The Practice of Social Research
Chapter Seventeen. Reading and Writing Social Research
Reading Social Research
Journals versus Books
Evaluation of Research Reports
This first section of the chapter begins with some tips for reading social
science research literature efficiently and effectively. It begins
with the different parts of a journal article; then it examines the structure
of scholarly books.
Following that introduction, I've offered sets of detailed questions you
should ask in evaluating and understanding what you read. Even if you
never conduct social research, you are going to be reading it all your life,
and you should be prepared to read it critically. Not everything offered
up as research findings are to be trusted, and my aim in this section is
to help you separate the wheat from the chaff.