Web Site Index

This index provides the names and addresses of sites listed at various places on this site. Names and addresses are listed in bold type and are underlined. Clicking on a name will take you to that site. After the address for the Ahfad University for Women, a co-sponsor of this site, Web addresses are grouped according to their content, beginning with sites that act as "Browsers." Following the site's address, we show where the site has been mentioned on this site, as in Welcome, Chapter 1, etc. Headings identifying topics, beginning with "Browsers," are placed in the center of pages to help you move quickly to topics and then sites you want to find.

We ask your help in maintaining accurate, up-to-date addresses for Web sites we cite. Please let us know of any incorrect address or address that is no longer valid. Also, we will appreciate recommendations for sites we should consider adding at various places on this site. You can send information by clicking on "Contact Us."

Browsers

Each of the following services allows a computer to connect to the Internet.

Internet Explorer, http://www.microsoft.com, Help, Chapter 4

Mozilla Firefox, http://www.mozilla.org, Help, Chapter 4

Netscape Navigator, http://www.netscape.com, Help, Chapter 4

Case Studies

(The) Application of Case Study Evaluation,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=2&n=9, Chapters 13 and 14, defines and discusses six types of case studies; presents evaluation questions that can be answered with each and some design features and problems to watch for with each type of case study

Case Studies,
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/casestudy/, Chapter 13, examines case studies as a form of qualitative research and provides several examples of well documented case studies as a way of illustrating how data are collected and analyzed in a case study.

Causal Relationships,
http://www.rouncefield.homestead.com/files/as_soc_method_22.htm, Chapter 3, simply and briefly explains the three conditions for establishing a cause and effect relationship: the cause must proceed the effect; there must be a strong correlation between the presumed cause and its effect; and all other possible explanations are eliminated

Establishing Cause & Effect,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/causeeff.htm, Chapter 3, present brief, clear explanations of the three criteria that must be met before you can say you have evidence for a causal relationship. To repeat, these are timing, a correlation between the presumed causal variable and the dependent variable, and the elimination of all other possible causes.

Types of Relationships,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/relation.htm, Chapter 3, distinguishes between a correlational relationship and a causal relationship. A correlational relationship simply shows the interdependence between two variables; all one can say is that the two variables are related and nothing more. The relationship doesn't tell us whether one variable causes changes in another. The next two sites describe causal relationships.

Content Analysis

(An) Overview of Content Analysis,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=17, Chapter 12, defines and discusses techniques of content analysis

Overview: Content Analysis,
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/casestudy/, Chapter 13, provides an introduction to content analysis, with examples and definitions of key terms

Unobtrusive Meaurement,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/unobtrus.htm, Chapter 12, describes types of unobtrusive measures, including indirect measurement, content analysis, and secondary analysis of data

Databases

Anthropology Index,
http://aio.anthropology.org.uk/aio/AIO.html, Chapter 4, published by the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, contains bibliographic citations from journal holdings of the Anthropology Library of the British Museum

Digital Dissertations,
http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/, Chapter 4, a subscription service, provides abstracts and the first 24 pages of PhD dissertations and many MA theses from almost all North American and many other universities; the full texts of dissertations and theses are also available for a fee

Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC),
http://www.eric.ed.gov/, Chapter 4, the home page for the educational database sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education; includes abstracts for a wide range of educational and social science literature and links to many related sites

Google Scholar,
http://scholar.google.com/, Chapter 4, covers peer-reviewed papers, theses,
books, abstracts and articles across the world of scholarly research

POPLINE,
http://db.jhuccp.org/popinform/basic.html, Chapters 2 and 4, the world's largest bibliographic reproductive health database, covering the fields of population, family planning, and related health issues

Population Information Network, United Nations Population
Information Network (POPIN),
http://www.un.org/popin/, Chapter 12, a comprehensive guide to population information on Web sites of UN agencies

PsycINFO,
http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/, Chapter 4, produced by the American Psychological Association, this international database covers the scholarly and professional literature in psychology and related fields; including journal articles, chapters in books, and complete books

United Nations Statistical Division, Databases,
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm, Chapter 12, provides information about countries, including 48 social and economic indicators; also includes links to other databases maintained by UN organizations

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
http://dec.usaid.gov/, Chapter 4, maintains the Development Experience System, a set of databases containing records for about 100,000 technical and program documents

Data Preparation and Entry

BTS Guide to Good Statistical Practice in the Transportation Field,
http://www.bts.gov/publications/guide_to_good_statistical_practice_
in_the_transportation_field/index.html, Chapter 16, from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a guide on how to present data analyses and discussion of data quality and errors

Census and Survey Processing System,
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/cspro/index.html, Chapter 16, provided by the official statistical body of the U.S. government, the Census Bureau, this package includes free software for entering, tabulating, and mapping census and survey data

Data Analysis with Epi Info,
http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/gerstman/EpiInfo/, Chapter 16, a free source for Epi Info, a statistical analysis package; provides for data entry and a wide range of statistical analyses

Data Preparation,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/statprep.htm, Chapter 16, describes and illustrates steps involved with data preparation, includes keeping track of the data, checking data for accuracy and completeness, developing a database structure, entering data into a computer, and modifying data during the process of analysis

