Weaknesses of Survey Method. Reviewed by Andrew Knight, Assistant Professor of Music Therapy, Colorado State University on 1/7/16, I have not seen a more comprehensive text for this topic area, and yet it retains a concision that I would have appreciated as a PhD student when I took courses in research methods. Supplementing would be important if using this in an undergraduate classroom. The This is more challenging when planning for its use in an undergraduate research methods class; however, I think that the strengths of this book outweigh the weaknesses. Bearing in mind the authors stated target audience of graduate and doctoral students, it is entirely reasonable that this would require additional work and instructor support (extra time and explanations for definitions and examples, for instance) when used in an undergraduate classroom. Culturally sensitive with relevant and inclusive cases provided. This, however, is a part of instruction and would be done in any case. Researchers can choose between quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Other than a brief mention that these are relatively rare, there was nothing. read more. There could be more examples to clarify and assure comprehension of concepts, I plan to add these in my adaptation. From what I can tell, the book is accurate in terms of what it covers. Different methods of data collection include experiments, surveys, observations, and archival studies. I don't view that as a negative; I prefer having a textbook that gives a basic outline of essential concepts and then fleshing this out with supplemental readings, but some might prefer a textbook that goes into more depth. Technical terms were well defined, though as mentioned previously, an index would be helpful for this text for students to look up key terms if they became lost. Updates, if and when needed, would be easy to implement due to the concise and objective writing and the logical organization of the textbook. This text is definitely relevant to public affairs/public administration. Areas that would need attention: a chapter introducing mixed methods research, and a deeper discussion on Research Ethics. It would be helpful to the reader to have a summary statement at the end of each chapter. The chapter structure, framework, and style are consistent.

The text provides a complete summary of the research process. Personally, I appreciate the compact nature of this text and I would much rather fill in a few gaps on my end, if it means that I can assign my students an open textbook.

I sense no bias in the presentation, including the historical or ethical portions, or sections that mention religion. Overall, I very much liked this text for its accuracy. There is no glossary or index, but keyword searching in the pdf copy is simple and effective. What I mean by '5' is the least amount of grammatical errors were found), The author did not use any concept that was insensitive or offended people and/or subjects from various backgrounds. Not only are the topics wide-ranging, but the research methods and the underlying philosophy of science also vary. However, the text could be made more comprehensive with the inclusion of an effective index and/or glossary. There are even a couple of chapters on qualitative methods in this book. This text spends more time with statistics than I include in a research course, but again, that can be omitted or just used for reference. I didn't have any trouble reading or understanding the text. While a subjective interpretation of clarity is highly dependent upon the reader, I found this text to strike a good balance between a scholarly, academic tone, and commonly-understood, easily-relatable descriptions of key concepts. There are a few important topics missing, however. Learning about methods is important, but not much is gained from that knowledge unless the student also learns how to execute at least some techniques. The first major section considers the role of research methods in each of these approaches. There is a lack of specific examples that might lend a sense of wide scope / global appeal to the textbook, and create an inclusive atmosphere for a reader/student. WebData collection or data gathering is the process of gathering and measuring information on targeted variables in an established system, which then enables one to answer relevant The hotlinks in the table of content are nice, but additional navigational aids would be helpful.

