Product Description
"What are the core elements of a strong proposal?" "How can I accent the strengths of my study design?" "How can computer use facilitate my literature review?" "What is the best way to get my proposal reviewed and approved?" You will find the answers to these and other key issues in this unique "assembly manual" for crafting a complete and convincing dissertation proposal. Three extensively annotated proposals of former students provide examples of the guidance offered and illustrate common types of studies. Whether you study best by example, review, memorization, or problem solving, this book's format enables you to follow your own pace and style.

This is no ordinary step-by-step guide. The authors begin by identifying and defining the basics of a dissertation proposal. With careful consideration, they explore proposal functions and parts, show how to build your study's chain of reasoning, and carefully review alternate study designs. Chapters are devoted to qualitative studies: (sectioned into case studies, philosophical, and historical investigations); quantitative studies: (sectioned into experimental, causal modeling, and meta-analysis studies); and mixed-method studies: (sectioned into: sample survey, evaluation, development, and demonstration and action projects). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Doctor Moss
I've been reading this book to help me prepare for the doctoral dissertation. So far, it has been very helpful and guided me to a better understanding of writing this document. I can highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a head start on writing a proposal for a research paper.

One of the most useful Dissertation guides!
This book is perfect for doctoral candidates in education who are preparing for their dissertation proposal.The book offers plenty of practical advise along with a guide to help you complete the process.It explains small details that committee members and other professors may overlook or forget to mention. This is truly a great "WORKBOOK" and road map.

Highly recommended!
I recommend this book to ALL my PhD. students. I recommend it to you! Your university's specific format may differ, but a dissertation proposal guided by this book will be thorough and conceptually useful as a road map for the dissertation itself.

Challenging book
The authors should have considered a non-native reader in preparing this book. I feel that this book would be good, but because of long and complex sentences, the readers, especially, non-native readers, must be challenged.In order to share a lot of ideas the authors suggested with readers as much as possible, the authors ought to revise this book with simple structures, short sentences, and plain English. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by a highly experienced researcher and teachers, this book provides a much-needed guide to the proper use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software in social research, particularly where data may not be presented in the most convenient way. The book focuses on data manipulations and covers the majority of real-world use of SPSS use. Among the book's many unique features are its 'syntax diary' method for organization of manipulations and analyses. Offers both novices and intermediate users a framework within which they can safely and comfortably work with SPSS. ... Read more

Product Description
Environmental Social Science offers a new synthesis of environmental studies, defining the nature of human-environment interactions and providing the foundation for a new cross-disciplinary enterprise that will make critical theories and research methods accessible across the natural and social sciences.

• Makes key theories and methods of the social sciences available to biologists and other environmental scientists
• Explains biological theories and concepts for the social sciences community working on the environment
• Helps bridge one of the difficult divides in collaborative work in human-environment research
• Includes much-needed descriptions of how to carry out research that is multinational, multiscale, multitemporal, and multidisciplinary within a complex systems theory context

Product Description
Using and Interpreting Statistics is a uniquely engaging and easy-to-understand introductory statistics text for the health, behavioral, and social sciences, as well as general statistics courses. Written by an award-winning master teacher, this full-color text - the only full-color statistics text on the market - covers all the essential topics needed for a first course in statistics. It uses a variety of memorable examples not only from the health, behavioral, and social sciences, but also from everyday life to help drive home important topics and help students apply the material to their course of study. In addition, a unique collection of research-based learning aids promotes in-depth learning. Features include Chapter Roadmaps, Group Practice Exercises, Review Exercises and Homework Problems, and a unique "Tom and Harry" mnemonic that helps students "routinize" statistical decision-making.