Free Software,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/soft.html, Chapter 16, an extensive guide with links to a variety of statistical analysis packages and related resources; also provides links to guides for making statistical calculations

Design/Methods

Before the Inquiry: Scoping the Research Terrain,
http://people.cornell.edu/pages/alr26/tutorial/weltut.html, Chapter 4, this Web site provides detailed guidance based on a six-step process, beginning with clarifying your question, conducting a literature review, noting patterns in what you find, obtaining the assistance of others in integrating and confirming what you have learned, and finally, synthesizing exisiting knowledge about the question you intend to investigate

Designing Designs for Research,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/desdes.htm, Chapter 5, presents various designs that can be used to test for effects of independent variables on dependent variables; describes criteria that must be met to achieve validity in designs

Research Methods,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/books.htm, Chapter 5, provides brief descriptions of and links to a wide variety of online books, manual, and guides to research methods

The Research Methods Knowledge Base,
www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/contents.htm, Welcome, this site is the home page for a number of additional Web pages, each of which provides brief, easily understood descriptions and illustrations of virtually any social research method you might want to use; covers the foundations of research, sampling, measurement, design, analysis, and the process of writing up a research report

Research Methods and Statistics,
http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/aupr/tools.shtml, Welcome and Chapter 5; presents links to a wide variety of sites dealing with research designs and methods, including how to conduct library research, use of qualitative and quantitative research methods; also includes some useful research tutorials

Resources for Methods in Evaluation and Social Research,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/, Welcome, this site provides links to information about social research practices and methods, ways of analyzing and presenting data and results, issues related to research ethics, free software, and many other topics

Structure of Research,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/strucres.htm, Chapter 1, describes the process of research as resembling the shape of an hour glass; researchers start with a broad question, narrow the focus to a specific problem or question, convert this to an hypothesis which further restricts the inquiry, and then develop measures and collect data for testing the hypothesis; following analysis of the data, the focus broadens again with the formulation of conclusions and generalizations from the investigation

Time in Research,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/timedim.htm, Chapter 5, distinguishes between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies;discusses two ways of collecting longitudinal data — through repeated measurement and as part of time series collection

Types of Data,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/datatype.htm, Chapter 5, defines and illustrates differences and similarities between quantitative and qualitative data

Types of Designs,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/destypes.htm, Chapter 5, defines and discusses three classes types of designs - randomized experiments, quasi-experiments, and non-experiments

Types of Questions,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/questype.htm, Chapter 5, presents research questions as one of three kinds: descriptive in purpose, which is to describe a variable as it currently exist (X percent of the voters voted for candidate A); relational, to measure the relationship between two variables (was gender related to preference for candidate A or B; or causal (to determine whether one variable, a new focus for a family planning program, for example, resulted in changes in use of contraceptives)

Types of Relationships,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/relation.htm Chapter 5, draws a distinction between correlational and causal relationships; illustrates positive, negative, and curvilinear relationships

Variables,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/variable.htm, Chapter 3, defines and describes characteristics of variables

Ethics in Research

American Psychological Association Ethical Principles,
http://www.apa.org/ethics/code2002.html, Chapter 6, presents the ethical guidelines established by the APA

American Sociological Society, Association Code of Ethics, 
http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=Ethics&name=Ethics, Help and Chapter 6, presents the ethical guidelines established by the ASA

Code of Conduct for Research Involving Humans,
http://www.ethics.ubc.ca/code/, Chapter 6, presents the Canadian code of conduct for research with humans

Evaluation Research

(The) Application of Case Study Evaluation,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=2&n=9, Chapter 14, defines,and discusses six types of case studies; presents evaluation questions that can be answered with each and some design features and problems to watch for with each type of case study

Approaches to Evaluation,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/approaches.html, Chapter 14, provides a large number of links to sites describing various ways of designing and conducting evaluations

Evaluability Assessment: A Primer,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=20, Chapter 14, discusses the important step of understanding the program you are about to evaluate; explains how to do this.

Free Evaluation Resources for Developing Countries
http://earth.prohosting.com/elecon/evaldevel/evaldevelopment.html — provides resources for conducting evaluation research, with particular reference to applications in developing countries; describes the best use of the site; goals, plans and programs; list of classes; project email list; evaluation Wiki document work pages; and a set of links to evaluation sites, email groups, organizations, etc.

Guiding Principles for Evaluators,
http://www.eval.org/Publications/GuidingPrinciples.asp, Chapter 14, provides the ethical guidelines issued by American Evaluation Association.

