Controversial Issues in Social Research Methods (Paperback, Softcover Repri)

1. The Scientific Status of Social Psychology.- Dimensions of the Controversy.- Transhistorical Laws and Invariant Processes.- Differences Between Natural Science and Social Science.- Controversial Issues.- How Stable Are Social Phenomena?.- How Should Social Phenomena Be Studied?.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 2. Informed Consent.- What Is Informed Consent?.- Purposes of Informed Consent.- Elements of Informed Consent.- Controversial Issues.- The Necessity of Informed Consent.- Procedures for Obtaining Informed Consent.- The Impact of Informed Consent on Research Findings.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 3. Role Playing Versus Deception.- Dimensions of Deception and Role Playing.- Experimental Deception.- Role-Playing Methodologies.- Controversial Issues.- Methodological Biases.- Epistemological Characteristics of the Data.- Empirical Comparisons Between Role-Playing and Deception Studies.- Ethical Issues.- Public Image Considerations.- Summarizing the Debate.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 4. The Laboratory Experiment Versus Field Research.- Characterizing Laboratory and Field Research.- The Laboratory Experiment.- Field Research.- Controversial Issues.- Artificiality.- Representativeness.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 5. Experiments Versus Quasi-experiments.- The Role of Random Assignment in Experimentation.- The Logic of Random Assignment.- The Quasi-experimental Alternative.- Controversial Issues.- The Alleged Infeasibility of Randomization.- Randomization as a Misguided Ideal?.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 6. Subject Roles.- The Context of Concern About Subject Perceptions.- Social Desirability and Hawthorne Effects.- Reactive Measurement.- Controversial Issues.- Varieties of Subject Roles.- Techniques for Assessing Subject Roles.- Techniques for Preventing Subject-Role Contamination.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 7. Experimenter Bias.- Dimensions of the Controversy.- Who Does the Biasing?.- What Is Biased?.- What Mechanisms Are Involved?.- Controversial Issues.- Experimenter Intentional Influence.- Statistical Analysis of Individual Studies.- Techniques of Control.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 8. Debriefing.- The Nature of the Debriefing Process.- Functions of Debriefing.- Methods of Debriefing.- Controversial Issues.- Effectiveness of Debriefing.- Problems Caused by Debriefing.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 9. Postexperimental Inquiries: Assessing Demand Awareness and Treatment Effectiveness.- Functions of Postexperimental Inquiries.- Assessing Suspiciousness About Manipulations.- Assessing the Effectiveness of Manipulations.- Controversial Issues.- Methods of Conducting Postexperimental Assessments.- Accuracy of Self-Reports.- Impact of Demand Awareness on Experimental Performance.- Interpreting Inconsistencies Between Treatment Effects and Manipulation Checks.- Current Status of the Controversy.- 10. Meta-analysis Versus Traditional Integrations of Research.- Characterizing Alternative Types of Literature Reviews.- Traditional Literature Reviews.- Meta-analystic Techniques.- Controversial Issues.- Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria.- Effect Size Nonindependence.- Category Breadth.- Current Status of the Controversy.- References.- Author Index.