This concise text from The SAGE Quantitative Research Kit provides a clear and digestible introduction to completing quantitative research. Taking you step-by-step through the process of completing your quantitative research project, it offers guidance on formulating a research question, completing a literature review, designing your research around your data source, and choosing appropriate methodology.
This lively, practical text presents a fresh and comprehensive approach to doing qualitative research. The book offers a unique balance of theory and clear-cut choices for customizing every phase of a qualitative study. A scholarly mix of classic and contemporary studies from multiple disciplines provides compelling, field-based examples of the full range of qualitative approaches. Readers learn about adaptive ways of designing studies, collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting findings. Key aspects of the researcher's craft are addressed, such as fieldwork options, the five phases of data analysis (with and without using computer-based software), and how to incorporate the researcher's “declarative” and “reflective” selves into a final report. Ideal for graduate-level courses, the text includes:* Discussions of ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, feminist research, and other approaches.* Instructions for creating a study bank to get a new study started.* End-of-chapter exercises and a semester-long, field-based project.* Quick study boxes, research vignettes, sample studies, and a glossary.* Previews for sections within chapters, and chapter recaps.* Discussion of the place of qualitative research among other social science methods, including mixed methods research.
Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods is a student-friendly introduction to quantitative research methods and basic statistics. It uses a detective theme throughout the text to show how quantitative methods have been used to solve real-life problems. The book focuses on principles and techniques that are appropriate to introductory level courses in media, psychology and sociology. Examples and illustrations are drawn from historical and contemporary research in the social sciences. The original CD-ROM accompanying the book and its content are no longer available.
A practical guide to using modern software effectively in quantitative research in the social and natural sciences. This book offers a practical guide to the computational methods at the heart of most modern quantitative research. It will be essential reading for research assistants needing hands-on experience; students entering PhD programs in business, economics, and other social or natural sciences; and those seeking quantitative jobs in industry. No background in computer science is assumed; a learner need only have a computer with access to the Internet. Using the example as its principal pedagogical device, the book offers tried-and-true prototypes that illustrate many important computational tasks required in quantitative research. The best way to use the book is to read it at the computer keyboard and learn by doing. The book begins by introducing basic skills: how to use the operating system, how to organize data, and how to complete simple programming tasks. For its demonstrations, the book uses a UNIX-based operating system and a set of free software tools: the scripting language Python for programming tasks; the database management system SQLite; and the freely available R for statistical computing and graphics. The book goes on to describe particular tasks: analyzing data, implementing commonly used numerical and simulation methods, and creating extensions to Python to reduce cycle time. Finally, the book describes the use of LaTeX, a document markup language and preparation system.
This concise text provides a clear and digestible introduction to completing quantitative research. Taking you step-by-step through the process of completing your quantitative research project, it offers guidance on: · Formulating your research question · Completing literature reviews and meta-analysis · Formulating a research design and specifying your target population and data source · Choosing an appropriate method and analysing your findings Part of The SAGE Quantitative Research Kit, this book will give you the know-how and confidence needed to succeed on your quantitative research journey.
Quantitative Research for the Qualitative Researcher is a concise, supplemental text that provides qualitatively oriented students and researchers with the requisite skills for conducting quantitative research. Throughout the book, authors Laura M. O’Dwyer and James A. Bernauer provide ample support and guidance to prepare readers both cognitively and attitudinally to conduct high quality research in the quantitative tradition. Highlighting the complementary nature of quantitative and qualitative research, they effectively explain the fundamental structure and purposes of design, measurement, and statistics within the framework of a research report, (including a dissertation). The text encourages the reader to see quantitative methodology for what it is?a process for systematically discovering new knowledge that can help describe, explain, and predict the world around us.
The Second Edition of An Applied Guide to Research Designs offers researchers in the social and behavioral sciences guidance for selecting the most appropriate research design to apply in their study. Using consistent terminology, the authors visually present a range of research designs used in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to help readers conceptualize, construct, test, and problem solve in their investigation. The Second Edition features revamped and expanded coverage of research designs, new real-world examples and references, a new chapter on action research, and updated ancillaries.
Addressing one of the key challenges facing doctoral students, Completing Your Qualitative Dissertation by Linda Dale Bloomberg and Marie Volpe fills a gap in qualitative literature by offering comprehensive guidance and practical tools for navigating each step in the qualitative dissertation journey, including the planning, research, and writing phases. Blending the conceptual, theoretical, and practical, the book becomes a dissertation in action—a logical and cohesive explanation and illustration of content and process. The Third Edition maintains key features that distinguish its unique approach and has been thoroughly updated and expanded throughout to reflect and address recent developments in the field.
Nervous about statistics? This guide offers you a clear, straight to the point break down of exploratory and descriptive statistics and its potential. Anchored by lots of examples and exercises to enhance your learning, this book will give you the know-how and confidence needed to succeed on your quantitative research journey.
"The book provides a reference point for beginning educational researchers to grasp the most pertinent elements of designing and conducting research..." —Megan Tschannen-Moran, The College of William & Mary Quantitative Research in Education: A Primer, Second Edition is a brief and practical text designed to allay anxiety about quantitative research. Award-winning authors Wayne K. Hoy and Curt M. Adams first introduce readers to the nature of research and science, and then present the meaning of concepts and research problems as they dispel notions that quantitative research is too difficult, too theoretical, and not practical. Rich with concrete examples and illustrations, the Primer emphasizes conceptual understanding and the practical utility of quantitative methods while teaching strategies and techniques for developing original research hypotheses. The Second Edition includes suggestions for empirical investigation and features a new section on self-determination theory, examples from the latest research, a concluding chapter illustrating the practical applications of quantitative research, and much more. This accessible Primer is perfect for students and researchers who want a quick understanding of the process of scientific inquiry and who want to learn how to effectively create and test ideas.