All researchers want to produce interesting and influential theories. A key step in all theory development is formulating innovative research questions that will result in interesting and significant research. Traditional textbooks on research methods tend to ignore, or gloss over, actual ways of constructing research questions. In this text, Alvesson and Sandberg develop a problematization methodology for identifying and challenging the assumptions underlying existing theories and for generating research questions that can lead to more interesting and influential theories, using examples from across the social sciences. Established methods of generating research questions in the social sciences tend to focus on ′gap-spotting′, which means that existing literature remains largely unchallenged. The authors show the dangers of conventional approaches, providing detailed ideas for how one can work through such problems and formulate novel research questions that challenge existing theories and produce more imaginative empirical studies. Constructing Research Questions is essential reading for any researcher looking to formulate research questions that are interesting and novel.
Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide shows students how to be critical consumers of research and to appreciate the power of methodology as it shapes the research question, the use of theory in the study, the methods used, and how the outcomes are reported. The book starts with what it means to be a critical and uncritical reader of research, followed by a detailed chapter on methodology, and then proceeds to a discussion of each component of a research article as it is informed by the methodology. The book encourages readers to select an article from their discipline, learning along the way how to assess each component of the article and come to a judgment of its rigor or quality as a scholarly report.
The success of any interview or questionnaire depends upon good question design, yet most of the available literature has been devoted to interview techniques, rather than question formulation. This practical book provides a coherent, theoretical basis for the construction of valid and reliable questions for interviews and questionnaires. The theoretical framework used in the book provides a set of principles that, when followed, will increase the validity and reliability of verbal data collected for social research. Dr Foddy outlines the problems which can arise when framing questions with clarity and commonsense. He has written a wide ranging, useful book for survey practitioners working in the social sciences.
Constructing Social Research answers the question: What is social science? Updated throughout with new references and examples, the Third Edition of this innovative text by Charles C. Ragin and Lisa M. Amoroso shows the unity within the diversity of activities called social research to help students understand how all social researchers construct representations of social life using theories, systematic data collection, and careful examination of that data.
`This book provides refreshing and powerful insights on the challenges of conducting management research from a European perspective. Particulalrly for someone embarking on a managment research career this book will provide valuable guidelines.′ -- Ian MacMillan, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania `This comprehensive volume is distinguished by its balance and pragmatism. The authors who present the various research methods are not proponents but researchers who have applied these methods. The authors who discuss philosophical and strategic issues are not advocates but researchers who have had to confront these issues in their research′ - Bill Starbuck, New York University `Doing Management Research is a fabulous contribution to our field. Thietart and his colleagues have put together a unique and valuable guide to help management scholars more deeply understand the issues, dynamics and contradictions of executing first class managerial research. This book will hold an important place on the researcher′s desk for years to come′ - Michael Tushman, Harvard Business School ′This is an excellent in-depth examination of the conduct of management research. It will serve as a valuable resource for management scholars and researchers and is a must read for Ph.D. students in management.′ -- Michael Hitt, Arizona State University `This book will prove to be an excellent guide for those engaged in management research for the first time and an excellent refresher for more experienced scholars. Raymond Thietart and his colleagues should be thanked roundly for this comprehensive volume′ - Gordon Walker, Southern Methodist University, Cox Business School `This textbook makes an outstanding contribution to texts on management research. For researchers considering management research it offers an extensive guide to the research process′ - Paula Roberts, Nurse Researcher Doing Management Research, a major new textbook, provides answers to questions and problems which researchers invariably encounter when embarking on management research, be it quantitative or qualitative. This book will carefully guide the reader through the research process from beginning to end. An excellent tool for academics and students, it enables the reader to acquire and build upon empirical evidence, and to decide what tools to use to understand and describe what is being observed, and then, which methods of analysis to adopt. There is an entire section dedicated to writing up and communicating the research findings. Written in an accessible and easy-to-use style, this book can be read from cover to cover or dipped into, to clarify particular issues during the research process. Doing Management Research results from the ′hands-on′ experience of a large group of researchers who have all had to address the different issues raised when undertaking management research. It is anchored in real methodological problems that researchers face in their work. This work will also become one of the most useful reference tools for senior researchers who are looking for answers to epistemological or methodological problems.
