Understanding research methods
Subtitle: an overview of the essentials
By: Mildred L. Patten
Contributors: Bruce, Randall R.
Edition: 7th ed.
Publisher: Pyrczak Pub.
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Glendale, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 208
ISBN-13: 9781884585838
Subjects: Research Design; Methodology; Problems and exercises; Problems, exercises; Research
Notes: "This edition was written in collaboration with Randall R. Bruce"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction to the seventh edition; title: Part A: Introduction to research methods; title: 1. Introduction to empirical research; title: 2. Experimental versus nonexperimental studies; title: 3. Experimental versus causal-comparative studies; title: 4. Types of nonexperimental research; title: 5. Variables in nonexperimental studies; title: 6. Variables in experimental studies; title: 7. Research hypotheses, purposes, and questions; title: 8. Operational definitions of variables; title: 9. Quantative versus qualitative reseach: I; title: 10. Quantative versus qualitative research: II; title: 11. Program evaluation; title: 12. Ethical considerations in research; title: 13. The role of theory in research; title: Part B: Reviewing Literature; title: 14. Reasons for reviewing literature; title: 15. Locating literature electronically; title: 16. Organizing a literature review; title: 17. Preparing to write a critical review; title: 18. Creating a synthesis; title: 19. Citing references; title: Part C: Sampling; title: 20. Biased and unbiased sampling; title: 21. Simple random and systemic sampling; title: 22. Stratified random sampling; title: 23. Other methods of sampling; title: 24. Sampling and demographics; title: 25. Introduction to sample size; title: 26. A closer look at sample size; title: Part D: Instrumentation; title: 27. Introduction to validity; title: 28. Judgmental validity; title: 29. Empirical validity; title: 30. Judgmental-empirical validity; title: 31. Reliability and its relationship to validity; title: 32. Measures of reliability; title: 33. Internal consistency and reliability; title: 34. Norm- and criterion-referenced tests; title: 35. Measures of optimum performance; title: 36. Measures of typical performance; title: Part E: Experimental design; title: 37. True experimental designs; title: 38. Threats to internal validity; title: 39. Threats to external validity; title: 40. Preexperimental designs; title: 41. Quasi-experimental designs; title: 42. Confounding in experiments; title: F. Understanding statistics; title: 43. Descriptive and inferential statistics; title: 44. Introduction to the null hypothesis; title: 45. Scales of measurement; title: 46. Descriptions of nominal data; title: 47. Introduction to the chi-square test; title: 48. A closer look at the chi-square test; title: 49. Shapes of distributions; title: 50. The mean, median, mode; title: 51. The mean and the standard deviation; title: 52. The median and interquartile range; title: 53. The pearson correlation coefficient; title: 54. The t test; title: 55. One-way analysis of variance; title: 56. Two-way analysis of variance; title: 57. Practical significance of results; title: Part G: Effect size and meta-analysis; title: 58. Introduction to effect size (d); title: 59. Interpretation of effect size (d); title: 60. Effect size and correlation (r); title: 61. Introduction to meta-analysis; title: 62. Meta-analysis and effect size; title: 63. Meta-analysis: strengths and weaknesses; title: Part H: Qualitative research; title: 64. Sampling in qualitative research: I; title: 65. Sampling in qualitative research: II; title: 66. Measurement in qualitative research: I; title: 67. Measurement in qualitative research: II; title: 68. Quality control in qualitative research; title: 69. Grounded theory for data analysis; title: 70. Consensual qualitative research: analysis; title: Part I: Preparing research reports; title: 71: The structure of a research report; title: 72. Introduction and literature review; title: 73. Describing participants; title: 74. Describing instrumentation; title: 75. Reporting research results; title: 76. Writing the discussion; title: 77. Preparing theses and dissertations; title: Appendices; title: A. Electronic databases for locating literature; title: B. Electronic sources of statistical information; title: C. Excerpts from literature reviews; title: D.A closer look at the standard devaition; title: E.A closer look at effect size; title: F. Outline of question route for a focus group study; title: G. Sample abstracts of research reports; title: H. Sample description of qualitative data analysis; title: Tables; title: 1. Table of random numbers; title: 2. Table of recommended sample sizes; title: Index.