Guidelines for the Preparation of Independent Evaluations
of ILO Programmes and Projects,
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/program/guides/evalmenu.htm, Chapter 14,   provides definitions of key concepts of an independent evaluation; describes evaluation methods; and discusses planning for and conducting evaluations, including the responsibilities of the evaluator and roles of stakeholders; also provides a suggested outline of an evaluation report

How to Deliver Negative Evaluation Results Constructively,
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~lilleys/tips.htm,l Chapter 14, provides ten suggestions for delivering negative evaluation results, based on the assumption that persons are more open to learning and change when they do not feel threatened

Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation,
http://pareonline.net/, Chapter 14, this site is a   peer-reviewed electronic journal; provides the full texts of articles such as found in a printed journal; covers research methodology, evaluation design and methods, and articles of interest to research students

Resources for Methods in Evaluation and Social Research,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/, Chapter 14, presents practical, "how to" guidance for conducting evaluation studies

Steps for a Successful Policy Analysis,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Barrien/barrien.htm, Chapter 14, describes how to conduct a policy analysis in six easy steps and provides links to other policy analysis sites

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Evaluations,
http://dec.usaid.gov/, Chapter 14, a rich source of evaluation reports concerning outcomes of assistance programs in countries throughout the world

(The) Use of Qualitative Interviews in Evaluation,
http://ag.arizona.edu/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/Intervu5.htm, Chapter 14, describes use of qualitative interviewing as a technique for collecting evaluation data

Using Existing Records in Evaluation,
http://ag.arizona.edu/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/Exisrec5.htm, Chapters 12 and 14, discusses the value and use of existing records in conducting evaluations

Using Focus Groups in Evaluation,
http://ag.arizona.edu/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/focus.htm, Chapters 13 and 14, describes what focus groups can tell you, examines the advantages of focus groups and how to conduct them, and describes variations in using focus groups

Experimental Designs

Experimental Design,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/desexper.htm, Chapter 9, presents the basic ideas behind experimental design; includes links to descriptions of various experimental designs

Internal Validity,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intval.htm, Chapter 9, defines internal validity as the extent to which you have evidence that what you did in a study (such as changing an independent variable) caused what you observed (a change in the dependent variable)

Multiple-Group Threats,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intmult.htm, Chapter 9, describes threats that remain, even if an experimental design is used

Overview: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Research,
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/%7Elilleys/tips.html, Chapter 9, an overview of basic concepts and an introduction to experimental research; described steps involved

Quasi-Experimental Design,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/quasiexp.htm, Chapter 9, presents two classic quasi-experimental designs, the nonequivalent control group design and the regression-discontinuity design

Single Group Threats,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intsing.htm, Chapter 9, provides clear descriptions and illustrations of threats to the internal validity of experiments

Social Interaction Threats,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intsoc.htm, describes how interactions among participants in an experiment, including program administrators and staff, subjects, and the experimenter, can destroy or seriously limit the internal validity of an experiment

Two-Group Experimental Designs,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/expsimp.htm, Chapter 9, describes the simplest of all experimental designs - the two-group posttest only randomized design

Focus Groups

Face-to-Face Focus Groups, Telephone Focus Groups,
Online Focus Groups,
http://www.mnav.com/qualitative_research.htm, Chapter 13, provides links to articles on focus groups and qualitative research

Qualitative Research: Telephone Focus Groups,
Face-to-Face Focus Groups,
http://www.mnav.com/qualitative_research.htm, Chapter 13, presents lively discussions on more than 15 full length articles on telephone focus groups; includes practical advice on how best to manage telephone and face-to-face focus groups

Using Focus Groups for Evaluation,
http://ag.arizona.edu/fcs/cyfernet/cyfar/focus.htm, Chapter 13, describes and illustrates how to organize and use focus groups; discusses what they can tell you and what they cannot tell you

Full Text Sources

Dissertation Abstracts (ProQuest Digital Dissertations,
http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/, Chapter 4, a subscription service, provides abstracts and the first 24 pages of PhD dissertations and many MA theses from almost all North American and many other universities; the full texts of dissertations and theses are also available for a fee

Electronic Journals and Periodicals,
http://psych.hanover.edu/krantz/journal.html, Chapter 4, provides an index to electronic journals, conference proceedings, and other publications related to the field of psychology

POPLINE Digital Service,
http://rehydrate.org/links/popline.html, Chapters 2 and 4, the address for conducting a basic search of POPLIINE; also provides a link ordering full texts of documents cited on POPLINE

FIND ARTICLES,
http://www.findarticles.com/, Chapter 4, a free article search service; brief articles are supplied in full text

HighWire,
http://highwire.stanford.edu/, Chapter 4,   provides online access to articles in over 4,500 medical journals and 300 other journals

Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation (PARE),
http://pareonline.net/, Chapter 4, this is a peer-reviewed electronic journal with articles on research methodology, evaluation design and methods, and other topics of interest to research students

Social Science Resource Network (SSRN),
http://www.ssrn.com/, Chapter 4, provides an Abstract Database containing abstracts to over 39,000 scholarly working papers and over 21,000 full text documents on many topics

Glossaries

Internet Glossary of Statistical Terms,
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/statglos/statglos.htm, Chapter 17, provides definitions of a wide range of statistical terms.