• UNIQUE! The book's engaging writing style and unique "personality" make the study of statistics not only understandable but enjoyable.
• UNIQUE! Printed in full color, with approximately 120 illustrations.
• UNIQUE! Examples from nursing, health sciences, behavioral sciences, social sciences, and everyday life help students in a variety of programs understand and apply key concepts.
• UNIQUE! Group Practice Exercises are included throughout the chapters, and Review Exercises and Homework Problems appear at the end of each chapter.
• Answers to Review Exercises are included at the end of the text, and answers to Homework Problems and Group Practice Exercises are provided for faculty.
• UNIQUE! Incorporates research-based learning principles to promote deeper processing of material and long-term learning.
• UNIQUE! Engaging Looking Closer footnotes provide additional information of interest and offer a welcome diversion during study sessions.
• UNIQUE! A recurring "Tom and Harry" mnemonic - "Tom And Harry Despise Crabby Infants" - reminds students of the process involved in a statistical analysis: Test, Assumptions, Hypothesis, Decision rule, Calculations, Interpretation.

Customer Reviews (3)

Understanding and Interpreting Statistics
This is a great book that explains statistics in such a way that anyone can understand the use of statistical tests and their relevance to research.Dr. Corty uses plain language, humor and examples that students can understand.It changed my attitude towards statistics and is a good book to refer to when you want to refresh your understanding of statistical tests and their application.

Not appropriate for my statistics classes
I teach a college course in basic statistics at least once a year, so I am always on the lookout for a better statistics book. That is therefore the context within which I examined this book. After looking it over, I would not consider adopting it. The reasons for my decision are:

*) The coverage is not what I feel is appropriate for a basic statistics class. In particular, there is no chapter devoted to probability, there is no mention of Bernoulli trials, and there is no testing of proportions.
*) There are very few worked examples in the text. My students need this, in fact they regularly ask for more. It has been documented to death that people learn mathematics by seeing it done and then doing it.

As a secondary point, there are a large number of footnotes; a cursory examination indicates that they appear on the majority of the pages. My experience with students is that they never read the footnotes.
The author tries to be amusing and he must be given credit for occasionally succeeding. However, people don't read statistics books to be amused, they read them to learn statistics and my students could not do that from this book.

This is the stats book that taught me the most about stats.
I would have to say that Dr. Corty has an excellent way with teaching statistics.I have the 2005 edition but I still reference it whenever I even have to think about statistics. (Brandy) ... Read more

Product Description

In today’s service economy, many jobs require that applicants have a smiling face, helpful disposition and the ability to interact in a friendly manner with others. Or in the case of law enforcement or bill collecting, an employee can be required to be less friendly and more harsh in his or her interaction with customers or criminals.

Jobs that require emotional labor typically necessitate contact with other people external to or within the organization, usually involving face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact, especially in service work. Emotional labor requires employees to give something of themselves to others with whom they have no ongoing personal relationship.

Product Description
Written for students, researchers, consultants, professionals, and scholars, Logic Modeling Methods in Program Evaluation provides a step-by-step explanation of logic modeling and its importance in connecting theory with implementation and outcomes in program evaluation in the social sciences.

Logic Modeling Methods in Program Evaluation’s comprehensive approach:

·        Shows how the logic model can be used to clarify assumptions, reach group consensus, and bridge between various disciplines;

·        Identifies the specific components of logic modeling and discusses inputs, activities, outputs, short and long-term outcomes, contextual factors, and optional components and variations;

·        Focuses on the critical role of consensus in the development of a logic model, including factors such as teaming, timing, and collaborative learning;

·        Explores issues such as the most common mistakes in the development and implementation of logic models and the use of logic models in projects with different levels of complexity or different durations;

·        Discusses how the logic model can be used to identify the range of outcomes to be examined and how summative questions can be prioritized;

·        Includes a variety of illustrative case studies of simple, multi-year, and complex projects and demonstrates the use of the logic model to establish project goals and evaluate the project’s outcome.

  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Logic model review
We used this in class along with another text and found it very helpful with concise, understandable information. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection of over sixty extracts from classic works on the philosophy of social science provides an essential textbook and a landmark reference in the field. It highlights the work of some of the most influential authors who have shaped social science and is the definitive companion to the study of the philosophy of social science. The selections explore the question of truth, the meaning of scientific knowledge, the nature of methodology and the relation of science to society, including edited extracts from both classic and contemporary works. The readings are representative of the major schools of thought, including European and American trends in particular as well as approaches that are often excluded from mainstream traditions. ... Read more

Product Description
This Descriptor List is published asa companion to the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences.First published in 1952, the IBSS is produced annually in four parts - Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Sociology - and has been widely acclaimed as an essential tool for librarians, university departments, research institutions, public and private institutions, and indeed for all whose work requires reference to the current literature in any of the fields comprised within its scope. Companion Descriptor lists are now available for all four main subject areas.All volumes of the IBSS published to date have been indexed and from this a language representing every subject covered in this massive bibliography has been developed.This language can be used for indexing social science publications as well as for retrieving the references stored in the IBSS data bank. The Descriptor List falls into two parts: alphabetical and thematic. In the alphabetic section, terms appear both in English and French. Cross reference is made to all four volumes of the IBSS. The thematic section corresponds to the relevant volume of the four IBSS volumes. It follows the classification of the volume and quotes the indexation terms appropriate to the entries. This Descriptor List is not a thesaurus, althouh it is close to being that since it has a thematic arrangement that allows for the regrouping of information. Fundamentally, it meets the practical needs of those contributing to the development of information systems in The Social Sciences. It will be an essential tool for all those to whom the IBSS has been a key source of reference since 1952. ... Read more

Product Description
Reviewing the literature for a research project can seem a daunting, even overwhelming task. New researchers, in particular, wonder: Where do I start? What do I do? How do I do it?

Doing a Literature Review can help. This accessible text offers advice on how to:

{ search out existing knowledge on a topic;

{ analyze arguments and ideas;

{ map ideas, arguments and perspectives;

{ produce a literature review;

{ construct a case for investigating a topic.

Doing a Literature Review is a practical and comprehensive guide to researching, preparing and writing a literature review, an essential component of research projects. It is an essential tool for postgraduate students but also for undergraduate and novice researchers across the social sciences and humanities.

Doing a Literature Review is a set book for The Open University Postgraduate Foundation Module (D820) The Challenge of the Social Sciences.

Customer Reviews (12)

Useful
Useful guide for writing literature reviews and making literature maps.It also has information on dissertations and writing a research proposal.

An outstanding book!
A brilliant book written in such a wonderful, transparent and understandable style. A real gem that is best in its class. Excellent reference when judging graduate and post-graduate thesis works. Shows that this is one of the hearts in research process and sadly, today, present less and less in proper form, content and execution! Recommended warmly! PS With all due respect to those that have written negative reviews - seems they have reviews the wrong book or simply have no clue whatsoever about doing research in social sciences.

See the answer in the book: what is the purpose of literature review
I did a research work and the most difficult part was the literature review. This book makes clear why to do do the literature review, the particular difficulties in the social sciences and how to proceed step-by-step to complete the work. I do recommend.

not for the beginners
I bought this book because it was in the medical school bookshop, and I was looking for something about literature review. However, this book is written for people in the social sciences. It has a limited value for someone in clinical research.
There are however some good things, it opens the mind to a different aspect in writing reviews. I am sure I have gained some knowledge from it but it was time consuming. It is well written and has examples.
It will not tremendously help people in clinical research.

A good guide on how to analyze ideas and synthesize new ones
Hart's material will benefit anyone who needs to develop and demonstrate their expertise on a topic. He describes how the review contributes to the defense of a research topic and its findings, at the master's and doctoral levels. He presents examples of what thesis and dissertation boards look for in research proposals and papers.

The book describes techniques to extract clues about theories and methods a researcher used. Hart provides excellent guidance on how to analyze the literature on a topic, develop a map of ideas, and synthesize a new contribution.

Anyone who wants to develop their skills as a researcher, or student, should definitely purchase this book. I also shared many of this book's insights with my friends, who are not researchers.

Although I strongly recommend the book, I only rate it 3 stars. The book is unorganized, and the writing is poor.

In an example from Chapter 4, Hart presents a table of 19 common fallacies. The first column presents the type of fallacy (in no logical or methodical order). He titles the second column "What it is and how to avoid it" but only the first entry presents any "how to avoid it" data. The remaining 18 entries have no advice on avoidance.

