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Understanding and Doing Successful Research

Understanding and Doing Successful Research

Data Collection and Analysis for the Social Sciences

Shaun Best

Jun 2012, Paperback, 344 pages
ISBN13: 9781408229224
ISBN10: 1408229226
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Research Methods is an essential guide to carrying out a research project. Each of the focused chapters introduces and explains an aspect of social research to readers who may have no experience or knowledge of this subject. The emphasis is on ‘how to do’ various different methods, how to decide which is the most appropriate, and how to analyse the data. The book also includes examples of good practice from a range of social science disciplines.

Chapter 1: Getting Started
Chapter 2: The Ethics of Social Research
Chapter 3: Searching and reviewing the literature
Chapter 4: Secondary Analysis - research using other people’s data
Chapter 5: Interviews
Chapter 6: The Case Study
Chapter 7: Ethnographic Approaches
Chapter 8: Observation, Participant Observation and Observational Inference
Chapter 9: Biographical and Auto-Biographical Research
Chapter 10: Documentary and Narrative Analysis
Chapter 11: Measurement and Statistical Inference
Chapter 12: What is a sample survey?
Chapter 13: Mixed Methods Research
Chapter 14: Evaluation Research and Experiments
Chapter 15: Successfully completing the project

This text:

  • demonstrates how to plan and conduct data collection, choose an appropriate method of data collection and write up the findings in a meaningful way
  • full and clear descriptions of the method and key concepts in the area, as well as extensive explanation and evaluation to assist the novice researcher
  • thorough discussion of data analysis and advice on explanation building and how to draw a appropriate inferences from data collected
  • encourages participant-driven and reflective research
  • illustrates good research practice from across a number of disciplines
  • addresses the QAA benchmarks for research methods study
  • covers all the core methods as well as Mixed methods, Evaluation Research and Experiments, Measurement and Statistical Inference
  • exercises and activities within the chapters to give the reader regular opportunities to reflect on their reading and evaluate the material.
  • running case study feature examines the issues and challenges to conducting research projects in a ‘real world’ scenario

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