Statistical Sampling Terms,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampstat.htm, Chapter 19, defines and illustrates three key terms - variable, statistic, and parameter and their relationship with the sampling the sampling distribution, sampling error, and the normal distribution

Statistics Glossary,
http://www.cas.lancs.ac.uk/glossary_v1.1/hyptest.html, Chapters 17 and 19, provides definitions of terms used in hypothesis testing, illustrates steps involved, and shows how to interpret the results of   hypothesis tests; provides links to Web sites that perform a wide range of statistical calculations

International Organizations

International Labour Organization,
http://www.ilo.org/, Chapters 4 and 12, provides key indicators of the labour market in countries

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html, Chapter 4, provides analytical reports on social and economic trends in member countries and Eastern Europe, including flows of aid to developing countries

United Nations (UN),
http://www.un.org/, Chapter 4, provides information about UN programs and publications

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
http://www.unicef.org/, Chapter 4, provides a wide array of statistics about the lives of children throughout the world, particularly in developing countries

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), State of the World’s Children, http://www.unicef.org/sowc02/fullreport.htm, Chapter 12, reports on progress in improving the lives of children since 1990

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women,
http://www.childinfo.org/, Chapter 12, UNICEF’s Web site with detailed country-specific data on children and women throughout the world

United Nations Development Program (UNDP),
http://www.undp.org/, Chapter 4, provides data on worldwide social and economic development indicators

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29008&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html, Chapter 4, provides information on all aspects of educational systems worldwide, Chapter 4, provides links to library resources throughout the world

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home, Chapter 4, provides data and analyses related to refuges and displaced persons throughout the world

United Nations Population Division (UNPOP),
http://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm, Chapter 4, information and data on worldwide, population trends

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
http://www.unfpa.org/, Chapters 4, presents issues relation to population growth and impacts on the environment

United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD),
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/default.htm, Chapter 4, provides statistics for over 200 countries and areas of the world

The World Bank,
,http://www.worldbank.org/, Chapters 4 and 12, home page of the World Bank, with links to a vast amount of information on other pages of the site and to other international sites

World Heath Organization (WHO),
http://www.who.int/, Chapter 12, provides information on all aspects of health and health services throughout the world; includes the World Heath Report, Statistical Annex, presents data on the burden of disease and summary measures of the health of populations of WHO member states

Internet and Web Surveys

Casting the Net: Surveying an Internet Population,
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol3/issue1/smith.html, Chapter 10, contrasts email and Web-based survey techniques and examines practical issues of Web surveying

Conducting Web-Based Surveys,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=19, Chapter 10, discusses the Web as a way of conducting surveys and provides guidance for planning and conducting a Web-based survey

Feasibility of Computer-Assisted Survey in Africa,
http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/wp/168.pdf, Chapter 10, explores use of audio computer-assisted self-interviewing in several areas of Kenya, discusses one survey and explores technical challenges faced by data collection teams

Using the Internet for Survey Research,
http://www.socresonline.org.uk/2/2/2.html, Chapter 10, an article in an online journal, Sociological Research Online; describes survey research using the Internet to reach an international audience of drug dealers, who are difficult to reach under normal circumstances; examines sampling issues; argues that an Internet survey can produce valuable data although issues of interpretation and generalization remain

Interviewing

Designing Structured Interviews for Educational Research,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=12, Chapter 11, although intended for educational researchers, this site provides valuable guidance for all social researchers;   the article covers basic steps and operations involved in interviewing, identifies problems   that often arise and suggests ways to avoid them

Guidelines for Survey Interviewing,
http://www.ncrel.org/literacy/eval/survey%20interviewing.DOC, Chapter 11, identifies sources of error in surveys, describes standard interviewing techniques, presents guidelines for recording answers for different kinds of questions, and provides suggestions for ensuring collection of valid and reliable data

Interviews,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intrview.htm, Chapter 11, a thorough and readable description of the entire process of preparing for and conducting interviews for research purposes; includes discussion of the role of the interviewer, suggestions for successful interviewing, and provides guidance on how to ask questions and record responses

Introduction to Survey Interviewing,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/intrview.htm, Chapter 11, presents a diagram showing all the steps in the interview process followed by a set of bullet statements describing each step from selecting a sample, screening to select the proper respondents, techniques for gaining cooperation and maintaining trust with the respondent, how to conduct an interview and record responses, including suggestions for handling "don't know" responses

Qualitative Interviewing,
http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/ardelt/Aging/QualInt.htm, Chapter 11, this site illustrates how questions are presented and interaction is carried out with respondents. It also offers guidance on how to prepare and conduct qualitative interviews.

Telephone Methods for Social Surveys,
http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/SRU8.html, Chapter 11, discusses the potential advantages of telephone interviewing and possible doubts about the quality of information obtained

Measurement

Measurement,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/measure.htm, Chapter 6, discusses the fundamental ideas involved with measurement in social research

Measurement Error,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/measerr.htm, Chapter 7, shows the relationships between a true score and random and systematic error components of any score

Measurement, Reliability, and Validity,
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/308/308lect04.htm, Chapter 6, discusses conceptualization, operationalization, unit of analysis, and reliability and validity

Measurement Validity Type,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/measval.htm, Chapter 6, this site provides an alternative way of thinking about validity. Validity is presented in terms of how well a concept is translated into an operational measure

Overview: Reliability and Validity,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/measval.htm, Chapter 6, presents an alternative description of reliability and validity and ways to estimate each; also contains commentary on the difficulty of achieving reliability, defines key terms related to reliability and validity, and provides an annotated bibliography on reliability and validity issues

Reducing Measurement Error in Informal Sector Surveys,
http://mospi.nic.in/informal_paper_17.htm, Chapter 10, provides suggestions for reducing errors in the collection and analysis of survey data

The Role of Measurement Error,
http://zebu.uoregon.edu/1999/es202/l16.html, Chapter 7, describes how random error and systematic work to form the final measurement one observes

