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Research Basics
Design to Data Analysis in Six Steps
- James V. Spickard - University of Redlands
October 2016 | 424 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Research Basics: Design to Data Analysis in Six Steps offers a fresh and creative approach to the research process based on author James V. Spickard’s decades of teaching experience. Using an intuitive six-step model, readers learn how to craft a research question and then identify a logical process for answering it. Conversational writing and multi-disciplinary examples illuminate the model’s simplicity and power, effectively connecting the “hows” and “whys” behind social science research. Students using this book will learn how to turn their research questions into results.
For Instructors: Why This Book?
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
PART ONE THE SIX STEPS
Chapter 1 Step 1: Develop a Good Research Question
Chapter 2 Step 2: Choose a Logical Structure for Your Research
Chapter 3 Step 3: Identify the Type of Data You Need
Chapter 4 Step 4: Pick a Data Collection Method
Chapter 5 Step 5: Choose Your Data Collection Site
Chapter 6 Step 6: Pick a Data Analysis Method
PART TWO COLLECTING AND ANALYZING DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATA
Chapter 7 Comparing: Economic, Demographic, and Organizational Data
Chapter 8 Surveying: Shallow Opinions, Identities, and Reports of Acts
Chapter 9 Interviewing: Deep Talk to Gather Several Types of Data
Chapter 10 Scales: Looking for Underlying Traits
Chapter 11 Recording Behavior: Acts and Reports of Acts
Chapter 12 Finding Hidden Social Patterns: In Life, Texts, and Popular Culture
Chapter 13 Ethnography: Exploring Cultural and Social Scenes
Chapter 14 Extended Example: Counting the Homeless
Research Guides and Handouts
Glossary
Author Index
Subject Index
Supplements
Instructor Resource Site
Calling all instructors!
It’s easy to log on to SAGE’s password-protected Instructor Teaching Site for complete and protected access to all text-specific Instructor Resources. Simply provide your institutional information for verification and within 72 hours you’ll be able to use your login information for any SAGE title!
Password-protected Instructor Resources include the following:
Calling all instructors!
It’s easy to log on to SAGE’s password-protected Instructor Teaching Site for complete and protected access to all text-specific Instructor Resources. Simply provide your institutional information for verification and within 72 hours you’ll be able to use your login information for any SAGE title!
Password-protected Instructor Resources include the following:
- A Microsoft® Word test bank is available containing multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions for each chapter. The test bank provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
- Editable, chapter-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides offer you complete flexibility in easily creating a multimedia presentation for your course. Highlight essential content and features.
- Discussion questions help launch classroom interaction by prompting students to engage with the material and by reinforcing important content.
- Lively and stimulating class activities that can be used in class to reinforce active learning. The activities apply to individual or group projects.
- EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter. Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the chapter. This feature also provides questions to focus and guide student interpretation. Combine cutting-edge academic journal scholarship with the topics in your course for a robust classroom experience.
- Video and web resources include links to multimedia that appeal to students with different learning styles.
Student Resource Site
Use the Student Study Site to get the most out of your course!
Our Student Study Site is completely open-access and offers a wide range of additional features.
The open-access Student Study Site includes the following:
Use the Student Study Site to get the most out of your course!
Our Student Study Site is completely open-access and offers a wide range of additional features.
The open-access Student Study Site includes the following:
- Mobile-friendly web quizzes allow for independent assessment of progress made in learning course material.
- EXCLUSIVE! Access to certain full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected for each chapter. Each article supports and expands on the concepts presented in the chapter. This feature also provides questions to focus and guide student interpretation. Combine cutting-edge academic journal scholarship with the topics in your course for a robust classroom experience.
- Video and web resources include links to multimedia that appeal to students with different learning styles.
"An extremely well organized text covering basics of research design and methods that consistently uses the six steps in the text and in examples to assure that students understand."
Lehman College
"As Spickard explains, students tend to fear and shy away from research and particularly statistics courses. This textbook is designed in such a manner that it engages the student and keeps the student's attention through case illustrations and an easy-to-read format."
Angelo State University
"It incorporates much of what must be pieced together from multiple resources into one text. The six-step strategy breaks the process down into manageable units, and it is clear to me how each step contributes to the overall process."
Pacific Oaks College
"It's a textbook with lots of unique features, such as question-method match, data type-analytical tool match, as well as ethical theory-practice match. It's easy to follow and it acts as a textbook and a practical guide for undergraduate students. Chapters are organized as cooking recipes and examples are interesting and inspiring."
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
"Scholarly but not threatening to students who are scared of the word "research". The layout, language, and images make a challenging subject easier to understand and much less overwhelming."
Amridge University
"Research is hard. This text helps explain a complicated process and guides students through research design in simpler terms. As an instructor, I appreciate authors who understand the challenges associated with teaching research methods courses."
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
"While many research design texts struggle with integrating statistical applications within the broader design process, this text is a notable exception."
The College of William and Mary
“A logical and thoughtfully designed text that brings together a preferred approach with the right amount of rigor.”
Whitworth University
“A refreshing, holistic view of introductory research methods.”
Alaska Pacific University
“This is an excellent introductory text for students that are interested in quantitative analysis. A nice feature of the book is that incorporates the increasingly important aspect of ethics in data collection and analysis.”
McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University
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