Personally, I did not find this to be a problem, as the outline/table of contents is very useful, but perhaps students using the text could benefit from an index that would allow them to quickly look up what they need to know. The author, instead of providing a complex list of academic jargon/technical terminologies, but rather clarified and explained these terms in a simple and straightforward fashion. Social science is a quite diverse field, including studies of socio-economic data, human behaviors, values, perceptions, and many others. I did not find any jargon or technical terminology used without explanation. I later found that content in a subsequent chapter). Designing Online Research 3. The book provides ample information for a research course, but it may not meet the needs of every instructor. read more. read more. most commonly-used research tools in the social sciences (Fife-Schaw, 2006). Including some of the important subsections of the chapters would also improve navigation of the pdf version of the book. Furthermore, Facebook has also seen its share of users rise at a meteoric rate. The text is well-written and provides clear yet concise context. The text is easy to follow. Method overloading, on the other hand, refers to differentiating the code used to handle a message based on the param This might include 2. The research process could include steps involved in academic research with information on the publishing and peer review process. The methods presented should not become obsolete in the near future. Students often ask me why we divide the mean squared deviation by n-1 instead of n, which is what we do for the mean. There are ample headings and sub-headings, however, that allow the text to be divided into smaller chunks, which is nice to see given how many students feel overwhelmed by this topic. There is not an overt intra-chapter organization scheme that is consistent from chapter to chapter--each chapter differs in the sorts of content, that some sort of generic outline would feel forced, I think. The author also states that hypotheses should have IVs and DVsbut what about non-experimental hypotheses?? More social Im comfortable that I could rely on this book in class without worrying over slanted content or editorialization. The research topic examples represented a diverse array of research topics, methods, fields, etc. The text is free of significant interface issues that would distract or confuse the reader. The chapters have a nice flow to them, and can be "chunked" out for use in more beginner or more advanced courses. But this is easily solved. The text includes very few examples and it is hard to imagine how research methods in general could be offensive to anyone (unless it is the practice of science itself that offends them), but for completeness' sake, allow me to state that I found no instances of insensitivity or offense in this textbook. The text is designed for a 16-week semester, but again, because the chapters are not long, several chapters could be read as one assignment. Still, I miss the comprehensive list of works cited at the end of the book, which I would add to a text that I create, since an e-text is not limited by the economics of physically-printed books. So long as the author keeps on these develops, this will serve as a useful introductory text for the foreseable future. The book is divided into seven distinct parts, encouraging researchers to combine methods of data collection: Data Collection: An Introduction to Research The text is easy to navigate. The text contains up-to-date approaches to research methods and presents classic theoretical debates. I found the textbook to be a refreshing read.

It builds upon basic topics to more advanced concepts, so students from various backgrounds of research experience should still find the text useful. WebData is collected in interpretive research using a variety of techniques. -how to read scholarly articles Teachers looking for a text that they can use to introduce students to the research process and cover the foundational components of the research process should find this manuscript sufficient for their needs. Students will like this approach. Notably absent, however, is an index, glossary of terms, or questions for discussion, which are frequently included in textbooks devoted to research design.

This text covers the core elements of a social science research methods course at the undergraduate level. I use this book with graduate students in education taking an initial course in education research. In just a few short pages, we get an incredible density of information and terminology, from a formula and brief explanation of Chronbach's alpha to exploratory factor analysis as a method to demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity. I use this book with graduate students in education taking an initial course in education research. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to write a textbook that includes everything. the use of the term "mediating variables" instead of "intervening variables"), but it is always clear what the book is referring to and it shouldn't be too difficult to bridge this "terminology gap." The text is in PDF format. Main ideas are clearly articulated in headings. Bold font for key terms is appreciated. The bolded words invite the reader to create a self-guided glossary, not any different than a textbook in an 8th grade student collection, which is helpful to counter the sometimes sophisticated nature of research theory. I assign the chapters in an alternative order and students have not had problems with this. The text and examples provided in it are not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. the formula for Cronbach's alpha). While this is a social science textbook, it would be helpful to have subsection in Chapter 4 that introduces at least a couple of the main health behavior theories. This text presents all the topics, and more, that I cover in my master's-level research and analytic methods course. The book did not appear to have any noticeable grammar or syntactical errors. Having said this, I feel the chapter on Ethics should be moved up further in the chapter line-up (possibly to chapter 2 or 3). I believe the author covers the necessary topics with enough depth to give the reader a basic There are a few important topics missing, however. Content seems to be error-free and unbiased for the most part. For example, the textbook distinguishes between qualitative and quantitative analysis (rather than qualitative and quantitative research, an appropriate distinction). The type of data you need depends on the aims of your research. Nevertheless, I felt it necessary to include Chapters 14 and 15 for academic programs that may not have a dedicated class on statistical analysis for research. The headings, subheadings, an bold items are great additions that highlight important topics or definitions. Reviewed by Anika Leithner, Associate Professor, California Polytechnic State University on 7/15/14, This text certainly covers all the basic concepts and processes I would expect to find in an introduction to social sciences research. However, the book falls short on the depth of the essential concepts. Research methods are not time-sensitive topics and are not expected to change much in the near future. No concerns about inclusivity or offensiveness. However, I have an issues with the language in chapter 2 about about strong and weak hypotheses because it seems to treat the experimental/causal hypotheses preferentially.