Scaling,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scaling.htm, Chapter 7, discusses general issues in the development of scales and describes and illustrates construction of Likert, Thurstone, and Guttman scales

Types of Reliability,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/reltypes.htm, Chapter 6, detailed discussion of ways of the strengths and weaknesses of four kinds of reliability estimates

"Unobtrusive" Data Collection,
http://www.toolpack.com/d/unobtrusive.html, Chapter 6, describes and illustrates types of unobtrusive data collection, including use of records, past survey information, letters and other written communications

Unobstrusive Measurement,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/unobtrus.htm, Chapter 12, describes types of unobtrusive measures, including indirect measurement, content analysis, and secondary analysis of data

Participant Observation

Participant Observation,
http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/particip.htm, Chapter 13, discusses key concepts and terms associated with participant observation, presents arguments in favor of this method of research and discusses its limitations

The Five Dimensions of Participant Observation,
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~mid/edr725/class/observation/fivedimensions/, Chapter 13, presents participant observation in terms of (1) the role of the observer; (2) portrayal of the role to others; (3) portrayal of the study purpose to others; (4) duration of the observation; and (5) also provides a discussion of what to observe and how to take and record field notes

Qualitative Research: Essentials of Participant Observation,
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~mid/edr725/class/observation/, Chapter 13, describes and discusses the relations between the observer and participants and other dimensions of participant observation; includes guidelines for conducting participant observation studies

Population Statistics

Transitions in World Population,
http://www.prb.org/, Chapter 2, provides a comprehensive description of population changes, examines bases for future changes, and discusses other issues related to the changing characteristics of the world's population

Qualitative Research

Methods — Qualitative,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/qual.htm, Chapter 13, guide to various qualitative research techniques

Overview: Ethnology, Observation Research and Narrative Inquiry,
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/observe/, Chapter 13, describes observational and interpretative techniques for observing behavior of groups

Participant Observation,
http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/particip.htm, Chapter 13, presents key concepts and terms and described the process of conducting participant observation, also presents arguments in favor of this methods of research and discusses its limitations

Qualitative Approaches,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualapp.htm, Chapter 13, covers ethnography, phenomenolgy, field and grounded research theory

Qualitative Data,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualdata.htm, Chapter 13, provides a brief description of three kinds of qualitative data; data derived from in-depth interviews, based on direct observation, and as derived from written documents

Qualitative Measures,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qual.htm, Chapter 13, provides an introduction to qualitative research; discusses issues you should consider before undertaking qualitative research

Qualitative Methods,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualmeth.htm, Chapter 13, discusses a few of the more commonly used qualitative research methods, including participant observation, unstructured interviewing, and case studies

The Qualitative-Quantitative Debate,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualdeb.htm, Chapter 13, illustrates that all qualitative data can be coded quantitatively and that all quantitative data are based on qualitative judgments

Qualitative Research: Essentials of Participant Observation,
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~mid/edr725/class/observation/, Chapter 13, describes and discusses the relations between the observer and participants and other dimensions of participant observation; includes guidelines for conducting participant observation

Qualitative Research Resources on the Internet,
http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/qualres.html,  this site provides links qualitative research sites and materials available through the Internet, including links to Web pages on a variety of topics, journals, syllabi, and the current issues of The Qualitative Report, an online journal

Qualitative Validity,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/qualval.htm, Chapter 13, examines four standards for judging the soundness of qualitative research; these are credibility, transferabilty, dependability, and confirmability; each criteria is described and illustrated

Questionnaire Construction

Constructing the Survey,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survwrit.htm, Chapter 10, provides clear, useful guidance for constructing a questionnaire; includes links to pages hat will help you make decisions about content, types, wording, and placement of questions; forms of response formats and all the other details that must be managed in developing an effective questionnaire

Hints for Designing Effective Questionnaires,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=3, Chapter 10, offers suggestions for designing quality questionnaires and for avoiding common errors

Household Sample Surveys in Developing and Transition Countries,
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/hhsurveys/, Chapter 10, a comprehensive discussion dealing with survey research; consists of 21 chapters that cover survey design, sample design, non-sampling errors (meaning any errors other than due to the expected sampling error), survey costs, and issues related to the analysis of data; also presents some case studies of sample surveys used to collect household data  

Methods — Survey Methods,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/surveys.htm, Chapter 10, provides extensive links to sites with information related to surveys; includes sets of links to academic, government, commercial and private sources; also lists surveys on the Internet and names and Web address of organizations with information about conducting surveys

Overview: Survey Research,
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/survey/, Chapter 10, describes different types of surveys, methods used, advantages and disadvantages, reliability and validity, ethics, response rates, and defines key terms associated with survey research

Question Content,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/quescont.htm, Chapter 10, provides detailed guidance for writing questions

Question Placement,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/quesplac.htm, Chapter 10, provides guidelines for deciding on the placement of questions in a questionnaire,

Question Wording,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/quesword.htm, Chapter 10, raises questions about wording questions in a questionnaire

Questionnaire Design,
http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/Topics/quest-design/, Help and Chapter 10, covers the essential points in constructing a questionnaire

