Background
Alford, Robert Ross was born on April 18, 1928 in Stockton, California, United States. Son of Ellsworth and Grace (Ross) Alford.
(Sociology is a challenging discipline, ripe with exciting...)
Sociology is a challenging discipline, ripe with exciting possibilities. It offers sociologists the chance to choose multiple theoretical and methodological traditions that offer a full range of important questions and ways to answer them. A long standing complaint of many sociology professors, however, is that their students seem to have difficulty moving from problem formation to a theoretical approach and then onto an appropriate research design. In his provocative new book, Robert Alford proposes that the starting point for any researcher in the process and craft of inquiry should begin with an understanding of how to translate elements of his/her own history, personal experience, and issues, which can then be formulated into research questions. Alford presents three basic explanatory approaches to sociology -- multivariate, interpretive, and historical -- as well as examples of each from such luminaries as Durkheim, Goffman, Weber, Marx, and William Julius Wilson. Upon critical examination, Alford finds each of these three approaches either oversimplified or incomplete. To fill this gap, Alford proposes a tripartite approach that examines each approach through the lens of the other two and analyzes the ways these three models of explanation work and relate to one another. The text is intended to show students how research emerges from, and interacts with, theory. It is designed to help students formulate, reformulate, and pursue their own theoretically informed research, as well as provide them with the tools necessary for critically reading the research of others. Using selected examples from both classic and contemporary studies, Alford strives to illustrate the artistic, rather than formulaic, side of research design and presents several ways that research questions can be framed. He also offers a "working vocabulary" to guide novice researchers through the maze of the process. Full of direct, lucid, and informative accounts of actual research efforts, The Craft of Inquiry is engaging and important reading for any student interested in developing strong, effective social research skills, and in becoming a better artist of the craft of inquiry.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195119037/?tag=2022091-20
Alford, Robert Ross was born on April 18, 1928 in Stockton, California, United States. Son of Ellsworth and Grace (Ross) Alford.
Bachelor of Arts, University of California, Berkeley, 1950; Master of Arts, University of California, Berkeley, 1952; Doctor of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley, 1961.
Lecturer sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 1959-1961; member of faculty, University of Wisconsin, 1961-1974; professor sociology, University of Wisconsin, 1966-1974; associate director, Survey Research Laboratory, 1961-1963; visiting professor government, U. Essex, England, 1966-1967; visiting fellow, Netherlands Institute Advanced Study, 1981-1982; visiting professor sociology, Columbia University, 1970-1971, 80-81; visiting professor sociology, New York University, 1987-1988; professor sociology, University of California-Santa Cruz, 1974-1988; Chairman of the Board studies in sociology, University of California-Santa Cruz, 1974-1976; director Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Sociology, University of California-Santa Cruz, 1976-1979; academic administrator research unit in institutional analysis and social policy, University of California-Santa Cruz, 1982-1988; Distinguished professor sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, since 1988; Executive officer graduate program in sociology, CUNY, 1988-1992, 97-98.
(Sociology is a challenging discipline, ripe with exciting...)
Member American Sociological Association (executive council 1988-1991, chair political sociology section 1993-1995), American Political Science Association (Woodrow Wilson Foundation award 1976).
Married Gloria Kramer, June 18, 1949 (divorced 1987). Children: Heidi, Jonathan, Elissa. Married Nayra Atiya, December 1, 1989 (divorced 1995).