Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You're Doing It

by Howard S. Becker

Drawing on more than four decades of experience as a researcher and teacher, Howard Becker now brings to students and researchers the many valuable techniques he has learned. Tricks of the Trade will help students learn how to think about research projects. Assisted by Becker's sage advice, students can make better sense of their research and simultaneously generate fresh ideas on where to look next for new data. The tricks cover four broad areas of social science: the creation of the "imagery" to guide research; methods of "sampling" to generate maximum variety in the data; the development of "concepts" to organize findings; and the use of "logical" methods to explore systematically the implications of what is found. Becker's advice ranges from simple tricks such as changing an interview question from "Why?" to "How?" (as a way of getting people to talk without asking for a justification) to more technical tricks such as how to manipulate truth tables.

Becker has extracted these tricks from a variety of fields such as art history, anthropology, sociology, literature, and philosophy; and his dazzling variety of references ranges from James Agee to Ludwig Wittgenstein. Becker finds the common principles that lie behind good social science work, principles that apply to both quantitative and qualitative research. He offers practical advice, ideas students can apply to their data with the confidence that they will return with something they hadn't thought of before.

Like Writing for Social Scientists, Tricks of the Trade will bring aid and comfort to generations of students. Written in the informal, accessible style for which Becker is known, this book will be an essential resource for students in a wide variety of fields.

"An instant classic. . . . Becker's stories and reflections make a great book, one that will find its way into the hands of a great many social scientists, and as with everything he writes, it is lively and accessible, a joy to read."—Charles Ragin, Northwestern University

Genres: Sociology, Research, Nonfiction, Writing, Social Science, Grad School, Reference

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Howard Saul Becker was an American sociologist who taught at Northwestern University.

Reviews

[Ebru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becker yanında çırak olmak isteyeceğiniz bir sosyal bilimci. Bilgiye erişimin ipuçlarını ve hakikate erişme peşinde edindiği bilgeliği sadece bilenin anlayacağı kelimelerle değil gündelik ama derinlikli bir dille anlatıyor.

Bilgi üretiminin üç kağıtçı, kibirli, kendini parlatma işlevi gören ya da ideoloji bağımsız olmayan biçimlerini de açığa çıkarıyor ki araştırmanda kendi aklınla hareket edesin.

"Sosyal Bilimcinin Yazma Çilesi" kitabı sosyal bilimlerde yazma işi olanlar için çok faydalıyken bu kitabı sahası olan araştırmacılar için çok faydalı.

Ek olarak kitap a'den z'ye bir araştırma yöntemleri kitabı değil. Zaten saha bilgisi olanlar için deneyimli araştırmacı tavsiyeleri ve iç görüleri. Kitabın tanıtım yazısı da içeriği tam olarak yansıtıyor.

[Duygu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Böyle bir kitapla karşılaşacağımı hiç ummazdım. Düşünün ki mesleğinde yılları geride bırakmış ve çok başarılı bir sosyolog tıpkı onun bir seminer dersini alıyormuşsunuz gibi teknik ve kuramsal bilginin ötesinde, deneyimlerini sizinle paylaşıyor. Bunu da neredeyse deneme denebilecek kadar güzel bir üslupla yapıyor. Levent Ünsaldı okumayı ve dinlemeyi sevenler bu kitaba bayılabilirler. Becker'ı ve Heretik Yayınları'nı bundan sonra sıkı takipteyim.

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too generalistic.

[Julio César · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un lujo, Becker. De los mejores libros de sociología que leí. ¿Qué más se le puede pedir a un libro si no es que provoque el pensamiento? En inglés existe incluso la expresión: "thought-provoking". Si estás en una etapa de tu existencia académica en la que necesitás un empujón, un redondeo de ideas que venís pensando, Trucos del oficio es para vos. Un libro de metodología escrito sin recetas ni "dos" and "don'ts".

[Erhardt Graeff]

This is not as good Becker's seminal "Writing for Social Scientists", then again it's very different. It's both a methods book and not a methods book. It's more like old timer wisdom backed up by an annotated bibliography of Becker's favorite studies, many done by himself, and more by his friends and mentors.

[xza.rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

« Nous voyons bien ici que tout ce qui s’est produit dans la vie [de quelqu’un] ne dépendait pas uniquement de ses propres actes et de ses propres choix, mais également de ceux de toutes les autres personnes que [la personne] côtoyait. [...] Nous pourrions appeler intercontingence le fait que [les actes d’une personne A] dépendent des [actes d’une personne B]. »

[Vinícius de Sousa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Não podia esperar nada menos do autor! Ótimo!

[Nick Klagge · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boss (a PhD economist) lent this to me some time ago, and as I've recently been feeling inclined to go back to school for an econ PhD, I picked it up a couple of months ago (I didn't finish it until now because I accidentally left it in my sister's car in DC). The author is a sociologist, so many of the topics and approaches that he discussed were new to me. And while I didn't read anything that seems like it would be directly useful in economics research, I have a feeling that several of Becker's ideas, or at least perspectives, will stay with me. He focuses a lot on the idea of exploring and pushing your sample space, and in particular looking proactively for cases that would challenge your hypothesis. I also enjoyed the discussion of "analytic induction," specifically the question of to what extent it's appropriate for a researcher to redefine the concepts being studied as he or she learns more about them. In many ways this book reminded me of Deborah Stone's (excellent) "Policy Paradox"--taking a subject that people often inaccurately portray as a supremely rational process and talking seriously about the roles that imagery and narrative play in its conduct.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The tricks that Becker use are clever, perfectly suited to the logic informing the construction of argument. The writing and voice is not always enjoyable, but it is a useful book.

