The essential guide to doing your research project. ([2010])

• Record Type: Book
• Uniform Title: Essential guide to doing research
• Further Information: Note: Zina O'Leary.
• Authors: O'Leary, Zina
• Contents: PART ONE: TAKING THE LEAP INTO THE RESEARCH WORLD; The challenge of tackling a research project; So what is this thing called research and why do it?; The need for research knowledge; The potential of research knowledge; Delving into the 'construct' of research; Ontology and epistemology; Competing positions; The position of the reflexive researcher; Getting help along the way; The structure of the book; How to get the most out of the book; PART TWO: GETTING STARTED; On your mark, get set, go!; Navigating the process; Understanding your programme; Getting set up; Getting the right advice; Managing the workload; Staying on course; Finding a balance; Dealing with 'crisis'; PART THREE: STRIVING FOR INTEGRITY IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS; Power, politics, ethics and research integrity; Understanding the power game; Credibility: Integrity in the production of knowledge; Working with appropriate indicators; Managing subjectivities; Capturing 'truth'; Approaching methods with consistency; Making relevant and appropriate arguments; Providing accurate and verifiable research accounts; Ethics: Integrity and the 'researched'; Legal obligations; Moral obligations; Ethical obligations; Ethics approval processes; Integrity indicators and checklist; PART FOUR: DEVELOPING YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION; The importance of good questions; Defining your topic; Curiosity and creativity; Looking for inspiration; Practicalities; From interesting topics to researchable questions; Narrowing in; The need to redefine; The hypothesis dilemma; Hypothesis defined; Appropriateness; Characteristics of good questions; PART FIVE: CRAFTING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL; The role of the proposal; Demonstrating merits of the research question; Demonstrating merits of the proposed methods; Demonstrating merits of the researcher; Elements of the proposal; Writing a winning proposal; Following guidelines; Writing purposively; Drafting and redrafting; Obstacles and challenges; When your design doesn't fit proposal requirements; When your design is emergent; When want to or need to change direction/method; PART SIX: WORKING WITH LITERATURE; The importance of literature; The role of literature; Sourcing relevant literature; Types of literature; Calling on 'experts'; Honing your search skills; Managing the literature; Assessing relevance; Being systematic; Annotating references; Writing a the formal 'literature review'; Purpose; Coverage; The writing process; PART SEVEN: DESIGNING A RESEARCH PLAN; Methodology, methods and tools; The relationship between methodology and methods; Moving from questions to answers; Finding a path; Hitting the target; Getting down to the nitty gritty; Fundamental questions; Emergent methodological design; PART EIGHT: UNDERSTANDING METHODOLOGIES: QUANTITATIVE, QUALITATIVE AND 'MIXED' APPROACHES; Understanding the quantitative/ qualitative divide; The quantitative tradition; Scientific/ hypothetico-deductive methods; Experimental design; Exploring a population; The qualitative tradition; Credibility in qualitative studies; Ethnography; Phenomenology; Ethnomethodology; Understanding feminist approaches; Mixed methodology; Arguments for mixed methodology; Perspectives and strategies; Challenges and obstacles; PART NINE: UNDERSTANDING METHODOLOGIES: EVALUATIVE, ACTION-ORIENTED AND EMANCIPATORY STRATEGIES; Research that attempts to drive change; Evaluation research; Summative/outcome evaluation; Formative/process evaluation; The politics of evaluative research; Negotiating real-world challenges of evaluative research; Action research; The scope of action research; Key elements of action research; Challenges associated with action research; Emancipatory research; Participatory action research; Critical ethnography; Issues in emancipatory research; PART TEN: SEEKING 'RESPONDENTS'; Who holds the answer?; Samples: Selecting elements of a population; Opportunities in working with a 'sample'; Sample selection; Random samples; Non-random samples; Key informants: Working with experts and insiders; Opportunities in working with key informants; Informant selection; Cases: Delving into detail; Opportunities in working with cases; Case selection; PART ELEVEN: DIRECT DATA COLLECTION - SURVEYS AND INTERVIEWS; The challenge of getting data directly from the source; Surveying; Options and possibilities; Issues and complexities; The survey process; The survey instrument; Interviewing; Options and possibilities; Issues and complexities; The interview process; Conducting your interview; PART TWELVE: INDIRECT DATA COLLECTION: WORKING WITH OBSERVATIONS AND EXISTING TEXT; The challenge of gathering indirect data; Observation; Options and possibilities; Issues and complexities; The observation process; Receiving, reflecting, recording, authenticating; Working with existing 'text'; Options and possibilities; Issues and complexities; The process of textual analysis; Delving into documents, history, artefacts, and secondary data; PART THIRTEEN: ANALYSING QUANTITATIVE DATA; Moving from raw data to significant findings; Keeping a sense of the overall project; Doing statistical analysis; Managing data and defining variables; Data management; Understanding variables - cause and effect; Understanding variables - measurements scales; Descriptive statistics; Measuring central tendency; Measuring dispersion; Measuring the shape of the data; Inferential statistics; Questions suitable to inferential statistics; Statistical significance; Understanding and selecting the right statistical test; Presenting quantitative data; PART FOURTEEN: ANALYZING QUALITATIVE DATA; The promise of qualitative analysis; Keeping the bigger picture in focus; From raw data to significant findings; QDA software; The logic of QDA; Balancing creativity and focus; Moving between inductive and deductive reasoning; The methods of QDA; Identifying biases/ noting impressions; Reducing and coding into themes; Looking for patterns and interconnections; Mapping and building themes; Developing theory; Drawing conclusions; Specific QDA strategies; Presenting quantitative data; PART FIFTEEN: THE CHALLENGE OF WRITING UP; The writing challenge; Research as communication; Knowing and engaging your audience; Finding an appropriate structure and style; The writing process; Writing as analysis; Constructing your 'story'; Developing each section/ chapter; From first to final draft; The need for exposure; Attending conferences; Giving presentations; Writing and submitting articles; The final word;
• Edition: [2nd edition]
• Publisher Details: Los Angeles : SAGE
• Publication Date: 2010
• Extent: 1 online resource
• Subjects: 300.72; Social sciences -- Research; Social sciences -- Research
• Languages: English
• ISBNs: 9781446245606; 1446245608
• Access Rights: Legal Deposit; Only available on premises controlled by the deposit library and to one user at any one time; The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK).
• Access Usage: Restricted: Printing from this resource is governed by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK) and UK copyright law currently in force.