The second edition includes a thorough updating of the text, the addition of new sample articles to replace the six original ones, and discussions of new quasi-experimental research methods, multivariate analysis, and meta-analysis.

Introduction 1: Scientific and Nonscientific Statements of Fact 2: Methods of Gathering Scientific Evidence 3: Evaluating Scientific Evidence: What Conclusions Follow from the Evidence 4: Evaluating Scientific Evidence: in the Published Literature 5: Reviewing a Body of Literature: The Problem of Generalization Appendix: Asking Answerable Questions and Finding Scientific Evidence References Index

provides useful examples of unsubstantiated research findings ... Readers can work on exercises designed to establish rules for distinguishing between valid and invalid evidence and actual journal articles are reproduced for analysis. Aslib Book Guide, vol. 62, no. 1, January 1997

"I wish I had read this book when I was a first-year graduate student! Rarely have I seen a book that is so explicit about teaching how to distinguish between opinion and scientific evidence. The eight-step method for 'asking an answerable question' (appendix) will be the model for all of my undergraduate researchers."--Lisa Coates-Shrider, McMurray University "The straightforward exercises and tables alone make this a useful text for undergraduates."--Michael McWuestion, University of Wisconsin-Madison Praise for the previous edition: "Fills a gap in the instructional literature available in research methods. Students come out of most research methods courses long on terms and procedures but short on an understanding of the purpose of social research and bases for evaluating it. This nifty little volume goes a long way toward overcoming that problem....does a better job of accomplishing its goal than any other book with a similar purpose that I have seen."--Contemporary Sociology "Charts a new course in teaching research methods by showing students how to distinguish between good-bad and useful-trivial research findings....will be especially useful for those who teach young students in the social sciences the pitfalls and excitement of discovering knowledge about the human condition."--Contemporary Psychology

Trains students to be intelligent consumers of social science research. Shows how knowing how to make critical independent judgements of scientific claims are increasingly used to influence personal and political behavior. This book remains timely because it addresses the perennial need of students and all citizens to develop critical thinking skills. The changes in the second edition reflect developments in the last 15 years of social science research, both in methods and perspective.

Trains students to be intelligent consumers of social science research. Shows how knowing how to make critical independent judgements of scientific claims are increasingly used to influence personal and political behavior. This book remains timely because it addresses the perennial need of students and all citizens to develop critical thinking skills. The changes in the second edition reflect developments in the last 15 years of social science research, both in methods and perspective.