Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Research Methods in the Social Sciences: (Elgar Encyclopedias in the Social Sciences series)

About the Book

Encompassing theoretical, epistemological, and methodological strategies and approaches, this Concise Encyclopedia provides an interdisciplinary overview of social science research methods.

Leading international scholars explore the meta-theoretical presuppositions of social research, along with entries spanning diverse topics including among others the role of art, artificial intelligence, digitalization and oral history. The Encyclopedia traces the evolution of historical research within the field, while highlighting contemporary digital, longitudinal, militant ethnography and other innovations. It promotes methodological pluralism and multi-method research, combining quantitative and qualitative strategies in its investigation of social phenomena and processes.

This Concise Encyclopedia is a valuable resource for scholars, students and researchers across the social sciences looking to orient themselves in this important field.

Key Features:

• Adopts flexible and interdisciplinary perspectives
• Contains 46 accessible and highly informative entries
• Engages with constructive debates about different methodological approaches
• Covers both broad and specialized topics

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface xiv Acknowledgements xvi 1 Agent-based modelling 1 Leonardo Bargigli, Luca Riccetti, Alberto Russo, and Nicola Visonà 2 Arts-based research 10 Margrit Schreier and Nicole Weydmann 3 Coding qualitative data 18 Philip Adu 4 Critical realism 27 John Michael Roberts 5 Critical realism methods 34 Michalis Christodoulou 6 Dialectics and research methods in social sciences 42 Manolis Dafermos 7 Digital ethnography 48 Georgios Chatzichristos 8 Discourse analysis 54 Eleftheria Tseliou and Filippos Tentolouris 9 Epistemology of social sciences 62 Nikos Nagopoulos 10 Experimental ethnographic methods 69 Carlos Diz and Eleder Piñeiro Aguiar 11 Experiments in social research 77 Petros Roussos 12 FAIR data 84 Dimitra Kondyli 13 Focus groups 91 Jackie Waterfield and Julius Sim 14 Focused ethnography 98 Leanne M. Kelly 15 Grounded theory 105 Giorgos Tsiolis 16 Homelessness research 113 Vassilis P. Arapoglou and Ioanna Gouseti 17 Longitudinal research 120 Emanuela Sala and Daniele Zaccaria 18 Mapping methods for the social sciences 127 Dounia Salamé and Luce Beeckmans 19 Methodological nationalism 132 Kyriakos Bonidis 20 Methods in demography 141 Pavlos Baltas 21 Methods in economic geography 150 Elias A. Kourliouros 22 Militant research in the social sciences 160 Charalampos Tsavdaroglou 23 Mixed methods 167 Theodoros Iosifides 24 New materialisms and social research methodology 171 Nick J. Fox 25 Oral history methods 180 Christos Chrysanthopoulos and Eleni Kyramargiou 26 Phenomenology and social research 185 Henrik Gert Larsen 27 Positivism and social sciences 193 Tryfonas Lemontzoglou 28 Postmodern methods (and techniques) 196 Lila Leontidou 29 Pragmatism for social research 203 Leanne M. Kelly and Maya Cordeiro 30 Qualitative content analysis 211 Margrit Schreier 31 Qualitative data analysis software in the era of artificial intelligence 219 Loukia-Maria Fratsea 32 Qualitative interviewing 227 Kathryn Roulston 33 Qualitative social research 236 Theodoros Iosifides 34 Quantitative methods in social research 243 Eleni Gaki 35 Rank-size analysis: a methodological view 252 Roy Cerqueti and Marcel Ausloos 36 Realist evaluation 258 Ana Manzano 37 Reflexivity in social research 264 Nicole Brown 38 Regression analysis 269 Sotirios Koukoulas 39 Research ethics 277 Manos Savvakis 40 Research methods in economics 284 Martin Paldam 41 Research methods in rural studies 292 Apostolos G. Papadopoulos 42 Research methods in urban segregation 300 Thomas Maloutas and Vassilis P. Arapoglou 43 Social constructionism 307 Anna Traianou and Martyn Hammersley 44 Structural equation models 313 Alessandro Magrini 45 Survey research 318 Jung-Sook Lee 46 Visual methods 327 Paula González Granados and Ana Lucía Hernández Cordero

About the Author :
Edited by Theodoros Iosifides, Professor of Social Science Methods, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Greece

Review :
‘This volume is a crucial intervention, moving social research past the restrictive subject-object dualism. By embracing methodological reflexivity and engaged research, it powerfully asserts that social science is not merely interpreting the world, but actively participating in its construction. Essential reading for scholars seeking a holistic, ethically grounded approach to knowledge production.’