Questionnaire Design and Analysis,
http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~kate/qmcweb/qcont.htm, Chapter 10, presented as a workbook; covers all aspects of designing a survey and constructing and testing a questionnaire; also describes ways of analyzing survey data

Response Format,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/quesresp.htm, Chapter 10, discusses structured and unstructured response formats

Types of Questions,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/questype.htm, Chapter 10, describes various forms of structured and unstructured questions, including dichotomous questions (ones with only two answers), questions based on levels of measurement, and contingency questions

Rapid Rural Appraisal

(The) Community Toolbox: The Idea, Methods and Tools for Participatory
Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation in Community Forestry,
http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/x5307e/x5307e00.htm, Chapter 15, provides a comprehensive, detailed discussion of the idea of participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation (PAME), methods used with this research technique, and descriptions and illustrations of tools used (meetings, posters, murals, story telling, etc.

Participatory Rural Appraisal,
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/sourcebook/sba104.htm, Chapter 15, contains a discussion of the key tenets of PRA, ways of conducting a PRA, references, and an illustration of natural resource management in Burkina Faso based on PRA

Rapid Rural Appraisal,
http://www.fao.org/docrep/W3241E/w3241e09.htm, Chapter 15, provides a comprehensive discussion of RRA

Rapid Rural Appraisal: A Description of the Method and its Application
in Teaching and Research at Charles Stuart University,
http://www.csu.edu.au/research/crsr/ruralsoc/v4n3p30.htm, Chapter 15, provides an introduction to RRA with a discussion of its features and methods used by RRA practitioners

Rapid Rural Appraisal Method,
http://www.rdiland.org/RESEARCH/Research_RapidRural.html, Chapter 15, as applied in the research described, respondents, in this case farmers, are not respondents to a questionnaire, but as active participants in a semi-structured interview; describes how this approach produces much more detailed information on issues of importance to the individual

Rapid Rural Appraisal and Rapid Assessment Procedures: A Comparison,
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food2/UIN08E/uin08e0x.htm, Chapter 15, points out the common characteristics, potentials of RRA and PRA and suggests some distinctions that have been emerging between the two techniques

References (Formatting)

American Psychological Association,
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html.

Formatting,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/formatting.htm

(A) Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Styles Recommended by
the American Pyschological Association,
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/apa/index.htm, Chapter 20, provides detailed guidance for preparing a research paper, including formats for references based on the style required for submission to journals published by the American Psychological Association

Sampling

Nonprobability Sampling,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampnon.htm, Chapter 8, describes how to select commonly used non-probability samples

Probability Sampling,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampprob.htm, Chapter 8, describes how to select commonly used samples

Research Randomizer,
http://www.randomizer.org/, Chapter 8, provides a form for inputting instructions for designing a simple random sample; following the instructions you provide, will produce a set of random numbers for selecting a sample; also includes a tutorial to walk you through the decisions required to design the sample

Sampling,
http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/sampling.htm, Chapter 8, present key concept and terms used in sampling; describes how to deal with sampling problems and provides answers
to frequently asked questions about sampling such as how to estimate the needed size of a sample

Sampling Guide,
http://www.fantaproject.org/publications/sampling.shtml, Chapter 8, provides a guide for selecting samples; includes how to define the measurements for variables; discusses estimation of sample size; and looks at ways of selecting samples

Sampling in Research,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Mugo/tutorial.htm, Chapter 8, provides an introduction to sampling, written to help beginning researcher understand the issue involved with sampling; describes types of samples and offers guidance on sample size and other questions

Sampling Terminology,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/sampterm.htm, Chapter 8, describes and illustrates key terms used in sampling and describes generalizing to a population

SurfStat 500 Random Digits,
http://www.anu.edu/nceph/surfstat/surfstat-home/tables/random.php, which provides 100 5-digit sets of randomly generated numbers

Scaling

General Issues in Scaling,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scalgen.htm, Chapter 7, defines and illustrates use of scaling; provides links to sites that describe how to develop Likert and Guttman scales and Thurstone or Equal-Appearing Interval Scales (which we do not discuss)

Guttman Scaling,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scalgutt.htm, Chapter 7, provides a step-by-step description and illustration of how to develop a Guttman scale

Likert Scaling,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scallik.htm, Chapter 7, in step-by-step fashion, describes how to develop a Likert scale

Scaling,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/scaling.htm, Chapter 7, introduces the idea of scaling

Scientific Inquiry

Establishing Cause and Effect,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/causeeff.htm, Chapter 3, describes criteria for establishing a cause-effect (causal) relationship  

Introduction to the Scientific Method,
http://teacher.pas.rochester.edu/phy_labs/AppendixE/AppendixE.html, Chapter 1, describes steps in the scientific method, discusses hypothesis testing, identifies common mistakes in applying the scientific method, and addresses other topics related to scientific inquiry

(The) Nature of Scientific Inquiry,
http://www.philosophy.umd.edu/Faculty/LDarden/sciinq/, Help and Chapter 1, illustrates the self correcting processes of science

The Scientific Method,
http://phyun5.ucr.edu/~wudka/Physics7/Notes_www/node5.html, Chapter 1, defines the scientific method, the difference between a fact, theory, and hypothesis, how science established truth, and other issues related to establishing scientific knowledge

