Designed to foster "inquiry-mindedness," this book prepares graduate students to develop a conceptual framework and conduct inquiry projects that are linked to ongoing conversations in a field. The authors examine different ways of knowing and show how to identify a research question; build arguments and support them with evidence; make informed design decisions; engage in reflective, ethical practices; and produce a written proposal or report. Each chapter opens with a set of critical questions, followed by a dialogue among five fictional graduate students exploring questions and concerns about their own inquiry projects; these issues are revisited throughout the chapter. Other useful features include end-of-chapter learning activities for individual or group use. Useful pedagogical features include:*Framing questions for exploration and reflection.*Chapter-opening dialogues that bring in perspectives from multiple disciplines.*Example boxes with detailed cases and questions for the reader.*End-of-chapter activities and experiential exercises that guide readers to develop their own inquiry projects.*Suggestions for further reading.
An indispensable reference for postgraduates, providing up to date guidance in all subject areas Methods for Postgraduates brings together guidance for postgraduate students on how to organise, plan and do research from an interdisciplinary perspective. In this new edition, the already wide-ranging coverage is enhanced by the addition of new chapters on social media, evaluating the research process, Kansei engineering and medical research reporting. The extensive updates also provide the latest guidance on issues relevant to postgraduates in all subject areas, from writing a proposal and securing research funds, to data analysis and the presentation of research, through to intellectual property protection and career opportunities. This thoroughly revised new edition provides: Clear and concise advice from distinguished international researchers on how to plan, organise and conduct research. New chapters explore social media in research, evaluate the research process, Kansei engineering and discuss the reporting of medical research. Check lists and diagrams throughout. Praise for the second edition: “... the most useful book any new postgraduate could ever buy.” (New Scientist) “The book certainly merits its acceptance as essential reading for postgraduates and will be valuable to anyone associated in any way with research or with presentation of technical or scientific information of any kind.”(Robotica) Like its predecessors, the third edition of Research Methods for Postgraduates is accessible and comprehensive, and is a must-read for any postgraduate student.
"This book is a product of our several decades of teaching about research, conducting research ourselves, advising graduate students who conducted research - and of our reflections on the teaching and on the conduct of research. The book is structured to follow a teaching sequence; in fact, it maps neatly onto our syllabus for the course. Each chapter begins with a series of critical questions that we hope will guide reading and prompt further questions for discussion. These questions are followed by a dialogue among five graduate students whose journeys into inquiry are just beginning. Their challenges and joys are embedded in these dialogues as well as throughout the chapters. We also draw on other examples from our students over the years in several places. The chapters end with learning activities that we have used over the years and refined, based on student feedback and our own critical reflections on how well they worked"--
This hands-on guide takes students from start-to-finish through the research process while showcasing the complexities and interrelationships of different methods, schools of thought, and associated analytical strategies. Encouraging students to think of qualitative research as a flexible, cyclical process rather than a linear one, this book offers a panoramic strategy and dynamic approach to qualitative research that accommodates the fluid nature of research and accounts for lessons learned through lived experience. With an emphasis on the analysis stage—within case, across case, and the dialogue between these insights and existing literature—it uses concrete applications to show how your methodological decisions translate into practice. It covers: Forming, defending, and evaluating research questions Choosing a research approach Ensuring ethically sound research Collecting quality data Analyzing data in layers Reporting research results Through a conversational tone that unpacks key vocabulary and acts as a companion supervisor, this book equips you to traverse every step of the qualitative research journey.
The aim of this book is to provide prospective and current doctoral students, and their supervisors, with a range of narratives of doctoral experiences. The book is an outcome of a conference where both academic and professional doctorate students at different stages of their research shared their experiences of the process of completing a doctorate. The ten candid accounts included in the volume provide a valuable insight into the kinds of challenges that arise and the ways in which these might (or might not) be overcome. In so doing, this book ‘lifts the lid’ on some of the hitherto concealed aspects of the doctoral process. The book also includes a chapter from an established academic with a record of writing about the doctoral student experience, as well as inserts from a doctoral programme leader and an experienced academic supervisor. In the Introduction, the editors review some of the current literature on experiences of the doctoral research journey and the research process. The book concludes with the editors’ reflections on both the unique nature of doctoral research for each individual and the common stages that students experience on the journey.
This essential guidebook takes readers step-by-step through the dissertation process, with checklists, illustrations, sample forms, and updated coverage of ethics, technology, and the literature review.
Scholars in organization studies share their experience in overcoming research obstacles, working with collaborators, & balancing professional with personal life demands. The book is organized around a series of chapters & commentaries that invite the reader to interact with the ideas presented.
Our objective is to publish a book that lays out the theoretical constructs and research methodologies within mathematics education that have been developed by Paul Cobb and explains the process of their development. We propose to do so by including papers in which Cobb introduced new theoretical perspectives and methodologies into the literature, each preceded by a substantive accompanying introductory paper that explains the motivation/rationale for developing the new perspectives and/or methodologies and the processes through which they were developed, and Cobb’s own retrospective comments. In this way the book provides the reader with heretofore unpublished material that lays out in considerable detail the issues and problems that Cobb has confronted in his work, that, from his viewpoint, required theoretical and methodological shifts/advances and provides insight into how he has achieved the shifts/advances. The result will be a volume that, in addition to explaining Cobb’s contributions to the field of mathematics education, also provides the reader with insight into what is involved in developing an aggressive and evolving research program. When Cobb confronts problems and issues in his work that cannot be addressed using his existing theories and frameworks, he looks to other fields for theoretical inspiration. A critical feature of Cobb’s work is that in doing so, he consciously appropriates and adapts ideas from these other fields to the purpose of supporting processes of learning and teaching mathematics; He does not simply accept the goals or motives of those fields. As a result, Cobb reconceptualizes and reframes issues and concepts so that they result in new ways of investigating, exploring, and explaining phenomena that he encounters in the practical dimensions of his work, which include working in classrooms, with teachers, and with school systems. The effect is that the field of mathematics education is altered. Other researchers have found his "new ways of looking" useful to them. And they, in turn, adapt these ideas for their own use. The complexity of many of the ideas that Cobb has introduced into the field of mathematics education can lead to a multiplicity of interpretations by practitioners and by other researchers, based on their own experiential backgrounds. Therefore, by detailing the development of Cobb’s work, including the tensions involved in coming to grips with and reconciling apparently contrasting perspectives, the book will shed additional light on the processes of reconceptualization and thus help the reader to understand the reasons, mechanisms, and outcomes of researchers’ constant pursuit of new insights.
Qualitative Journeys: Student and Mentor Experiences with Research takes a fresh approach to teaching qualitative research. Authors Victor Minichiello and Jeffrey Kottler share stories of student qualitative research experiences that reveal the struggles, the joys, the discoveries, and the surprises that take place during the qualitative research journey. By studying examples of student research (including obstacles and how they were overcome), readers learn through the real-life experiences of other students. Throughout the textbook, the authors offer pragmatic guidance for what works and what does not work, along with suggested solutions. Features and Benefits Provides the nuts and bolts of qualitative research in Part I Includes a dozen "qualitative journeys," narratives that tell the story of research studies, how they evolved, what was involved, and how they were conceived and conducted Focuses on research from the perspective of student experiences and demonstrates the partnership between students and their mentors Includes domestic and international examples of qualitative studies and real-life stories that convey the excitement and meaning of research Considers the lessons learned and the main themes derived from all the qualitative journeys Qualitative Journeys: Student and Mentor Experiences with Research is appropriate for use as a supplement or core text for courses in Qualitative Research, Counseling Research Methods, or Social Work Research Methods.