I also felt some diagrams present no useful information; and his prose rambles and repeats itself. In short, Hart gives us dynamite information, but it is frustrating to sort through its sloppy presentation. ... Read more

Product Description
This original textbook provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to using quantitative methods in the social sciences.

Thomas R Black guides the student and researcher through the minefield of potential problems that may be confronted, and it is this emphasis on the practical that distinguishes his book from others which focus exclusively on either research design and measurement or statistical methods.

Focusing on the design and execution of research, key topics such as planning, sampling, the design of measuring instruments, choice of statistical text and interpretation of results are examined within the context of the research process.

In a lively and accessible style, the student is introduced to research design issues alongside statistical procedures and encouraged to develop analytical and decision-making skills.

An ideal text for students across the social sciences, including education, Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences covers a wide range of examples and activities providing a solid foundation in research design, measurement and statistics.

Customer Reviews (4)

Outdated
Unfortunately, this text was required for a quantitative course. Again, unfortunately, it was published in 1999 and the information on the use of Excel was not applicable to 2007. In addition, the content was not easy to follow. The feedback from other classmates was similiar to my experience. By the way this was for a graduate course.

OH

Confusing, even to the experts
We used this textbook in a quantitative research methods course, and it was not fun. The professor, who has a doctorate in statistics and works in stats every day actually told us not to read certain chapters because they were confusing. She provided alternative materials.
I am also very expert at using Excel, but I found Black's Excel exercises to be difficult to follow and poorly set up.
If you have another alternative, I'd opt for that instead of Black.

Book Contents and author's description
This book is aimed at students in the social sciences, education and related subjects who have only a basic background in statistics and quantitative research design.The emphasis is on the design and execution of research projects, and includes issues of planning and sampling, measurement, choice of statistical model, and interpretationof results.Frequently, the topics research design, measurement and statistics tend to be covered in three separate texts and any links are left to the struggling student or novice researcher, who too often finds it difficult to integrate these.The aim of this book is to encourage researchers to consider all the assumptions and their interactions when making decisions during the planning of research.They need to take into account the interrelationships between 'technologies' when designing the structure of the study, creating measuring instruments, collecting data, selecting statistical tools, and interpreting the results.Therefore, the statistical tests are not just after-the-fact, but are used as part of the planning process to help make such decisions as sample size and desired reliability of instruments.

The titles of the chapters are: Part I: Introduction to Research Design 1 The Nature of Enquiry 2 Beginning the Process 3 Initial Sources of Invalidity and Confounding 4 Basic Designs 5 Identifying Populations and Samples 6 Additional Sources of Confounding by the Measurement Process and Interactions 7 Refining the Designs

Part II: Measurement Design 8 Principles of Measurement and Collecting Factual Data 9 Measuring Attitudes, Opinions and Views 10 Measuring Achievement 11 Evaluating Data Quality: Determining Instrument Reliability and Validity

Part III: Turning Data into Information Using Statistics 12 Descriptive Statistics Using a Spreadsheet 13 Probability and Statistical Significance 14 Power of Statistical Tests Part IV: Ex Post Facto, Experimental, and Quasi-experimental Designs: Parametric Tests 15 Comparing Two Groups: t-test 16 One-way Analysis of Variance: ANOVA 17 Factorial Designs 18 Randomised Block Designs and Analysis of Covariance

Part V: Non-Parametric Tests: Nominal and Ordinal Variables 19 Nonparametric Tests: One- and Two-Sample 20 Nonparametric Tests: Multiple- and Related-Samples

Part VI:Describing Non-causal Relationships 21 Correlation and Association 22 Regression

Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences
There should be a table of contents of this book on theweb. If I had known it, I would not have ordered this book.The title and the contents of this book are really mismatching.I thought the book was about more practical applications of quantitative research methods to the social sciences.In reality, however, the book is about elementary-level statistics assisted by a simple computer software, accompanied by an introduction to social research methodology. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a new edition of the well-received Interpretive Social Science (California, 1979), in which Paul Rabinow and William M. Sullivan predicted the increasing use of an interpretive approach in the social sciences, one that would replace a model based on the natural sciences. In this volume, Rabinow and Sullivan provide a synthetic discussion of the new scholarship in this area and offer twelve essays, eight of them new, embodying the very best work on interpretive approaches to the study of human society. ... Read more