Structure of Research,
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/strucres.htm, Chapter 1, describes the structure of research as resembling an hour glass; researchers start with a broad question, then narrow the focus by constructing a hypothesis; data are collected to test the hypothesis, after which results are generalized, leading back to a broader or more general level

Search Engines and Aids for Using Search Engines

AltaVista,
http://www.altavista.com, Chapter 4, a widely used, fast, comprehensive search engine; also offers translation service

Ask,
http://www.ask.com, Chapter 4, a search engine with powerful searching capability; users can present searches in the form of a question

Google,
http://www.google.com/, Chapter 4, a widely used search engine that also allows users to present searches in the form of a question

Hotbot,
http://www.hotbot.com/, Chapter 4, a widely used search engine with comprehensive coverage of Web sites

Internet Explorer,
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx, Help and Chapter 4, a widely used browser for connecting to the Internet

Mozilla Firefox,
http://www.mozilla.com/, Help and Chapter 4, a browser for connecting to the Internet

Netscape Navigator,
http://www.netscape.com/, Help and Chapter 4, a widely used browser for connecting to the Internet

Yahoo!,
http://www.yahoo.com/, Chapter 4, perhaps the most frequently used search engine, Yahoo! is based on sites that have been reviewed and organized by subject experts

Social Indicators and Data Sources

African Development Indicators,
http://www4.worldbank.org/afr/stats/adi2005/default.cfm, Chapter 12, provides the most detailed collection of data on Africa available in one source; presents data from 53 African countries, arranged in separate tables for more than 500 development indicators

Demographic Yearbook, United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD),
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm, Chapter 12, a comprehensive collection of population and demographic statistics of for the world and countries; covers population, fertility, foetal mortality, infant and child mortality, general mortality, and marriage and divorce data

FAOSTAT, Food and Agricultural Organization, http://www.fao.org/waicent/portal/statistics_en.asp, Chapter 12, a multilingual database related to food production and distribution, land and irrigation practices, fishing and fish production, and food aid

GenderStats, The World Bank,
http://genderstats.worldbank.org/home.asp, Chapter 12, a database showing indicators regarding education, labour force participation, health other conditions by gender for countries throughout the world

HNPStats, The World Bank,
thttp://devdata.worldbank.org/hnpstats/, Chapter 12, provides country data sheets showing summary indicators for health status, health determinants, and health finance

Human Development Report 2005, United Nations Development Program,
http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/, Chapter 12, provides data and indicators covering quality of life, income distribution, economic performance, gender equity, and human and labor rights

Human Development Reports: Get Data,
http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/data/, Chapter 12, data from the Human Development Report available fro country, indicator, or in tables; you can also build your own tables

Key Indicators of the Labour Market, Third Edition,
The International Labour Office (ILO),
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/kilm/index.htm, Chapter 12, based on 20 key indicators of the labor market with an explanation of what the indicators represent and how they can be used in assessing labor market issues; includes data on employment, wages, labor markets by country and gender and   many other labour related indicators

Little Data Book 2004, the World Bank,
http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=3426571, Chapter 12, a pocket-sized ready reference on key development data for 206 countries

Live Database Africa, The World Bank,
http://www4.worldbank.org/afr/stats/ldb.cfm, Chapter 12, an extensive database containing a range of indictors for monitoring and evaluating programs and outcomes in African countries

Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women, UNICEF,
http://www.childinfo.org/, Chapter 12, a key Web site for information on the condition of children throughout the world, provides data specific to each country, including indicators for child survival, children's health and nutritional status, maternal health, water and sanitation, educational achievement, immunizations, and many other conditions of

Social Indicators,
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/socind/default.htm, Chapter 12, provides indicators across many areas such as child-bearing, education, health, housing, literacy, economic activity, population, water supply and sanitation, and youth and elderly populations

The State of the World's Children 2005, UNICEF,
http://www.digitaldivide.net/comm/docs/view.php?DocID=62, Chapter 12, includes a wide array of statistics on the lives of children in developing countries; describes programs for improving lives of children; this report examines three of the most widespread factors affecting children today — HIV/AIDS, poverty, and conflict; consists of 5 chapters, 4 maps, and 10 statistical tables                           

The State of the World's Population, 2005, United Nations Population Fund,
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/swpmain.htm, Chapter 12, discusses issues related to population growth and impacts on the environment; includes global agreements on human rights, environment and development, reproductive health and gender equity

The State of the World's Refugees, UNHCR,
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/statistics, Chapter 12, provides data and analysis of refugees and displaced persons throughout the world; numbers, movement and locations of refugees, by region and country; repatriation of refugees

Statistical Data on Children, UNICEF,
http://www.unicef.org/statistics/, Chapter 12, the key Web site for data and information related to the status of children throughout the world

Statistical Databases,
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/databases.htm, Chapter 12, provides brief descriptions of and links to a wide variety of databases produced by Statistics Division, UN, and that are available with unrestricted access

Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web, U.S. Department of Labor, http://www.bls.gov/bls/other.htm, Chapter 12, provides links for online access to statistical and other information from more than 70 agencies of the U.S. government and statistical offices of most countries throughout the world

