Wendy Olsen – författare

A Dictionary of Social Research Methods offers succinct, clear, expert explanations of key terms from both method and methodology in social research, in over 300 entries. It covers the whole range of qualitative, quantitative, and other methods; and ranges from practical techniques like correlation to methodological approaches such as ethnography. This wide-ranging approach enables it to cover terms needed by every social science discipline along with business and management, education, health, and other areas that encompass social research within their remit. This is a reliable resource for students, academics, and professional researchers who undertake social research, or need to evaluate and present its results.

Classical and radical economists have marginalised the role of money, most particularly the role of credit, in driving the machinery of accumulation and exclusion. Although critiques of capitalism from Marxist, feminist and ecological perspectives abound, The Politics of Money is unique in gathering the strengths of these differing critiques into a coherent whole. The book reviews the role of money in current society through an overview of the history of money creation and a critique of the main theoretical developments in economic thought. Alternative perspectives on money are then presented through a review of a number of radical perspectives but focusing mainly on the work of Marx, Veblen and the social credit perspective of Douglas and the guild socialists.The authors have drawn upon their varied expertise in economics and the social sciences to produce the foundations of a new political economy that will enable communities to reconstruct their socio-economic fabric through social and political control of money systems.

Realism is an approach to humanity which recognizes the real existence of social objects as well as physical objects. Thus realism does involve being realistic. But more importantly, it asserts that the things we are studying in social research have some prior existence and would continue to exist even if our knowledge of them was limited. Indeed, sometimes our knowledge is quite wrong, and realists assert that the real world will tend to constrain science so that wrong claims get challenged. Volume One: Practical Realist Ontology covers the nature of the world, the role of the person, the need for social theory, the nature of language, open systems theorizing, and the avoidance of the fallacies of upward and downward conflation. Volume Two: Realist Methods takes up the triangulation debate in some detail as well as querying the nature of quantitative data and of qualitative data. Volume Three: Knowledge and Meta-knowledge in Realism explores the concept of epistemology and the social basis of human knowledge. Volume Four: Realist Empirical Research runs through lessons to be learned from research that has been conducted under explicit realist assumptions in many disciplines in many different countries.

This innovative book provides students and researchers alike with an indispensible introduction to the key theoretical issues and practical methods needed for data collection.

It uses clear definitions, relevant interdisciplinary examples from around the world and up-to-date suggestions for further reading to demonstrate how to usefully gather and use qualitative, quantitative, and mixed data sets.

The book is divided into seven critical parts:

• Data Collection: An Introduction to Research Practices

• Collecting Qualitative Data

• Observation and Informed Methods

• Experimental and Systematic Data Collection

• Survey Methods for Data Collection

• The Case Study Method of Data Collection

• Concluding Suggestions for Data Collection Groups

A stimulating, practical guide which can be read as individual concepts or as a whole this will be an important resource for students and research professionals.

Wendy Olsen is Senior Lecturer at Manchester University, Institute for Development Policy & Management and Cathie Marsh Centre for Census & Survey Research

This innovative book provides students and researchers alike with an indispensible introduction to the key theoretical issues and practical methods needed for data collection.

It uses clear definitions, relevant interdisciplinary examples from around the world and up-to-date suggestions for further reading to demonstrate how to usefully gather and use qualitative, quantitative, and mixed data sets.

The book is divided into seven critical parts:

• Data Collection: An Introduction to Research Practices

• Collecting Qualitative Data

• Observation and Informed Methods

• Experimental and Systematic Data Collection

• Survey Methods for Data Collection

• The Case Study Method of Data Collection

• Concluding Suggestions for Data Collection Groups

A stimulating, practical guide which can be read as individual concepts or as a whole this will be an important resource for students and research professionals.

Wendy Olsen is Senior Lecturer at Manchester University, Institute for Development Policy & Management and Cathie Marsh Centre for Census & Survey Research

This innovative book provides students and researchers alike with an indispensible introduction to the key theoretical issues and practical methods needed for data collection.

It uses clear definitions, relevant interdisciplinary examples from around the world and up-to-date suggestions for further reading to demonstrate how to usefully gather and use qualitative, quantitative, and mixed data sets.

The book is divided into seven critical parts:

• Data Collection: An Introduction to Research Practices

• Collecting Qualitative Data

• Observation and Informed Methods

• Experimental and Systematic Data Collection

• Survey Methods for Data Collection

• The Case Study Method of Data Collection

• Concluding Suggestions for Data Collection Groups

A stimulating, practical guide which can be read as individual concepts or as a whole this will be an important resource for students and research professionals.

Wendy Olsen is Senior Lecturer at Manchester University, Institute for Development Policy & Management and Cathie Marsh Centre for Census & Survey Research

This textbook provides clear and accessible guidance on the importance and practical application of mixed-methods research. Professor Olsen presents a range of multiple mixed-methods techniques using quantified data. Critical realism underpins key arguments. She offers detailed examples based on wide experience with international applied social-science projects. The book shows readers how to join quantitative and qualitative data together. Detailed methods include: using multiple-level data; constructing new indices based on mixing survey responses and personal interviews; and using focus groups alongside a large survey. The book provides readers with linkages of data between different software packages. It explains the analysis stage in mixed-methods research, interprets complex causality, shows how to transform data, and helps with interpreting social structures, institutions, and discourses. Finally, the book covers some epistemological issues. These include the nature and value of data. The author discusses validity and techniques for ensuring relevant, innovative conclusions. The book also touches on action research as an overarching participatory method.This book is based on clear and explicit definitions, is accessible to students and researchers across disciplines, and shows the appeal of mixed-methods research to those trained in quantitative methods.