01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Social research methods: choose a design and audit a measurement
Compare a free methods primer, a proposal guide and digital-research book; use original coding tables to distinguish agreement, chance adjustment and validity.
Study route and exercise: University Reading List editorial project.
Who this book is for
For graduate social researchers and quantitatively minded readers planning studies with digital data. It also supports advanced undergraduate methods discussions. Read it to improve the link between a social question and a defensible design, rather than to learn the current interface of a particular platform.
Prerequisites
Basic research-methods vocabulary is helpful. The main narrative does not require advanced mathematics or programming; some optional activities do require additional quantitative or coding skills.
What it covers
Four approaches to gathering evidence are considered alongside the ethical decisions that cut across them. The discussion helps identify what large behavioral records reveal and what they leave unobserved. Surveys and experiments offer ways to design evidence instead of simply accepting whatever a platform happens to collect.
How to use it
Take one proposed study and write down the target population, the observations available and the people excluded. Compare a design based on existing traces with a design that asks participants new questions. Before selecting a tool, describe consent, potential harm and who benefits. Use the activities’ skill labels to choose a manageable exercise, then consult the technical reading pointers.
Edition and sources
The author’s institutional record dates publication to November 27, 2017; the book carries a 2018 copyright year. The author’s first-edition website provides free reading. Platform examples belong to their historical context, so current access rules and software require separate checking.
