Interdisciplinarity has become a buzzword in academia, as research universities funnel their financial resources toward collaborations between faculty in different disciplines. In theory, interdisciplinary collaboration breaks down artificial divisions between different departments, allowing more innovative and sophisticated research to flourish. But does it actually work this way in practice?Investigating Interdisciplinary Collaboration puts the common beliefs ab...

"SURVEY & QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN: Collecting Primary Data to Answer Research Questions" presents practice-oriented guidance on survey and questionnaire design, as well as exercises and video presentations, to assist you in your research. It is based on lecture notes and hand-outs used by the authors in the various classes they have taught over the past number of years. Within the research process, you may wish to collect primary data using a survey. Surveys have a number of different steps t...

This book bridges scholarly forms of inquiry and practitioners’ daily activities. It introduces inquiry as a process of relational construction, offering resources to practitioners who want to reflect on how their work generates practical effects.There are hundreds of books on research, but in keeping with social scientific traditions, many emphasize method and neglect broader, overarching assumptions and interests. Further, most are written in ways that speak to those in the acade...

Building SPSS Graphs to Understand Data is a must-have for anyone needing to understand large or small amounts of data. It describes how to build and interpret graphs, showing how "understanding data" means that the graph must clearly and succinctly answer questions about the data. In most chapters, research questions are presented, and the reader builds the appropriate graph needed to answer the questions.

`This is a really useful book. It is full of helpful ideas and examples and discusses the importance of research for teachers. While addressing both the why and the how of practitioner research in school settings the authors have kept closely in touch with the practical concerns of busy professionals′ - Professor Anne Edwards, School of Education, University of BirminghamThis is a book about how to do your research. It′s aimed at teachers involved in classroom-based research projec...

The Third Edition of this popular text offers those new to qualitative inquiry a clear and practical guide to the reasons for doing qualitative research, matching questions to appropriate methods, and the tasks necessary for getting started. In their direct and friendly style, Lyn Richards and Janice M. Morse help researchers reflect on why they are working qualitatively and how to choose an appropriate method, and then approach confidently the tasks of research design, da...

Making Sense of Statistical Methods in Social Research is a critical introduction to the use of statistical methods in social research. It provides a unique approach to statistics that concentrates on helping social researchers think about the conceptual basis for the statistical methods they′re using.Whereas other statistical methods books instruct students in how to get through the statistics-based elements of their chosen course with as little mathematical knowl...

This is a book for any researcher using any kind of survey data. It introduces the latest methods of assessing the quality and validity of such data by providing new ways of interpreting variation and measuring error. By practically and accessibly demonstrating these techniques, especially those derived from Multiple Correspondence Analysis, the authors develop screening procedures to search for variation in observed responses that do not correspond with actual differences between responde...

Participatory Action Research (PAR) introduces a method that is ideal for researchers who are committed to co-developing research programs with people rather than for people. The book provides a history of this technique, its various strands, and the underlying tenets that guide most projects. It then draws on two PAR projects that highlight three integral dimensions: the meaning of participation; the way action manifests itself; and the ...

Using rich examples and engaging pedagogical tools, this book equips students to master the challenges of academic writing in graduate school and beyond. The authors delve into nitty-gritty aspects of structure, style, and language, and offer a window onto the thought processes and strategies that strong writers rely on. Essential topics include how to: identify the audience for a particular piece of writing; craft a voice appropriate for a discipline-specific community of practice; compos...

While much has been written on alternative paradigm research, there is little concrete advice on how to effectively use the theoretical notions of naturalistic inquiry in practice. Doing Naturalistic Inquiry is the practical guide designed to help beginning researchers apply the constructivist paradigm. Based upon the theoretical work of Lincoln and Guba in developing the naturalistic—or constructivist--paradigm, Erlandson and his colleagues show readers how these ideas sh...

Despite all of the information that exists to encourage students to attend and do well in college, this is the first research-based guide that directly advises first- and second-year college students.With a focus on the needs and interests of students who are underrepresented in the academy (African American, Latinx, low-income, and first-generation students), this book will help all students take full advantage of the academic resources that the university setting...