectives.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I think this book will work well alongside other materials.  I believe the accessibility will be refreshing for undergraduate students new to the field of IR and I appreciate the different perspectives the book brings with various authors.  Because the chapters can each stand alone, I think it's a great resource for instructors to be able to assign one or a few chapters to supplement other materials in the course.","created_at":"2020-12-17T08:53:35.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-12-17T08:53:35.000-06:00"},{"id":33485,"first_name":"Hakseon","last_name":"Lee","position":"Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"It is pretty much comprehensive. \r\n\r\nPossibly, below stuffs can be added: democratic peace theory, capitalist peace theory, domestic audience costs, power transition theory, etc.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Yes, they provide accurate information and I could not find misinformation.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Highly relevant, but, of course, the most recent IR events (e.g., the evolution of US foreign policy during the Trump and the Biden Administrations, etc.) are not covered. \r\n\r\nIn an intro IR class, instructors may assign readings from Foreign Affairs or Foreign Policy to cover the most recent events in IR. Thus, not necessarily a critical issue.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Mostly yes, materials are clearly written. \r\n\r\nPossibly, a glossary can be provided at the end of book so that students can refer to definitions of main terms easily.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"It's an edited textbook written by multiple authors, and not necessarily perfectly consistent in depicting/describing historical events or explaining theories. \r\n\r\nStill, I believe it's highly consistent, and any small discrepancy across authors would not generate any confusion to students. Actually, students would even appreciate the fact that IR scholars may have distinctive views/perspectives on historical/current events in IR.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"It's great to have two main parts (i.e., the basics and global issues, respectively), and 18 chapters can be easily covered in a semester by instructors' own class schedules.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I think each chapter is very well organized. Some chapters have too many subsections, but I found undergraduate students usually prefer short paragraphs with single terms/concepts to longer paragraphs with multiple terms/concepts.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I don't think it has an interface issue.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No specific error I've found. \r\n\r\nSome authors are from the UK and they use British English, not American English. It's simply natural and not an issue at all.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I don't think it has culturally offensive parts. Still, some materials (e.g., religion, colonialism, etc.) could be better served if instructors provide/explain fundamental values of DEI in all human communities/societies as they cover culture issues in IR.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I think it's pretty much well written and organized. It can be easily adopted as an Intro IR textbook in any English-speaking college/university in the world. \r\n\r\nOf course, it's not a perfect IR textbook, but there's no \"perfect\" textbook, either. Experienced instructors should be able to provide additional and supplementary readings (i.e., academic journal articles, relevant websites, etc.) via institutions' own library database that are free to students.","created_at":"2021-11-26T16:48:14.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-11-26T16:48:14.000-06:00"},{"id":33668,"first_name":"Robert","last_name":"Asaadi","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Portland State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Part One of the text lays out the basic building blocks that one would expect to find in an introductory international relations textbook, and then in Part Two the authors compellingly explore these concepts across a wide range of relevant global issues.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and the analysis reflects in-depth consideration of the theories, concepts, and case studies presented.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up-to-date and incorporates both canonical and contemporary case studies in its explication of the material. The text builds on foundational case studies and then applies this knowledge to the contemporary period.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear and concise. The text is appropriate to a lower-division undergraduate level student.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Both the terminology and framework of the chapters is internally consistent. The organization of the text results in clarity and presents logically arranged ideas to support a comprehensive, cohesive portrait of the discipline for the introductory level.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Chapters make effective use of section headings and the text is easily and readily divisible. Instructors using this text will find that it is flexible and that sections can be assigned at different points within the course. Chapters function effectively either as stand-alone treatments of their topics or as complements with other chapters. For instance, assigning one chapter from Part One of the text ('The Basics') along with one chapter from Part Two of the text ('Global Issues') would usefully blend the more theoretically, abstract discussion of topics in Part One with the more detailed, case-specific treatment in Part Two.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Related ideas are well-grouped and the presentation of topics is logical and clear.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text does not suffer from problems with navigation, image distortion, or other interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Sentence structure and grammar are excellent.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The examples are cross-cultural in scope and the the text is culturally sensitive in treatment of its topics.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2022-01-27T14:26:51.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-01-27T14:26:51.000-06:00"},{"id":34532,"first_name":"Corina","last_name":"Ladd","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Tidewater Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Many reviewers have noted that the book doesn't talk about war.  This is incorrect.  The chapter on protecting people is really about war and civil war presented in a novel way.  The chapter on Pax Americana is also about security.  There should be more discussion of the causes of wars and civil wars, however.   In addition,  the chapter on the making of the modern world suggests that the European colonies copied the European ideas of how to run a country.  This is a huge oversimplification of the system of colonization and the history of countries post-colonization.  In addition, the textbook does not talk about dictatorship and human rights violations, and the global response.","accuracy_rating":2,"accuracy_review":"The textbook is inaccurate mostly because it's separate chapters allow each author to condense huge topics into a very short space","relevance_rating":1,"relevance_review":"The 2016 free edition can be used as a textbook but the textbook has been updated, but the update is no longer free.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is extraordinarily free of jargon and the international relations vocabulary that is generally used in IR textbooks.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Each chapter has a separate author but it does begin by making a connection to other chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is very short and can be assigned at different points within the course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"While the first chapter downplays the harms done by colonization, the chapter on poverty discusses colonization as one of the causes of global poverty.  