Salsa Dancing into the Social Sciences

" You might think that dancing doesn t have a lot to do with social research, and doing social research is probably why you picked this book up in the first place. But trust me. Salsa dancing is a practice as well as a metaphor for a kind of research that will make your life easier and better. " Savvy, witty, and sensible, this unique book is both a handbook for defining and completing a research project, and an astute introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science. In this volume, Kristin Luker guides novice researchers in: , Knowing the difference between an area of interest and a research topic, Defining the relevant parts of a potentially infinite research literature, Mastering sampling, operationalization, and generalization, Understanding which research methods best answer your questions, Beating writer s block Most important, she shows how friendships, non-academic interests, and even salsa dancing can make for a better researcher. " You know about setting the kitchen timer and writing for only an hour, or only 15 minutes if you are feeling particularly anxious. I wrote a fairly large part of this book feeling exactly like that. If I can write an entire book 15 minutes at a time, so can you. "