Designed for use by students as a text and professionals as a reference, this covers basic theories and methods and also describes applications in studies of population, health, poverty, development, education, water usage, the environment, and natural resource management. Consultant Singh makes good use of popular software tools in his descriptions of the development of research techniques, the genesis and scope of social research, research processes, sampling and sample size estimation, data analysis, and multivariate analysis, and provides real-world cases studies applying methods and techniques to help new researchers choose appropriate methods. He thoughtfully provides appendices on mathematical theories, probability theories and Z and T distributions, and also gives step-by-step instructions to organize and analyze data using such software as SPSS. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Social research plays a crucial role in the development process as it provides the tools to bring about social change. This book presents an in-depth look at social research - its fundamental postulates, tools and techniques of analysis - and assesses its relevance for the development and social sectors in India. The author explores how development changes take place and their impact on rural life, especially on the underprivileged and marginalised sections of society. Divided into two sections, the book first discusses all aspects of social research - its various methods, scope, sampling methodology and significance, and presents quantitative, univariate, bivariate and multivariate data analysis with the help of software packages such as SPSS and STATA. In the second section, the author examines the impact of social research on health and nutrition, poverty and rural development, education, water and sanitation, environment and natural resource management.