Product Description
This book examines ways to analyze complex surveys, and focuses on the problems of weights and design effects. This new edition incorporates recent practice of analyzing complex survey data, introduces the new analytic approach for categorical data analysis (logistic regression), reviews new software and provides an introduction to the model-based analysis that can be useful analyzing well-designed, relatively small-scale social surveys. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very good start
This book it's a very good start in the survey analysis, but it's like a "cook book", if you follow the same steps you will get the same dish. Could be a supporting book for the study of the statistics issues, it can not replace a traditional book. ... Read more

Product Description

There is no shortage of research methods that are easily applied to the study of everyday human experience. How, though, does one attempt to study extraordinary human experiences - ultimate values and meanings, peak experiences, transcendence and heightened awareness, among others.

William Braud and Rosemarie Anderson introduce a series of transpersonal research methods that are intended to help researchers develop new ways of knowing and methods of inquiry. While these methods will be of particular interest to researchers in transpersonal psychology, humanistic psychology, or transpersonal studies applied to traditional fields, the authors argue that these approaches - with their emphasis on developing intuition, empathy and self-awareness – can benefit anyone involved in the research enterprise across many disciplines.

Customer Reviews (3)

Excellent guidance for transpersonal research
This book is an excellent resource for conducting transpersonal research.It's contents are clear, well-structured and comprehensive.This book has been much easier to understand and use than other books I have read on qualitative research methodologies.

A fundamental book for transpersonal research
During many times I red this amazing book. I think that this book is a landmark in development of methods to examine and experience the consciousness states. One of the most interesting aspects is to try apply this kind of knowledges to social dimension. Activity very well done. I recommend this book for psychologist, students and counsciousness researchers.

Best One Out There
Anderson and Braud are no armchair researchers or theorists in the transpersonal field.They bring a much needed dimension to the field in terms of research.The vast majority of transpersonal leaders are either theorists who ground their theories on top of other theories or those with very weak research designs. Anderson and Braud take no sides but present ways for every human science researcher to improve their methods of inquiry.Not only is the book the best in the field, it provides many outside resources to phenomenological, heuristic, action, case study, ethnographic, meta-study, statistical, and integral inquiry. A super book. ... Read more

Product Description

The Third Edition of the Dictionary of Statistics & Methodology: A Nontechnical Guide for the Social Sciences is THE sourcebook of simple definitions and explanations of statistical and statistics-related concepts. Since the publication of the bestselling Second Edition, author W. Paul Vogt has examined relevant literature in the social sciences to keep readers alert to the appearance of new methods, new language, and newly popular terms. The Third Edition has been thoroughly revised and expanded, with 400 additional definitions and illustrations compiled from readers’ requests and suggestions!

Customer Reviews (4)

Great book for students!
I ordered this book on a whim after being completely lost in the readings for my first PhD level statistics course.So far, it has been incredibly useful!The definitions it gives are thorough, succinct, and, best of all, comprehensible.For every entry the author gives the what and the why (what it is and why we use it) in plain English.If there are other technical terms involved they're marked with a *, so you can flip to that entry if the term is unfamiliar to you.One of the things that has really helped me is that he also includes all of the applicable formulas for a term as well as the various ways a term is notated.This has been a problem for me as different books use different notation which can get really obnoxious.(Who are these jerks?Just pick a symbol and stick with it!)This book won't teach you statistics, but it's an excellent supplement.Basically, if you crack open a stats book and feel like you are reading a foreign language, this guide is the perfect translator.It's also great to have on hand when flipping through journal articles so that when you see a term or technique for the first time you can look it up quickly and easily (and without relying on Wikipedia).It's not the cheapest supplemental book, but it's definitely worth buying.

Dictionary of Statistics & Methodology: A Nontechnical Guide for the Social Sciences
Dictionary of Statistics & Methodology: A Nontechnical Guide for the Social Sciences was exactly what I was looking for and it was in excellent condition.

Great experience!
The book I ordered arrived on time and was in great condition!I would use this seller again!

wish I had written it!
Vogt's Dictionary doesn't cover every concept used or issue raised in contemporary social science, but it comes remarkably close.Odd as it may sound when referring to a dictionary, this book is actually fun to read.I learned a great deal, and, thanks to the clarity of Vogt's prose, did so painlessly.I suppose the best part is the reinforcement that comes from realizing how much one already knows.If you're a student, instructor, or on-the-job social scientist feeling a bit frustrated and maybe even burned out, pick up a copy of Vogt's Dictionary.Open it to any page and start reading.It's such a lift to realize that the social sciences really are loaded with interesting ideas, and to recognize that you already know how to think with some of them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Helpful Study Guide
This workbook contains a summary of each lesson from the textbook along with worksheets that are reprints of the questions at the end of each chapter.The summaries are very helpful as a review in studying for the chapter exams. ... Read more

Product Description
Economists have traditionally studied aggregate behavior as the outcome of individual decisions made interactively, while sociologists have focused on the role of social influences on individual behavior. Over the past decade, however, the barriers between the disciplines have broken down, resulting in the new area of social economics. Social economics is based on the assumption that individuals are directly influenced by the choices and characteristics of others, creating a feedback loop from the past choices of some people to the current social context and hence future choices of others. The essays in this book, by some of the creators of the field, provide an overview of social economics and represent a variety of approaches, including theoretical model-building, empirical studies, statistical analyses, and philosophical reflections. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is an expanded and revised edition of the author's critically acclaimed volume Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. In twenty-six succinct chapters, Jon Elster provides an account of the nature of explanation in the social sciences.He offers an overview of key explanatory mechanisms in the social sciences, relying on hundreds of examples and drawing on a large variety of sources-psychology, behavioral economics, biology, political science, historical writings, philosophy and fiction.Written in accessible and jargon-free language, Elster aims at accuracy and clarity while eschewing formal models. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A must have for understanding society
This book provides ideas and explanations for better understanding social behavior and helps avoiding pitfalls. I found it particularly interesting how behavior that on the surface looks stupid/irrational has in fact a logic to it (e.g. tipping). It scans a wide spectrum and even provides arguments on how elections should be and under what circumstances the constitutional court should be dismissed. Highly recommended to anyone curious about society.

More Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences
As the title suggests, this book is an expanded and revised edition. As a non-professional and autodidact in the field of social sciences, I too find this book a gem as the other reviewers have so indicated. The book is divided into five (5) sections:

1) Explanations and Mechanisms
2) The Mind
3) Action
4) Lessons From The Natural Sciences
5) Interaction

Sections 2-5 are must reads if you are into the social sciences, but I found the first Section on Explanations and Mechanisms just a skosh on the highbrow side. However, we are talking about someone that has spent over 40 years on his work. Outside this very slight discomfort on my part, my copy is marked-up extensively which is a good indication that I found this fine addition to the social sciences worthy of my time and effort.

Though this book is somewhat on off the beaten track so to speak, other fine works on the social sciences that are worth your attention are Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (polymath classic), The Psychology of Judgment & Decision Making (classic), How We Know What Isn't So (very good), Mean Markets and Lizard Brains (Hidden Gem), Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger (Very Hidden Gem), or Poor Charlie's Almanack (Charlie's Insights).

Flawless Victory
With no footnotes, no jargon, no namedropping and (almost) no mathmatics, this book clears all the conceptual underbrush away from the foundations of the social and behavioral sciences.Reading it was like watching an intellectual kung fu master in a rapid-fire series of celebrity deathmatches.As soon as Elster has dispatched Milton Friedman (Whup-POW!), he moves on to Steven Jay Gould.He chops ideas up into neat 10-page sections, says what he has to say, then cracks his knuckles and moves on.He does this so effortlessly that I found myself scratching my head ("how did I not see this before?") at the end of each section.It's not exactly fun - the reading can be dense - but it can be thrilling to simply feel the dust and cobwebs shoot out of your ears.I learned more in 500 pages than in 6 years of undergraduate survey courses.Highly, highly recommended.

