This comprehensive book offers readers a balanced coverage of both the qualitative and quantitative approaches to social research.The fourth edition of Social Research Methods renews its commitment to help readers learn that social research does not take place in a vacuum, but in a social and historical context that can affect their actions. It teaches to guard against ethnocentric perspectives and confining their research on the assumptions, values, and beliefs of their own particular society. This book gives more attention to feminist research which is a growing part of modern social research that has great vitality. This research is a way of going about finding answers to questions. Social research is a type of research conducted by sociologists, social scientists and others to seek answers to questions about the social world. Social research is a collection of methods people use systematically to produce knowledge. Lastly, the author hopes to show readers not only that both quantitative and qualitative styles of social research are valuable, but that the greatest benefit to social research lies in combining the two.