Software Reviews : Contemporary Social Research Methods With Social Research Using MicroCase Publisher: MicroCase Corporation Year of Publication: 1996 Version Reviewed: Student MicroCase,3.5 Materials: Contemporary Social Research Methods,by Rodney Stark and Lynne Roberts;Social Research Using MicroCase,by Lynne Roberts and Michael Corbett;and Student MicroCase,3.5 Price: $37,sold only as a complete package System Requirements: PCs with color graphics,640 K RAM,high density 3.5-inch drive (1.5 MB disk space if installed on hard drive) Effectiveness: Fair User Friendliness: Good Documentation: Excellent

Abstract

The Contemporary Social Research Methods With Social Research Using MicroCase package is a useful tool for teaching introductory quantitative research methods with a computer application. The software is a good DOS package, relatively easy to use with excellent supporting materials. The text, Contemporary Social Research Methods, by Rodney Stark and Lynne Roberts is very good; it is clearly written in a clean, attractive format. The software has the usual awkwardness of DOS software in a Windows world, but the documentation is very useful and the performance quite respectable on a 75 MHz Pentium with 32 MB RAM. The material is pitched toward the low end of what is typically expected in a social science methods course at a liberal arts college. It seems better suited to students who are not going to specialize in quantitative research.