Understanding Research Methods: An Overview of the Essentials

A perennial bestseller since 1997, this updated tenth edition of Understanding Research Methods provides a detailed overview of all the important concepts traditionally covered in a research methods class. It covers the principles of both qualitative and quantitative research, and how to interpret statistics without computations, so is suitable for all students regardless of their math background. The book is organized so that each concept is treated independently and can be used in any order without resulting in gaps in knowledge—allowing it to be easily and precisely adapted to any course. It uses lively examples on contemporary topics to stimulate students’ interest, and engages them by showing the relevance of research methods to their everyday lives. Numerous case studies and end-of-section exercises help students master the material and encourage classroom discussion. The text is divided into short, independent topic sections, making it easy for you to adapt the material to your own teaching needs and customize assignments to the aspect of qualitative or quantitative methods under study—helping to improve students’ comprehension and retention of difficult concepts. Additional online PowerPoint slides and test bank questions make this a complete resource for introducing students to research methods. New to this edition: New topic section on design decisions in research Additional material on production of knowledge and research methods Significant development of material on ethical considerations in research Fresh and contemporary examples from a wide variety of real, published research Topic-specific exercises at the end of each section now include suggestions for further steps researchers can take as they build their research project.

Table of Contents:
Part A Introduction to Research Methods 1. Knowledge and Research Methods 2. Empirical Research 3. The Role of Theory in Research 4. Experimental and Nonexperimental Studies 5. Causal-Comparative Studies 6. Types of Nonexperimental Research 7. Quantitative and Qualitative Research: Key Differences 8. Quantitative and Qualitative Research Decisions 9. Program Evaluation 10. The Development of Ethical Research Standards 11. Ethical Principles in Research Part B Reviewing and Citing the Literature 12. Why Researchers Review Literature 13. Locating Literature in Electronic Databases 14. Structuring the Literature Review 15. Connecting the Literature to Your Study 16. Preparing to Write a Critical Review 17. Creating a Synthesis 18. Why Academics Use Citation 19. Introduction to Style Guides Part C Basic Concepts in Quantitative Research 20. Decisions in Quantitative Research Design 21. Variables in Nonexperimental Studies 22. Variables in Experimental Studies 23. Operational Definitions of Variables 24. Research Hypotheses, Purposes, and Questions Part D Sampling 25. Biased and Unbiased Sampling 26. Simple Random and Systematic Sampling 27. Stratified Random Sampling 28. Cluster Sampling 29. Nonprobability Sampling and Qualitative Research 30. Sampling and Demographics 31. Sample Composition and Bias 32. Sample Size in Quantitative Studies 33. Sample Size and Diversity in Qualitative Research 34. Sampling in the Modern World Part E Measurement 35. Introduction to Validity 36. Judgmental Validity 37. Empirical Validity 38. Judgmental-Empirical Validity 39. Reliability and its Relationship to Validity 40. Measures of Reliability 41. Internal Consistency and Reliability 42. Norm- and Criterion-referenced Tests 43. Measures of Optimum Performance 44. Measures of Typical Performance 45. Measurement in Qualitative Research Part F Qualitative Research Design 46. Interviews in Qualitative Research 47. Other Methods for Collecting Qualitative Data 48. Grounded Theory and Research Design 49. Consensual Qualitative Research Design 50 Designing Case Studies 51. Mixed Methods Designs Part G Designing Experimental Research 52. True Experimental Designs 53. Threats to Internal Validity 54. Threats to External Validity 55. Pre-experimental Designs 56. Quasi-experimental Designs 57. Confounding in Experiments Part H Analyzing Data: Understanding Statistics 58. Descriptive and Inferential Statistics 59. Understanding Probability in Statistics 60. Introduction to the Null Hypothesis 61. Scales of Measurement 62. Descriptions of Nominal Data 63. Shapes of Distributions 64. The Mean, Median, and Mode 65. The Mean and Standard Deviation 66. The Median and Interquartile Range 67. The Chi-Square Test 68. The Bivariate Chi Square Test and Types of Error 69. The t Test 70. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient 71. One-Way Analysis of Variance 72. Two-Way Analysis of Variance 73. Basic Regression 74. Practical Significance of Results Part I Effect Size and Meta-analysis 75. Introduction to Effect Size (d ) 76. Interpretation of Effect Size (d ) 77. Effect Size and Correlation (r) 78. Introduction to Meta-Analysis 79. Meta-analysis and Effect Size 80. Meta-analysis: Strengths and Weaknesses Part J Preparing Research Reports 81. The Structure of a Research Report 82. Writing Abstracts 83. Introduction and Literature Review 84. Describing Participants 85. Describing Measures 86. Reporting Research Results 87. Writing the Discussion 88. Preparing Theses and Dissertations Appendices A Databases for Locating Literature B Electronic Sources of Statistical Information C Excerpts From Literature Reviews D Sample Abstracts of Research Reports E Introduction to APA Style F Introduction to ASA Style Tables Table of Random Numbers (in Topic 32) Table of Recommended Sample Sizes (in Topic 38) Table of Statistical Tests (in Topic 61) Index