Communication research is evolving and changing in a world of online journals, open-access, and new ways of obtaining data and conducting experiments via the Internet. Although there are generic encyclopedias describing basic social science research methodologies in general, until now there has been no comprehensive A-to-Z reference work exploring methods specific to communication and media studies. Our entries, authored by key figures in the field, focus on special considerations when applied specifically to communication research, accompanied by engaging examples from the literature of communication, journalism, and media studies. Entries cover every step of the research process, from the creative development of research topics and questions to literature reviews, selection of best methods (whether quantitative, qualitative, or mixed) for analyzing research results and publishing research findings, whether in traditional media or via new media outlets. In addition to expected entries covering the basics of theories and methods traditionally used in communication research, other entries discuss important trends influencing the future of that research, including contemporary practical issues students will face in communication professions, the influences of globalization on research, use of new recording technologies in fieldwork, and the challenges and opportunities related to studying online multi-media environments. Email, texting, cellphone video, and blogging are shown not only as topics of research but also as means of collecting and analyzing data. Still other entries delve into considerations of accountability, copyright, confidentiality, data ownership and security, privacy, and other aspects of conducting an ethical research program. Features: 652 signed entries are contained in an authoritative work spanning four volumes available in choice of electronic or print formats. Although organized A-to-Z, front matter includes a Reader’s Guide grouping entries thematically to help students interested in a specific aspect of communication research to more easily locate directly related entries. Back matter includes a Chronology of the development of the field of communication research; a Resource Guide to classic books, journals, and associations; a Glossary introducing the terminology of the field; and a detailed Index. Entries conclude with References/Further Readings and Cross-References to related entries to guide students further in their research journeys. The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross-References combine to provide robust search-and-browse in the e-version.
What constitutes qualitative evidence? This book will break new ground by providing urgently needed standards for qualitative inquiry and tackle the significant issues of what constitutes qualitative evidence. In particular, this book will address the place of qualitative evidence in the planning delivery, and evaluation of health care. The authors first examine the status of qualitative research as evidence versus as "opinion." They then examine such topics as: who decides what counts as evidence, the nature of outcomes, how to evaluate qualitative evidence, constructing evidence within the qualitative project, and research utilization and qualitative research. They conclude with perspectives on the issue of standards for qualitative investigation.
Engaging and informative, this book provides students and researchers with a pragmatic, new perspective on the process of collecting survey data. By proposing a post-positivist, interviewee-centred approach, it improves the quality and impact of survey data by emphasising the interaction between interviewer and interviewee. Extending the conventional methodology with contributions from linguistics, anthropology, cognitive studies and ethnomethodology, Gobo and Mauceri analyse the answering process in structured interviews built around questionnaires. The following key areas are explored in detail: An historical overview of survey research The process of preparing the survey and designing data collection The methods of detecting bias and improving data quality The strategies for combining quantitative and qualitative approaches The survey within global and local contexts Incorporating the work of experts in interpersonal and intercultural relations, this book offers readers an intriguing critical perspective on survey research. Giampietro Gobo, Ph.D., is Professor of Methodology of Social Research and Evaluation Methods at the Department of Social and Political Studies - University of Milan. He has published over fifty articles in the areas of qualitative and quantitative methods. His books include Doing Ethnography (Sage 2008) and Qualitative Research Practice (Sage 2004, co-edited with C. Seale, J.F. Gubrium and D. Silverman). He is currently engaged in projects in the area of workplace studies. Sergio Mauceri, Ph.D., is Lecturer in Methodology of Social Sciences and teaches Quantitative and Qualitative Strategies of Social Research at the Department of Communication and Social Research - University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’. He has published several books and articles on data quality in survey research, mixed strategies, ethnic prejudice, multicultural cohabitation, delay in the transition to adulthood, worker well-being in call centres and homophobia.
At the heart of all successful survey research is asking the right questions. Constructing Effective Questionnaires is intended for all who commission, conduct, and evaluate research based on asking questions. This book offers Robert Peterson's pragmatic perspective on questionnaire construction - one based on a balance of personal experience plus in-depth knowledge of the conceptual and methodological literature of the behavioral sciences. From specific question wording to overall questionnaire design, the book is a comprehensive guide to this critical element of survey research. Throughout the book, Peterson repeatedly stresses the importance of empirically testing and evaluating questions, not only to identify whether they work, but also "why" they work.
This basic introduction to survey research for public administration is organised around the fundamental stages of the research process - planning, design, implementation, analysis and presentation