An amazing vision of the whole of social science
For the past forty years, Jon Elster has attempted to explain things ranging from the emotions to technological change. The result is dozens of books (and even more papers) in three languages across four universities. And throughout, his work has not just been exemplary social science, but has always struggled with the question of what social science _should be_ -- what kinds of explanations are legitimate, which techniques should be used, and so on.

As he reaches his late sixties, it is understandable if he begins to think of his legacy. That certainly would help explain his latest book, _Explaining Social Behavior: More Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences_ (Cambridge University Press, 2007), a 500-page masterpiece that I expect will be seen as the summation of a brilliant career.

It's a book unlike any other and, as a result, unless read from start to finish can seem bizarre, if only because one has little sense of what the book is trying to do. It is not a guidebook, or a textbook, or a piece of social science in itself. In short, it is nothing less than an attempt to summarize an idealized vision of the whole of social science in simple language.

The book's foundational assumption (as implied by its title) is that the goal of social science is to discover explanations for social phenomena. It begins by describing what explanations are and discussing their different forms. But the bulk of the book consists of tools that can be used in explanations: emotions, norms, time discounting, weakness of will, magical thinking, cognitive dissonance, heuristics and biases, rationality, irrationality, neuroscience, evolution, externalities, game theory, pluralistic ignorance, informational cascades, collective action, cyclical preferences, institutions, etc. -- in short, the entire toolkit of the social sciences.

Just as amazing as the breadth topics is the way in which they're covered. Elster explains each phenomenon clearly and concisely, so that any educated reader can understand them with little effort, without ever sacrificing intellectual depth. His explanations are peppered with examples from an amazing variety of sources: ancient history, recent history, personal experience, the classics of social science (e.g. Tocqueville), the great philosophers (Montaigne, Pascal, Mill), and classic novelists (e.g. Proust). The result is a book which not just introduces readers to the discoveries of the social sciences but to the intellectual world as a whole. Bibliographical notes following each chapter as well as the conclusion provide a rich guide for further exploration.

And yet it's not simply a compendium of interesting results in the social sciences, but attempts to defend a particular conception of what the social sciences should be. In the conclusion, Elster defends his notion of social science as the attempt to discover particular explanations for particular phenomena against the "soft obscurantism" of the literary theorists and the "hard obscurantism" of the economists. As part of this, he turns his back on the notion of rational-choice models being an explanation in themselves, noting that their many assumptions are in desperate need of empirical defense.

In response to an earlier draft of this review, Elster wrote "I'm glad you appreciate the details in my book, but you're missing the big picture, which is that there isn't any." Instead of trying to build a Grand Theory which explains all of social life, we should try to build explanations of particular phenomena from the nuts and bolts we have lying around. And "even if a dominant explanation of a given event or episode is discarded and then resurrected, the building blocks or mechanisms at work in the discarding and resurrection remain. The repertory, or the size of the toolbox, does not shrink."

For anyone who cares about social science, Elster has done an amazing service in clearly describing the toolbox's contents and defending its importance.

Simply the best: read it at least twice
I read this book twice. The first time, I thought that it was excellent, the best compendium of ideas of social science by arguably the best thinker in the field. I took copious notes, etc. I agreed with its patchwork-style approach to rational decision making. I knew that it had huge insights applicable to my refusal of general theories [they don't work], rather limit ourselves to nuts and bolts [they work].
Then I started reading it again, as the book tends to locate itself by my bedside and sneaks itselfin my suitcase when I go on a trip. It is as if the book wanted me to read it.It is what literature does to you when it is at its best. So I realized why: it had another layer of depth --and the author distilled ideas from the works of Proust, La Rochefoucault, Tocqueville, Montaigne, people with the kind of insights that extend beyond the ideas, and that makes you feel that a reductionist academic treatment of the subject will necessary distort it [& somehow Elster managed to combine Montaigne and Kahneman-Tversky].So as an anti-Platonist I finally found a rigorous treatment of human nature that is not Platonistic --not academic (in the bad sense of the word).
Nassim Nicholas Taleb ... Read more

