About

In the 2008 text ‘Exploring Data: An Introduction to Data Analysis for Social Scientists‘, Marsh and Elliott emphasise the importance of the detective work involved in sifting through and piecing together evidence about the social world.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/detectivesblog/

Twitter: @detectives_blog

Aims:

This collaborative blog aims to provide social researchers with a forum to discuss all aspects of conducting empirical social science research.

The blog will upload any piece of work which relates to rigorous, empirical social science research. It is not anticipated that full research articles or syntheses will appear here. Rather it is expected that short versions of articles, for example relating to works in progress, reports on conferences or meetings, reflections on the current state of the art of empirical social research and notes on interesting or new methodologies and publications will feature. These articles will typically be less than 2000 words in length. Anything of relevance to the theme of empirical social science methods and research will be considered.

There is not a formal review process. We welcome posts from academic and non-academic researchers from all career stages (including students). Our readers are encouraged to comment on articles and to engage in scholarly debate.

If you would like to submit a post please drop us an email

(kev.ralston@ed.ac.uk or roxanne.connelly@ed.ac.uk)

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Blog Team:

The Detective’s Handbook is affiliated with the University of Edinburgh School of Social and Political Science Research Training Centre. It is maintained by Dr Kevin Ralston and Dr Roxanne Connelly.

kev.ralston@ed.ac.uk

roxanne.connelly@ed.ac.uk

Kevin Ralston is a Lecturer in Sociology and Quantitative Methods at the University of Edinburgh. His research generally involves the study of inequalities and he has published papers examining inequalities in health, occupational and family outcomes. He is also involved in pedagogical projects which examine the teaching of quantitative methods.

Roxanne Connelly is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Quantitative Methods at the University of Edinburgh. Her substantive research interests include Social Stratification and the Sociology of Education. Her methodological interests include research transparency, reproducibility and research integrity, analysing complex samples and longitudinal data analysis.