First steps in research 2/e
- Maree JG (Editor)
- ISBN: 9780627033698
- eISBN: N/A
- ePub ISBN: N/A
- 440 Pages | Published: 2016
At some point
or other in their academic careers, most tertiary-level students are going to
be faced with having to do a research project. It is a fundamental part of
further education that many students find daunting. This need not be the case. First
steps in research uses the most current perspectives in the field both
locally and internationally to provide practical guidelines on how to conduct
and report on research at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
First
steps in research facilitates the understanding and application of theories, goals,
methods and strategies, being easy to read and use without diluting the
conceptual and terminological complexities of the field. It examines the
historical and philosophical underpinnings of qualitative, quantitative and
integrated or mixed methods of conducting research and suggests how these three
approaches may best be used. It also elaborates on the methodological
dimensions of action research processes and exemplifies participatory reflection.
Contents
include the following:
• Formulating a research question
• Planning a research proposal
• Conducting a preliminary literature review
• Ethical considerations
• Interpreting data
• Data collection methods, including how to
engage participants and elicit “thick” data
• Sampling methods
• Graphical ways of representing data
• Basic probability rules
• Basic statistical methods and
tests/techniques
First steps in research is aimed at novice
researchers, including undergraduate students or junior postgraduate students
who are encountering research methodology for the first time.
Chapter
1 What is a research question and why is it
important?
Chapter
2 Introduction to the language of research
Chapter
3 Planning a research proposal
Chapter
4 Introducing qualitative research
Chapter
5 Qualitative research designs and
data-gathering techniques
Chapter
6 Analysing qualitative data
Chapter
7 First steps in action research
Chapter
8 The quantitative research process
Chapter
9 Surveys and the use of questionnaires
Chapter
10 Sampling
Chapter
11 Statistical
analysis I: descriptive statistics
Chapter
12 Statistical
analysis II: inferential statistics
Chapter
13 Standardisation
of a questionnaire
Chapter
14 Overview
of some of the most popular statistical techniques
Chapter
15 Foundations
and approaches to mixed methods research
Appendix
A Proposed
title: Exploring learners’ management of career-related transitions through
self-construction
Appendix
B Some
technical details
Appendix
C Check
list for designing a mixed methods study
Appendix
D Telephone
questionnaire for expectant fathers
Appendix
E Table
of random numbers
Appendix
F Questionnaire
for first-year students of education
Appendix
G Small-scale
survey research: an example (“classic” two-group research design)
Appendix
H Small-scale
survey research: an example (Solomon’s three group research design)
Appendix
I Questions
based on an encapsulation of the key outcomes of quantitative research
Appendix
J Letter
of application to conduct research
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