Salsa dancing into the social sciences: research in an age of info-glut, paperback/kristin luker

You might think that dancing doesnt have a lot to do with social research, and doing social research is probably why you picked this book up in the first place.

But trust me.

Salsa dancing is a practice as well as a metaphor for a kind of research that will make your life easier and better.

Savvy, witty, and sensible, this unique book is both a handbook for defining and completing a research project, and an astute introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science.

In this volume, Kristin Luker guides novice researchers in:, Knowing the difference between an area of interest and a research topic, Defining the relevant parts of a potentially infinite research literature, Mastering sampling, operationalization, and generalization, Understanding which research methods best answer your questions, Beating writers block Most important, she shows how friendships, non-academic interests, and even salsa dancing can make for a better researcher.

You know about setting the kitchen timer and writing for only an hour, or only 15 minutes if you are feeling particularly anxious.

I wrote a fairly large part of this book feeling exactly like that.

If I can write an entire book 15 minutes at a time, so can you.