Tomeki
Cover of Tricks of the trade

Tricks of the trade

how to think about your research while you're doing it

By Howard Saul Becker

0 (0 Ratings)
5 Want to read0 Currently reading0 Have read

Publish Date

1998

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Language

eng

Pages

232

Description:

Tricks of the Trade will help students think about research projects. Assisted by Becker's sound advice, students will be able to make better sense of their research and simultaneously generate fresh ideas on where to look next for new data. Becker's tricks cover four broad areas of social science: The creation of the "imagery" to guide research; methods of "sampling" to generate maximum variety in the data, the development of "concepts" to organize findings, and the use of "logical" methods to explore systematically the implications of what is found. Becker's advice ranges from simple suggestions such as changing an interview question from "Why?" to "How?" (as a way of getting people to talk without asking for justification) to more technical advice such as how to manipulate truth tables.