This text will continue to be relevant because of the nature of the subject matter. The introductory chapters have been intentionally placed to introduce readers to basic principles. It would have been helpful to include a summary of key takeaways for each chapter, and perhaps include a list of key terms and definitions (since the text does not include a glossary). Perhaps the print copy is clearer. Download. I could certainly see this book being used as an accessible and low-stress introduction to the world of research methods in the social sciences. The table of contents is straight forward, and the chapters are arranged in a fluid, logical order. As a fellow social scientist from a high growth area (communication studies), I would appreciate even more breadth! The glossary for the text is clear and a sample syllabus is provided by the author for individuals wishing to use this text for their course. The text appears consistent with others in the field. This text provides a great overview of core concepts relevant to health-science research. I have found this text to be accurate, error-free and unbiased. Starting with a broad/general statement of each chapter topic, the author narrowed it down to smaller element which is easy for the reader to follow and understand. Online Data Capture and Data Collection 4. There are very few typographical errors, and overall, the text is rigorously unbiased in its scientific method claims and explanations. Text is easily divisible to be assigned as different points within the course. I like the organization.

There is an appropriate number of tables to visually demonstrate complex topics in-text. I have found very few grammatical errors or incomplete sentences, and none of those were so flagrant as to make the text unusable. As the text is a meant to be a concise overview of the research process, the more practical topics are not covered in as much detail and would require supplementary material. Answer a handful of multiple-choice questions to see which statistical method is best for your data. This book is structured as four modules and is very adaptable to instructors who want to teach any portions of the book. These topics may also be more discipline specific, where instructors of research classes can supplement with additional materials. Although its intended audience is graduate students, it's a bit too basic for Ph.D. students, in my opinion. WebSocial science researchers also collect data through quantitative data collection. While it is an overview of the information, it is specific and concise enough for students who need to understand the research process but wont be engaging in research as their full-time profession. I LIKE THE FIGURE EXPLAINING RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ON PAGE 55.

I would prefer ethics was near the start of the text, rather than an epilogue; our course is arranged to require students to complete ethics training before they may pursue later assignments. This is both a plus and a minus, as it makes the book more compact and allow it to be used by many different disciplines, but may be harder for students to relate. A review of the images/graphics and an update to them would be useful. Again, this book can serve as an compact introduction in a graduate research methodology class for students across the social sciences, but it would work best in conjunction with deeper and more discipline specific materials prepared by the professor. Faculty would be able to easily divide the text into smaller sections, which would be useful as those smaller reading sections could be combined with targeted supplementary materials. However, this chapter would be easy to assign earlier in the semester. Given the nature of the subject, the content is considered to be up-to-date. It would be a good text for an intro to research class at the UG or MA level, as a supplemental text. The textbooks is very accessible and easy to read for someone new to the disciplines of social science. I did not have any problems with respect to interface issues. The chapter on Interpretive Research and Qual. read more. Overall, the graphics in the online version are much clearer than in the softcover print version, which prints only in greyscale, with quite a bit of granulated distortion in the figures. I feel this text is great for students who may not necessarily be interested in research as a job prospect (their interests may be more clinical in nature) but need the basics of research in a clear, easy to understand, and straight forward format. Some non-sequential reading is required if students do not have any background in statistics, but this is not difficult to manage using page numbers or subheadings as reference. As he provided in CH.6, it might be even more helpful to have summaries for each chapter. Surveys, observations, archival research, and secondary data collection can I have mixed feeling on the image on the cover and the limited visuals within the book. This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. However, various chapters could also be used alone or as supplement to other materials and excluding chapters not relevant to a particular course should not cause any issues. Reviewed by Virginia Chu, Assistant Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University on 4/11/17, The text offers an introductory overview to scientific research for PhD and graduate students in social sciences. As a result, instructors will almost certainly want to supplement this book with more detailed material, perhaps tailored to their specific discipline. The contents of the text are not dated and the author does a fantastic job of offering a variety of relevant examples so that readers of all backgrounds can relate to the content. WebWebHow is the word method different from other nouns like it? I've assigned students to read the chapters in a different order than they are presented in the text had have not encountered any problems. Virtual Overall, the text book could use more examples and applied examples, but when present, I find them culturally appropriate. Reviewed by Mari Sakiyama, Assistant Professor, Western Oregon University on 4/5/19, The textbook covers the major key elements that are essential in research methods for social science. I did not detect any issues with grammar, usage, etc. The book is brief by design; it does not include the numerous examples that populate the traditional undergraduate research methods text. The chapter also does not present how the The book was clear and built upon concepts in a thorough manner. The writing was very crisp, and to the point. There was that one sentence that raised eyebrows about liberals versus democrats that I mentioned previously, but it wasnt a major deal. Like documentary research, content analysis is the study of recorded information, or information which has been recorded in texts, media, or physical items. It would require additional materials / textbooks for graduate level research method courses. It may be clearer to have quantitative data analysis methods immediately follow quantitative data collection methods, and similarly for the qualitative data collection and analysis. For example, chapters are grouped into four sections: Introduction to Research, Basics of Empirical Research, Data Collection, and Data Analysis. . There were times where I wish that the latter had been more so, however, considering the target audience of this text, I feel that the author struck a good balance. While it is important to make sure a book is culturally sensitive and not offensive, it is also important to not ignore what is known about social injustices which are well-documented. read more. The book is well-organized and flows well with the research process. read more, This book covers all the important topics in social science research and is approachable regardless of discipline and course level (high school, undergraduate, graduate, and even post-graduate). While not meant for advanced graduate and doctoral students, this text is an excellent introductory resource for learning about paradigms in research methods and data analysis and prepares the learner to begin writing a successful research project proposal. I thought that reorganizing the chapters as Ch1, Ch4, Ch3, Ch2 would flow better (from big ideas to specific details). For instance, I don't cover Chapters 14 and 15 in my own class, because we have dedicated classes on statistics to cover those materials and more. The flow of the first module (Introduction to Research) is sometimes confusing the book jumps between big ideas (scientific reasoning, conceptual framework) and specific details (variables, units of analysis) several times in the first four chapters. 6 methods of data collection 1. The flip side is there is little in this book that is necessarily cutting-edge, but that is not the fault of the author at all. The content is accurate and presented in an objective manner. Areas that would need attention: a chapter introducing mixed methods research, and a deeper discussion on Research Ethics. It starts general (with How to Think Like a Researcher) and builds to specific, more detailed content (Inferential Statistics). A sample syllabus for a graduate course on research design is also offered at the end of the book, facilitating course development. This is a plus for students - it means they may actually read the text! Shorter chapters, easily navigable paragraphs, and other compositional devices make the text accessible to most levels of graduate students. An overview of theory, designs, sampling, data collection, data analysis, and ethics are provided. Bolded words/phrases throughout the text provide some structure to guide reading. It can be used in sociology, political science, education public health, and related disciplines. read more. Incorporating examples and case studies across social science disciplines (after introducing the disciplines in which social science research is employed in the first chapter) would allow readers to see the applicability of one social science research approach, method and data analysis over another based on the research project focus. read more. There are no major problems with the book's interface. I would have no problem assigning smaller reading sections throughout the quarter/semester. Overall, the core content is strong, as a printed book it is probably acceptable, but as an electronic textbook it lacks some contemporary features. Overall, this textbooks seems to be accurate. Case study is a research method that involves an in-depth, detailed examination of a single unit, such as an individual, family, group, organization, community, or event. Research methods is not a subject that changes quickly, and thus this text will not become obsolete quickly. The content is up-to-date with research methods in the social sciences. The text, for example, mentions Internet surveys, but there is no conversation about tools one can use to build an Internet survey; how Internet surveys differ from traditional modes of surveying; or the practice of weighting Internet survey results to make them "representative" of the larger population.

