Using This Textbook
Welcome to The Craft of Sociological Research! We hope you find this openly licensed textbook on research methods informative and easy to use.
Reading This Textbook on a Web Browser
If you are reading this online, you can navigate between chapters and between sections easily by clicking or tapping on the black Contents drop-down menu at the top of the page. A list of all the textbook’s chapters will appear. Click or tap on the plus (+) buttons to the right of each chapter title to see the sections for that chapter, which you can then click or tap to access.
In addition to using the contents menu, you can flip quickly through the textbook by clicking or tapping on the red bars that appear at the bottom of your screen. These links allow you to move to the next section of the textbook or return to the previous section. The red arrow at the bottom of the screen will take you to the top of the page.
Click or tap on any underlined terms to see their glossary definitions. Any links embedded in the names of chapters, sections, figures, and tables in the text will take you directly to that material.
Note that you can also install the free Hypothesis extension in your web browser, which will allow you to highlight specific passages of the text, insert notes, and share your annotations with anyone you wish—which may be useful for student study groups, among other things.
All set? Head over to the Introduction to start reading.
Other Ways of Reading This Textbook
In addition to reading the textbook in a web browser, you can download it as a single file that can then be read on any device or printed on paper. Use the links below to download the full text for free.
| Type of File | Best For | Notes |
| PDF for web | Reading on a computer, tablet, or phone using a PDF reader | Includes links and accessibility tags |
| PDF for print | Printing a hard copy | Does not include links |
| EPUB | Reading on iBooks, Nook, and other e-reading apps and devices |
Note: Other file formats (e.g., MOBI, Pressbooks XML, Common Cartridge) will be offered shortly.
Supplementary Instructional Materials and Textbook Listserv
In the near future, we also plan on providing free instructional materials, including lecture slides. To stay in the loop about any updates, feel free to subscribe to our low-volume mailing list at inthefray.org/craft. Updates will also be available at victortanchen.com/books/the-craft-of-sociological-research.
Providing Feedback and Contacting the Authors
We are continually revising and expanding on this textbook. Please do not hesitate to let us know about any errors, however major or minor. We are also open to suggestions about topics to cover, examples to include, and other ways to improve the material. Feel free to email the coauthors at craft@inthefray.org or use our textbook’s open Hypothesis group to highlight specific passages and make comments directly in the online text. We regularly review this feedback.
