Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences

Guided by the precept that to understand any phenomenon well, it is necessary to start by looking at it in broad, nonspecialized terms, Robert A Stebbins takes the reader through the process of exploratory research in an easy-to-read style providing the student or researcher with a complete reference for carrying out this type of research.

Robert A. Stebbins is Professor in, and former Head of, the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary.

Series Editors' Introduction

v

Introduction

vii

What Is Exploration?

1

(16)

Defining Exploration

2

(3)

The Process of Exploration

5

(4)

Exploration and Confirmation

9

(3)

Concatenation

12

(5)

Conclusions

17

(1)

Exploring

17

(13)

Setting the Agenda

18

(6)

Induction, Deduction, and Exploration

24

(4)

Qualitative and Quantitative

28

(2)

Conclusions

30

(1)

Exploration Illustrated

30

(11)

Middle-Class Marijuana Users and Lifestyle

31

(2)

Women and the Development of Occupational Aspirations

33

(2)

Becoming a Mother: Experiencing the Postpartum Phenomenon

35

(1)

Health Care Coordination: The Consumer's View

36

(2)

Prison Inmates in Wildlife Rehabilitation

38

(2)

Conclusiveness and Generalizability

40

(1)

Writing up Exploratory Research

41

(9)

The Literature Review

42

(1)

Supremacy of Generalizations

43

(1)

Quoting Respondents

44

(2)

On the Nature of Generalizations

46

(1)

Validity and Reliability

47

(3)

Conclusions

50

(1)

The Explorer

50

(8)

What Is an Explorer?

51

(1)

Lifestyle

52

(3)

Motivation and Career

55

(3)

Conclusions

58

(1)

Exploration: Its Future in the Social Sciences

58

(4)

Exploration in the Information Age

59

(3)

References

62

(5)

About the Author

67

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Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials