This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.
This manual is an indispensable tool for introducing advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students to the techniques of recombinant DNA technology, or gene cloning and expression. The techniques used in basic research and biotechnology laboratories are covered in detail. Students gain hands-on experience from start to finish in subcloning a gene into an expression vector, through purification of the recombinant protein. The third edition has been completely re-written, with new laboratory exercises and all new illustrations and text, designed for a typical 15-week semester, rather than a 4-week intensive course. The "project approach to experiments was maintained: students still follow a cloning project through to completion, culminating in the purification of recombinant protein. It takes advantage of the enhanced green fluorescent protein - students can actually visualize positive clones following IPTG induction. - Cover basic concepts and techniques used in molecular biology research labs - Student-tested labs proven successful in a real classroom laboratories - Exercises simulate a cloning project that would be performed in a real research lab - "Project" approach to experiments gives students an overview of the entire process - Prep-list appendix contains necessary recipes and catalog numbers, providing staff with detailed instructions
Sections include: experiments and generalised causal inference; statistical conclusion validity and internal validity; construct validity and external validity; quasi-experimental designs that either lack a control group or lack pretest observations on the outcome; quasi-experimental designs that use both control groups and pretests; quasi-experiments: interrupted time-series designs; regresssion discontinuity designs; randomised experiments: rationale, designs, and conditions conducive to doing them; practical problems 1: ethics, participation recruitment and random assignment; practical problems 2: treatment implementation and attrition; generalised causal inference: a grounded theory; generalised causal inference: methods for single studies; generalised causal inference: methods for multiple studies; a critical assessment of our assumptions.
Laboratory experiences as a part of most U.S. high school science curricula have been taken for granted for decades, but they have rarely been carefully examined. What do they contribute to science learning? What can they contribute to science learning? What is the current status of labs in our nation�s high schools as a context for learning science? This book looks at a range of questions about how laboratory experiences fit into U.S. high schools: What is effective laboratory teaching? What does research tell us about learning in high school science labs? How should student learning in laboratory experiences be assessed? Do all student have access to laboratory experiences? What changes need to be made to improve laboratory experiences for high school students? How can school organization contribute to effective laboratory teaching? With increased attention to the U.S. education system and student outcomes, no part of the high school curriculum should escape scrutiny. This timely book investigates factors that influence a high school laboratory experience, looking closely at what currently takes place and what the goals of those experiences are and should be. Science educators, school administrators, policy makers, and parents will all benefit from a better understanding of the need for laboratory experiences to be an integral part of the science curriculum-and how that can be accomplished.