Product Description
Karl Albrecht defines social intelligence (SI) as the ability to get along well with others while winning their cooperation. SI is a combination of sensitivity to the needs and interests of others, sometimes called your “social radar,” an attitude of generosity and consideration, and a set of practical skills for interacting successfully with people in any setting. Social Intelligence provides a highly accessible and comprehensive model for describing, assessing, and developing social intelligence at a personal level. This book is filled with intriguing concepts, enlightening examples, stories, cases, situational strategies, and a self-assessment tool – all designed to help you learn to navigate social situations more successfully. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

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This book is an entertaining read, but filled with wrong ideas/old information/ and crazy talk. It is similar to his previous works, especially "emotional intelligence." The author reacts to the concerns critics raised about "emotional intelligence." "Emotional intelligence" could be no different than what a con-man or a used-car salesman might use to get what he/she wants... yet he cannot find a way to separate the con-man from a genuinely loving mother or childhood friend. He spends a chapter connecting stress and being at the bottom of the business hierarchy... anyone who has worked long enough would know this obvious fact to be true. For some reason he labors on the idea of the "dark triad" when in fact these are well-established personality disorders in psychiatry. Finally, it's hard to ignore his own chutzpah when he talks about his own good deeds helping the hungry in New York city, while denouncing everyone else as uncaring and unsympathetic... he criticizes doctors, seminarians, and other outstanding members of society... other people cannot be THAT evil and bad. Overall, it is a good read for a Saturday evening on the porch, and for some name dropping at your next dinner party.

Cheers.

Good if you understand a lot of the stuff behind it.
I saw a post about not having any meat, but if you've read some books about psychology, NLP, and similar stuff you'll like the presentation of the book and have a deeper understanding of where it's coming from. It has a lot of good idea's of having empathy and relating to other people to cooperate and work together, and also getting you're way :).

Social Intelligence:The Science of Success
Had to have this book for an online class to finish my degree.It is so good, my wife is reading it when I am not, and it is even helping in our relationship with each other!This is suppose to be for a business class, but it is an excellent resource to refer back to as well as for how we deal with relationships with everyone in the work force to home environment.Excellent book, I would highly recommend it.

Fluff
Sad to type but this book by a managment consultant offers obvious advice: unions win fewer elections when a company does not tolerate abusive managers;CEOs like Chainsaw Al are bad for morale; watch out for people who give "left handed compliments"; the Japanese use different communication styles than we do.There are a few valuble nuggets: he offers a list of questions for "idea selling"(that is, to get others to be more receptive to your ideas, and he talks about a style of writing that eliminates the "to be" verb---so change "I am a lawyer" to " I practice law."All in all, not helpful even for a starter book on communication and interpersonal relationships.

Worth a quick read
This book starts out with some very useful insights and great clarity on the foundations of intelligence. The author uses helpful acronyms to support your review of social intelligence. Acronyms may sound trite but look for the underlying message. The second half of the book becomes very light and the epilogue is nothing but pure social editorial. I'm glad I read it and came away with some useful lessons. A good starter or introduction to social intelligence. ... Read more

Product Description
This book introduces students to social science research from the consumer's point of view.The authors believe that while social science may not require that every student of the discipline will have to conduct research studies, it is still essential for students to successfully read, understand and evaluate the research published in their field.To that end, the authors of this text have streamlined their narrative, omitting the burden of technical jargon, and focusing on the broad elements common to all kinds of social science research, such as experimental, survey, and case study. Questions to Ask, found at the end of each chapter, highlight the specific criteria to consider when evaluating research and offer a clear and accessible presentation of the general principles in social science research. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

So-so
I thought this book was slightly dumbed-down and unsophisticated. Concepts were conflated with no mention of the subtleties involved or alternative understandings. Overall, it is not a terrible book, nor is it excellent. ... Read more