Statistical Yearbook, 48th issue United Nations,
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/pubs/gesgrid.asp?sort=title, Chapter 12, an annual compilation of statistics for over 200 countries and areas of the world, organized in four parts: world and region summary; population and social statistics; economic activity; and international economic relations; includes 84 tables of data; available for purchase in print or on CD ROM

Statistical Yearbook, UNESCO,
http://www.uis.unesco.org/en/stats/statistics/yearbook/YBIndexNew.htm, Chapter 12, covers all aspects of national educational systems, facilities, staffing, educational   attainment; enrollment by level of education, public expenditures for education;also provides data on science and technology and culture and communication; includes data on book production, libraries, newspaper and magazine circulation, production of films

Steps in Designing an Indicator System,
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=2&n=12, Chapter 12, this article describes the steps involved and provides guidance for carrying out each step

UNESCO Institute for Statistics,
http://stats.uis.unesco.org/ReportFolders/reportfolders.aspx, Chapter 12, provides databases and statistics by country on access to schooling and other educational attainment indicators

United Nations   High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home, Chapter 12, UNHCR Statistics, provides data, charts, and graphs showing refuges populations and movements

United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN),
http://www.un.org/popin/, Chapter 12, a comprehensive guide to population information on the Web sites of UN agencies; provides descriptions of publications; demographic and social statistics, national statistics, and links to statistical databases maintained by UN agencies

World Development Indicators 2004, World Bank,
http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?
item_id=3425272, Chapter 12, presents the most current and accurate information on global development on both the national level and aggregated globally, with over 80 tables and 800 indicators for 152 economies and 14 country groups

World Health Report, 2005, World Health Organization,
http://www.who.int/whr/2005/en/, Chapter 12, the text of the annual report of WHO, examines the global health situation and some of the major threats to health in today's world; contains five chapters, a conclusion, and statistical annex

World Health Report, Statistical Annex,
http://www.who.int/whr/annexes/en/, Chapter 12, provides links to statistical annexes for World Health Reports from 1995 to the most recently issued report; permits searching by country and within countries by a large number of indicators health in today's world

World Statistics Pocketbook, UN Statistics Division,
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/pubs/gesgrid.asp?mysearch=pocketbook, Chapter 12, provides basic economic, social, and environmental indicators for 209 countries and areas worldwide; covers 57 key ndicators in the areas of   population, economic activity, agriculture, industry, energy, international trade, transport, communications, gender, education and environment, drawn from over 20 international statistical sources

Social Science Web Sites

American Psychological Association,
http://www.apa.org/, Chapter 4, provides current information on many topics related to psychology, with feature articles on important issues

American Sociological Society,
http://www.asanet.org/index.ww, Help and Chapter 4, provides information about sociology in the United States; includes the table of contents of the issues of the American Sociological Review, the premier sociological research journal in the U.S.

BUBL LINK (Catalogue of Selected Internet Resources),
http://bubl.ac.uk/, Chapter 4, provides links to hundreds of social science Web sites organized under more than 300 specialized topics

The Center for Applied Social Surveys (CASS),
http://www.socstats.soton.ac.uk/cass/, Chapter 4,   provides an online newsletter on applied social survey, links to other survey centers, and a question bank containing items used in various surveys

Research Resources for the Social Sciences,
http://www.socsciresearch.com/, Chapter 4, produced by McGraw-Hill Ryerson, an American company, this site provides links to Web sites by discipline - psychology, sociology/anthropology, economics, etc. - as well as providing for searches constructed by users

Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG),
http://sosig.ac.uk/, Help and Chapter 4, provides selected, high quality information for students and researchers in the social sciences, business, and law; also provides links to over 50,000 social science Web pages

Statistical Analysis Software Packages

BTS Guide to Good Statistical Practice,
http://www.bts.gov/publications/guide_to_good_statistical_
practice_in_the_transportation_field/index.html, Chapter 16, from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, a guide on how to present data analyses and discussion of data quality and errors

Census and Survey Processing System,
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/cspro/index.html,   Chapter 16, provided by the official statistical body of the U.S. government, the Census Bureau, this package includes free software for entering, tabulating, and mapping census and survey data

Data Analysis with Epi Info,
http://www2.sjsu.edu/faculty/gerstman/EpiInfo/, Chapter 16, a free source for Epi Info, a statistical analysis package; provides for data entry and a wide range of statistical analyses

Descriptive Sampling Statistics,
http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbarsh/Business-stat/otherapplets/Descriptive.htm Chapter 17, provides directions for entry of up to 80 values; calculates the mean, variance, standard deviation, estimates the sample mean, median, and provides other descriptive information about the distribution formed by the values entered

Electronic Textbook StatSoft,
http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html, Chapter 17, part one provides an overview of elementary concepts in statistics; subsequent sections cover a wide variety of analysis methods

Epi Info, Epi Map,
http://www.cdc.gov/epiinfo/index.htm, Chapter 17, the U.S. government source for Epi Info, a free statistical analysis package; provides assistance for downloading and installing Epi info 2000

Free Software,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/soft.html, Chapter 16, an extensive guide with links to a variety of statistical analysis packages and related resources

Presenting Data Graphically, and Presenting Results,
http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/presenting.htm, Chapter 17, provides brief descriptions of and links to sources of information and guidance on ways of creating effective graphic presentations of data

Statistics