The chapter on food insecurity has a \"bottom up perspective\" that gives examples from everyday life in a number of countries and is designed to draw in readers rather than overwhelm them with global statistics.  It is more like a reader on International Relations topics and has chapter that are not in a number of standard texts.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There are no interface issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"As I have said in previous comments, the first chapter is quite insensitive, but others are much more inclusive.  The chapter on the internet and devices includes examples from many countries, giving students a wider perspective on the world.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Peter Vale's chapter with personal reflections on the field of IR would make a good starting chapter for a course in lieu of the 1st chapter of this book.","created_at":"2023-04-29T11:27:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-04-29T11:27:39.000-05:00"},{"id":34939,"first_name":"Yi Edward","last_name":"Yang","position":"Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook is divided into two parts.  The first part introduces the readers to the conceptual and analytical building blocks of international relations.  The second part applies the above building blocks to discuss and assess relevant global issues.  Taken together, this text provides a comprehensive coverage of topics expected in a typical undergraduate introductory international relations/global politics offered in North American colleges/universities.  The free version of the text was last updated in 2016 – some major global development emerged since then, e.g., the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising tension between China and the United States, are not covered. The text lacks a glossary and an index due to cost as explained at the end of the text.  These omissions however pose significant challenges to effective students learning.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content of the text is in general accurate and free of errors.  However, the analytical angle is still very Western-centric.  One necessary expansion is to include non-Western international relations theories/frameworks/examples consistently throughout the text.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"This text clearly needs major update to include new issues/cases since it was last published in 2016.  The structure of the text allows for relatively easy updates.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"This text, although contributed by various authors, is written clearly, which makes it accessible to students in introductory courses.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The chapters, although written by multiple authors, are generally consistent in length and style. However, the is a lack of coherent presentation style/format across the chapters.  Some chapters were written in a very simple way which is fitting to students from non-political science/international relations backgrounds.  While others were written in more serious tones filled with more scholarly jargons – clearly meant for students majoring or minoring in political science/international affairs.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Each chapter can be assigned alone.  Also, content with each chapter is organized by subheadings which allows parts of each chapter to be assigned.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of the text is logical given how the authors approach the themes/topics.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"No interface issues, particularly since this text is free of any charts/graphs/images.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I have not found any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I didn't find anything culturally offensive.  But as aforementioned, the text would benefit from more non-Western theories/frameworks/examples.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"A good barebone introductory international relations book that covers all the basics.  It is good for the students since it is free.  It does require the instructors to do a lot additional work to update issues/examples/cases and collect non-text content.","created_at":"2024-03-18T12:28:50.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-03-18T12:28:50.000-05:00"},{"id":35665,"first_name":"Huei-Jyun","last_name":"Ye","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Wabash College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook covers a wide range of topics, from international relations theory, international laws, to poverty, human rights, terrorism, and the environment. It offers a lot for instructors to build on. However, some topics that I typically cover in the introduction to international relations are missing in the book: conflict, foreign policy analysis, domestic politics of international relations, trade, and the international monetary system.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate and clear.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This is the 2017 free version. The author provides a link to the 2022 updated version, but only chapter 2 is free to download. I’d recommend the digital resources in the “extensive online area” on the 2022 website. The cases and examples illustrated in the book are still helpful, but instructors will have to provide the updated information on top of the textbook.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is reader-friendly. As an introductory-level textbook, the content is clear, simple, and straightforward. There isn’t any jargon, as far as I noticed.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Structurally, the chapters are consistent. Although this textbook does not highlight key terms (boldfaced) and provide definitions separately, I do not find inconsistent wording.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The length of each chapter is reasonable. There are also subheadings within each chapter that allow students to notice the shift in focus. Each chapter also does not contain a large amount of information, which makes it more flexible for instructors to assign one or multiple topics together.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"If students use the PDF version, I’d say the chapters in Part Two can be tied in a different order. For example, I’d put “Global Poverty and Wealth” and “Feeding the World” together rather than several chapters apart. However, this is not a big issue if students use the web version.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The PDF file – It’s okay to use it as a usual PDF for annotation, bookmarks, etc. However, I prefer the web version because it breaks down the chapters into different pages. Students may find “shorter readings” more acceptable and be intimidated by the long PDF. I would wish to have the chapter structure on the side of the web version so readers can jump to other sections from the menu. Right now, readers need to return to the table of contents to get an overview of the book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I don’t notice any.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I don’t notice any.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"It is a good book for introductory-level courses that “introduce” what has happened in the world (and in history). This may be a good fit for Gen-Ed-style international relations courses. However, it does not provide an overarching analytical framework that teaches students “how” to understand or analyze international relations. For an intro-level class targeting political science majors, instructors might have to provide more in-depth content. Also, this book does not include any visuals (tables or figures) that typically help students understand the content.","created_at":"2025-11-07T13:52:12.000-06:00","updated_at":"2025-11-07T13:52:12.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/textbooks/international-relations","updated_at":"2026-05-18T02:05:58.000-05:00"}],"links":{"self":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science.json?page=1","total_pages":5,"total_count":46,"next":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/%20/subjects/political-science.json?page=2"}}