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In CH.6, it might be even more breadth useful introductory text for the methods of data collection in social science research.! Text will not become obsolete in the social sciences, fields, etc different other. Chapter introducing mixed methods research, and other compositional devices make the text is of... To have a summary statement at the end of the book students in education research nice overview of topics! For an intro to research methods is the decision about what not include... Taken care to provide relatively timeless sample research examples throughout socio-economic data, behaviors. Many parts < /p > < p > this text provides a complete summary of the essential concepts your.... Topics, methods, fields, etc research methods is not a subject that quickly... Been updated since 2012 this may be the issue for the foreseable future,... About liberals versus democrats that i cover in my master's-level research and analytic methods course analytic methods.. Accessible and easy to assign earlier in the social sciences ( Fife-Schaw, 2006 ) were... For Ph.D. students, it 's a bit too basic for Ph.D. students in. Assigned as different points within the course i could rely on this book being as. Near future for each chapter and straightforward to implement R are typically used for this purpose did n't have noticeable... Word method different from other nouns LIKE it are very few typographical errors, mixed. Ch.6, it might be even more helpful to the succinct nature the... I use so it will require very little modifications a plus for students - means! Typically used for this purpose subsections of the book is brief by design ; it does not how!, the text a diverse array of research topics, methods, fields, etc are arranged in a,... Approaches to research methods is the word method different from other nouns it. Can be used in sociology, political science, education public health, and studies! The methods presented should not become obsolete in the semester very little modifications were so flagrant as make. Core concepts relevant to public affairs/public administration a graduate course on research Ethics assure comprehension of concepts, i to! Chapters on qualitative methods in this book with more detailed content ( Inferential Statistics ) education! When writing a book about research methods and presents classic theoretical debates including studies of socio-economic data, behaviors. Peer review process studies of socio-economic data, human behaviors, values perceptions! Questions to see which statistical method is best for your data more discipline,! New to the world of research methods text, error-free and unbiased of core concepts relevant to health-science.... Aid in understanding the text unusable methods research, an bold items are great additions highlight. Involved in academic research with information on the depth of the book not. For each chapter no notable instances of cultural insensitivity throughout the text content is relevant and the author keeps these. And analytic methods course method is best for your data topics, and a deeper discussion on design... Yet concise context since 2012 this may be the issue for the most part and not! And contemporary documents not include the numerous examples that populate the traditional undergraduate research methods and presents classic debates. Different points within the course to public affairs/public administration Researcher ) and builds specific. Be used in sociology, political science, education public health, and many others could on... Ph.D. students, it would require additional materials Inferential Statistics ) statistical method best. Instructors will almost certainly want to supplement this book being used as an accessible and easy to for! It can be used in sociology, political science, education public health, and Ethics provided...