[Scott Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pursuing excellence in research requires much self-discipline. Mentors are often the first ones to instill basic habits, but any one mentor (or even any group of mentors) lacks the ability to teach how to think about research completely. Indeed, mastering the art of research is a lifelong task. Fortunately, books like Becker’s provide good, patient tutoring on the path of a career in research. He provides “tricks” that specifically address those in the social sciences throughout the whole process of research.

Becker divides his book into several large chapters, including imagery, sampling, concepts, and logic. These cover the whole of the research process for those in the social sciences. (Caveat: I do not work in the social sciences but in informatics; I am reading this book to communicate with colleagues better.) Topics move from observation to data collection to theory to rigorous, critical examination. They demystify how a researcher can transform mere experiences into widely accepted theory.

This book would be great for a class on research methods, especially those interested in how qualitative research works. By itself, this book is not as much of an introduction as something to build with after an introduction. It seems most suitable late in an introductory course or at any point in an advanced course. Or after an introduction, those interested in learning more but without access to appropriate teaching can also benefit from Becker’s clear, engaging prose.

Graduate students in the social sciences, in particular, will benefit from this book, but its specialized nature does not restrict it to this primary audience. Practitioners, teachers, and anyone else involved in data collection in the social sciences can hone their skills through Becker’s wisdom. Indeed, though published almost 25 years ago, this book offers mountains of timeless advice that could just spur one’s research skills to the next level.

[Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by one of my grad school professors and I'm very glad that I took her recommendation to heart. I find myself in a place where I am trying to figure out what exactly my current research question is. While I have some strong ideas about what I'm trying to get at, I have no idea what it is I will actually find, which makes formulating a research question challenging. Becker's writing is incredibly helpful for me to better understand how I can go about early stages of research. (It is helpful for most stages of research but the early stages are most pertinent to me right now.) There are numerous ideas and principles regarding how to go about many stages of sociological research and I expect to revisit this text often as I work through any research work.

[jose coimbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Becker se propõe a mostrar ao leitor não apenas segredos e truques da pesquisa, mas o que se pode entender como pesquisa no campo das ciências sociais. Nesse sentido, ele desmestifica certos enunciados e pressiona as certezas que poderiam ser dadas por científicas.

O autor segue uma trilha que mescla memórias, percurso acadêmico e descrição de métodos de pesquisa em ciências sociais. O livro conta com rica bibliografia e comentários que são de valor para a pesquisa, que interessa tanto ao iniciante como àquele que se identifica como pesquisador experiente.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful and useful little book. It has some slight epistemological issues inherent to the often unexamined conflict between Mead's arguments for ethnography and Blumer's arguments for phenomenological understandings, but there are a lot of fun, useful tips. Becker's writing is also just fun to read. He writes in a similar style to Andrew Abbot; conversational, funny, but always analytically extremely sharp.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written in an engaging personal style. Becker relies a lot on his own extensive experience as a qualitative researcher in giving advise. It is not laid out as a how-to book, and does not progress in an orderly logical fashion. However, that matches his attitude toward research–it is not an orderly step-by-step process.

[Camila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Li pela simples indicação de aprender literalmente como pensar na minha pesquisa. Mas ironicamente, acabei o livro no final da minha pesquisa. Mesmo assim, de leitura fácil e bastante divertido, Becker traz importantes contribuições para a discussão sobre como se fazer pesquisa em temas sociais e, principalmente não exatos.

[L7od · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livro muito eficiente pra despertar o interesse por metodologia científica, especialmente para temas e problemas da ciência social. Becker é muito claro e eloquente sobre as questões que deseja tratar e o livro é muito motivador para o desenvolvimento das nossas próprias pesquisas.

[Mai · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm actually mad that this book is this long. It's too general to be useful. I appreciate the friendly and encouraging tone but like... I just feel like I've wasted so many hours reading this book that could have been more productively used, I'm sorry...

[Lindsey E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful tips/ideas for research but written in a way that some of the points can get lost in the details and examples. I found myself re-reading parts to make sure I understood the methods.

[Kmk · Rating 4 out of 5]

the 12-week journal article author recommended this book saying every researcher should have one. Let me see how good this book is.

It talks about how to think about research in a new way

[Burke Scarbrough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though he runs off on a flight of positivistic, logocentric fancy in the last chapter, the first three quarters of this book is full of practical questions and sensitivities to use in qualitative research, particularly ethnography.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains lots of useful tips and suggestions for doing sociological research, and the author comes off as pretty personable and likeable. However, he wanders about in a somewhat overly circuitous fashion which is not always helpful. I think the book could have used a bit more editing.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid orientation towards research - not necessarily the how so much as the why.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was enormously helpful as I wrestled with my Master's thesis but I also just plain enjoyed it. I found it well-written and very interesting.

[Marcos Junior · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interessante, mas muita coisa é específica para a sociologia, área de interesse do autor.

[H.d. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ótimo livro para ter uma visão da prática de pesquisa social, por um dos pesquisadores clássicos de Chicago. É muito legal ver a discussão sobre dicas do dia-a-dia do pesquisador :)

[Sandrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

relu pour un cours