Real World Research: A Resource for Users of Socia l Research Methods in

Description: Colin Robson is Emeritus Professor, School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK. He is the former Chief Consultant of the Education of Children with Difficulties, Disabilities and Disadvantages project at the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Paris, France. Professor Robson is the author of several books including Experiment, Design and Statistics in Psychology and Small-Scale Evaluation: Principles and Practice. PART I: SETTING THE SCENE Chapter 1: Introduction What is real world research? - Design matters - Evaluation & change - The audience for this book - Returning to the real world - Beginning the journey Chapter 2: Approaches to social research Introduction - What is science? - Postmodernism & extreme relativist approaches - Two traditions - The quantitative paradigm - The qualitative paradigm - Paradigms & research questions - A pragmatic approach - Multi-strategy research designs - Realism & real world research - The purposes of research - Practical value of the theoretical material covered in the chapter PART II: PLANNING - SELECTING A STRATEGY Chapter 3: Developing your ideas Introduction - Deciding on the focus - Searching & reviewing the literature - Research questions - Developing your research question(s) - The place of theory Chapter 4: General design issues Introduction - A framework for research design - Getting a feel for design issues - Choosing a research design strategy - Establishing trustworthiness Chapter 5: Desk-based research Introduction - Types of desk-based research - Doing a literature review as a desk-based project - The main steps when carrying out a literature review as a desk-based project - Doing a systematic review - Doing realist reviews - In summary Chapter 6: Fixed designs Introduction - General features of fixed designs - Establishing trustworthiness in fixed design research - True experiments - Designs involving matching - Quasi-experiments - Single-case experiments - Non-experimental fixed designs - Sample size in fixed designs Chapter 7: Flexible designs Introduction - General features of flexible designs - Research traditions in qualitative research - Case studies - Ethnographic studies - Grounded theory studies - Other traditions - Sampling in flexible designs - Establishing trustworthiness in flexible design research Chapter 8: Multi-strategy (mixed method) designs Introduction - The quantitative-qualitative incompatibility thesis - The mixed methods movement - Types of multi-strategy designs - Designing & carrying out multi-strategy research - Pragmatism, realism or 'anything goes'? - Dealing with discrepancies in findings Chapter 9: Designs for particular purposes: evaluation, action & change Introduction - Evaluation research - Action research - Intervention & change - Researchers & practitioners Chapter 10: Ethical & political considerations Introduction - Ethical codes & guidelines - Ethical issues - Researcher safety & risk - Working with vulnerable groups - General ethical responsibilities - Ethical review boards & committees - Politics & real world research - Sexism, racism & social research PART III: TACTICS - THE METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION Chapter 11: Surveys & questionnaires Introduction - Designing surveys - Carrying out a sample survey - Designing & using a questionnaire - Diaries - Sampling in surveys & elsewhere - Probability samples - Non-probability samples Chapter 12: Interviews & focus groups Introduction - Types & styles of interviews - General advice for interviewers - Content of the interview - Carrying out different types of interview - Focus groups - Dealing with interview data - Skills in interviewing Chapter 13: Tests & scales Introduction - Measurement scales - Other scaling techniques - Using existing tests & scales - Developing your own test Chapter 14: Observational methods Introduction - Observation in real world research - Approaches to observation - Participant observation - Getting started as a participant observer - Structured observation - Deciding on a coding scheme - The use of existing coding schemes - Developing your own scheme - Coding sequences of behaviour - Reliability & structured observation Chapter 15: Additional methods of data collection Introduction - Unobtrusive measures - Content analysis of documents - Secondary data analysis - Introduction to a range of more specialist techniques - Internet-based research - Feminist research methods - Using multiple methods Chapter 16: Writing a project proposal Introduction - How to recognize a good proposal - The content of a research proposal - The problem of pre-specifying flexible design studies - Shortcomings of unsuccessful proposals - Sources of funding PART IV: CARRYING OUT THE PROJECT PART V: DEALING WITH THE DATA Chapter 17: The analysis & interpretation of quantitative data Introduction - Creating a data set - Starting data analysis - Exploring the data set - Exploring relationships between two variables - Exploring relationships among three or more variables - Analysing differences - Quantitative analysis & different fixed design research strategies Chapter 18: The analysis & interpretation of qualitative data Introduction - Types of qualitative analysis - Using the computer for qualitative data analysis - Dealing with the quantity of qualitative data - Thematic coding analysis - Data analysis in grounded theory studies - Alternative approaches to qualitative analysis - Integrating qualitative & quantitative data in multi-strategy designs Chapter 19: Reporting, disseminating & moving forward Introduction - Reporting your findings - Ethics & reporting - Reporting fixed design research - The scientific journal format - Reporting flexible design studies - Reporting on multi-strategy design studies - Reporting on case studies - Reporting on literature reviews - Writing for non-academic audiences - Alternative forms of presentation - Writing skills - Where next? Appendix A: Using specialist software for quantitative analysis Appendix B: Using specialist software for qualitative analysis

Price: 110 AUD

Location: Hillsdale, NSW

End Time: 2024-11-11T07:33:13.000Z

Shipping Cost: 26.34 AUD