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    Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices

    Reviewed by Kendall Bustad, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park on 2/1/18

    Comprehensiveness rating: 5

    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)

    Content Accuracy rating: 5

    The text does not seem to be biased in any way.

    Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

    The content of the book is up-to-date. The text included relevant descriptions of current software commonly used in research.

    Clarity rating: 5

    If you want to have a compressed body of knowledge of social science research, you may read this one. Beneficial.

    Consistency rating: 5

    The text consistently matches the book outline. Terms were used consistently throughout the text.

    Modularity rating: 5

    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/Structure/Flow rating: 5

    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

    No issues noted.

    Grammatical Errors rating: 4

    There are a few grammatical errors.

    Cultural Relevance rating: 5

    There does not seem to be any culturally insensitive or offensive text.

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