The most cutting-edge research methods, applied to engaging social issues, in a student-friendly textbook written by an award-winning researcher and teacher. In this new Seventh Edition of his perennially successful social research text, author Russell K. Schutt continues to make research come alive through stories that illustrate the methods presented in each chapter, and hands-on exercises that help students learn by doing. Investigating the Social World helps readers understand research methods as an integrated whole, appreciate the value of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and understand the need to make ethical research decisions. Key Features: * the doing of social research is closely and consistently linked to important social issues using real social data * provides guides for critiquing research articles, exercises for applying research skills, and examples of analysing and reporting social data * ethical concerns and ethical decision making are discussed with each study of specific methods * discussion questions, practice, web, SPSS exercises, and research proposal development exercises included at the end of each chapter * a companion study site will provide journal articles, self-quizzes, electronic flashcards, as well as wide-ranging data sets and interactive exercises New to this Edition: * upgraded coverage of research methods to include the spread of cell phones and the use of the Internet, including expanded coverage of Web surveys * larger page size in full color allows for better display of pedagogical features * new 'Research in the News' boxes included within chapters * more international examples * expanded statistics coverage now includes more coverage of inferenctial statistics and regression analysis