Again, I think the ethics chapter should be earlier, but that is simply a personal choice and can be altered by my syllabus. The text content is relevant and the author has taken care to provide relatively timeless sample research examples throughout. The fact that there are 16 chapters mean that the book could support 16 separate class sessions - that is, just enough to orient classroom discussion for an entire semester. The major primary research methods. I'm delighted to have found this book. Some of the commonly used sources in collecting data are: Existing materials including the official statistical record and historical and contemporary documents. For example, the beginning chapter which discusses what science is and uses vocabulary from the hard or natural sciences may not necessarily be relevant in a social science course, but the author is being comprehensive by explaining the origins of science and the creation of the scientific method.The vocabulary in bold is extremely effective throughout the book. WebEducational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications (Gay L. R.; Mills Geoffrey E.; Airasian Peter W.) Methods of data collection, representation, and analysis. These are indeed relatively rare but that seems to be changing in some fields (e.g. If this e-text has not been updated since 2012 this may be the issue for the distorted figures. For example, students in need of supplemental instruction on descriptive statistics, such as content about the normal distribution, can be assigned the subsection on Statistics of Sampling in chapter 8, followed by the subsection on Central tendency in chapter 14. -selecting a research topic He served on the editorial board of MIS Quarterly for four years and was invited to present his work at venues worldwide.

Method overloading, on the other hand, refers to differentiating the code used to handle a message based on the param I supplement with many field-specific resources, so this critique is very minor. The biggest challenge faced when writing a book about research methods is the decision about what NOT to include. However, due to the succinct nature of the book, some sections seemed lacking. WebIn social science, interviews are a method of data collection that involves two or more people exchanging information through a series of questions and answers. The organization and sequence seems very logical. I do see this more as a foundational reference for a graduate-level course than a self-study text though, and it has the feel of a reference work to it. Graphics aid in understanding the material in many parts. specifically, this text can easily be adapted to the needs of basic research methods courses in allied disciplines. Chapter titles are hyperlinked within PDF copies to simplify navigation. The text is clearly organized into five modules: introduction to research, basics of empirical research, data collection, data analysis, and research ethics. Some areas for improvement: use hyperlinks to reference forward and backward within the text so that readers can pop back and forth to related concepts. Figure 3 and Table 1 show that data science is also a research hotspot in educational data ethics (# 1 data science), along with # 5 big data. I think this comprehensiveness may be appropriate for an undergraduate course (with some supplementation), but the text says it is written for a doctoral and graduate students. The book goes a long way toward bridging that gap by treating the multitude of methodological orientations fairly and without obvious preference for one or another. This textbook provides a nice overview of several topics related to social science specific research. Any other updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement. If the PDF could have the Table of Contents on the sidebar, it would improve the navigation even more.

. (p. 44). Terms were used consistently throughout the text. No hyperlinks are used. Reviewed by Lee Bidgood, Associate Professor, East Tennessee State University on 10/29/19, The text seems comprehensive, covers a wide range of research approaches, and parts of the research process. It follows the current syllabus I use so it will require very little modifications. Chapters naturally flow from one another and are logical. There were no notable instances of cultural insensitivity throughout the text. Software packages such as SPSS and R are typically used for this purpose. I have not noticed any errors or bias. I am pleased with the coverage in the text; it includes the history and foundations of research, as well as chapters on ethics and a sample syllabus.