In this edition of the most comprehensive, authoritative research methods text on the market, Earl Babbie offers the most cutting-edge and thorough revision ever. The new edition retains the strengths that made it the best-selling text in the market while seamlessly integrating qualitative material throughout and adding an additional chapter on Qualitative Data Analysis (13). The book is known for being straightforward, with a broad set of topics. It has great illustrations, comprehensive overviews, detailed discussions, brief outlines, and a concrete, well-defined chapter structure. Its reputation for being very readable continues through its use of minimum jargon and math, along with use of humor throughout. Content includes and emphasizes the important of problem-solving and decision-making, the links between statistics and research methods, and the use of computers in social research. Includes current research examples and illustrations from such recent topics as welfare and poverty, gender issues, affirmative action, the AIDS epidemic, and more.