Small-scale research
Subtitle: pragmatic inquiry in social science and the caring professions
By: Peter T. Knight.
Publisher: SAGE
Published: 2002
Place of publication: London; Thousand Oaks, CA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 223
Subjects: Social sciences -- Research.
Description: 'Small-Scale Research' is a direct, comprehensive guide for students doing theses, dissertations, papers and projects. It works through the central methods of inquiry and demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-219) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1 Starting with Writing 1; title: Private writing 1; title: Creating research questions 5; title: Writing a literature review 11; title: 2 Research as Claimsmaking 16; title: Research is more thinking than doing 17; title: Claims that research may make 23; title: Research standpoints 33; title: Research forms 37; title: Generalizing and learning from research 43; title: A pragmatist account of social research 46; title: 3 Face-to-face Inquiry Methods 49; title: Instrument structure and question formation 54; title: Special concerns in face-to-face research 54; title: Observation 56; title: Interviews 61; title: Nominal group technique 69; title: Focus groups 70; title: Memory work 71; title: Experiments 72; title: 4 Research at a Distance 80; title: Measurement, rating scales and lookalikes 80; title: Questionnaires 87; title: Diaries, logs and journals 95; title: Q-sort 97; title: Concept mapping 98; title: Image-based research 101; title: Documentary analysis 104; title: Unobtrusive methods 108; title: Post-empirical research 109; title: 5 Research Design: Bringing It All Together 114; title: A palette of methods 119; title: Sampling, generalizations and research methods 119; title: Multi-method design 127; title: Quality 133; title: 6 Complexity 144; title: The significance of complexity 146; title: Complexity and organizations 151; title: Complex people 156; title: 7 Doing It 161; title: Being pragmatic 161; title: Data capture 163; title: Disclosure and harm 169; title: 8 Sensemaking 173; title: Data analysis: levels, objectivity and continuity 173; title: Numbers and data analysis 176; title: Analysing qualitative data 182; title: 9 Writing, Disseminating and Influencing 193; title: Public writing 193; title: Disseminating 199; title: The influences of social research 203; title: 10 Reflecting 210; title: Hints for hard-pressed researchers 210; title: A quality check 211.