A Gentle Guide To Research Methods

Many students are unaware of how to get the most out of their research, whether in career terms or in terms of asking good research questions. This book addresses this issue, as well as dealing with how to move from the big picture to a specific research question.

Research Methods: A Practical Guide for Students and Researchers is a practical guide on how to conduct research systematically and professionally. The book begins by distinguishing between causal and interpretive sciences. It then guides the reader on how to formulate the research question, review the literature, develop the hypothesis or framework, select a suitable research methodology, and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data.The book uses classic examples as exemplars. It also uses many examples from different disciplines and sectors to demonstrate and showcase the inter-connections and wider applications of research tools.The book emphasizes integration. It does not merely provide a smorgasbord of research designs, data collection methods, and ways to analyze data. Instead, it shows how one could formulate research strategies given the outcomes the researchers are required or tasked to deliver.The revised edition includes three new chapters on time series (including spatial models), machine learning, and meta-analysis. In addition, existing chapters have been expanded to include more examples, digital research, and new material.

This practical, down-to-earth guide is for researchers, students, community groups, charities or employees - in fact anyone who needs to put together research projects quickly and effectively. It contains everything from developing your idea into a proposal, through to analysing data and reporting results. Whether you have to undertake a project as part of your coursework, or as part of your employment, or simply because you are fascinated by something you have observed and want to find out more, this book offers you advice on how to turn your ideas into a workable project. Specifically it will show you how to: - choose your research methods - choose your participants - prepare a research proposal - construct questionnaires - conduct interviews and focus groups - analyse your data - report your findings - be an ethical researcher

This book is the outcome of more than four decades of experience of the author in teaching and research field. Research is a creative process and the topic of research methodology is complex and varied. The basic premise for writing this book is that research methods can be taught and learnt. The emphasis is on developing a research outlook and a frame of mind for carrying out research. The book presents current methodological techniques used in interdisciplinary research along with illustrated and worked out examples. This book is well equipped with fundamentals of research and research designs. All efforts have been made to present Research, its meaning, intention and usefulness. Focussed in designing of research programme, selection of variables, collection of data and their analysis to interpret the data are discussed extensively. Statistical tools are complemented with examples, making the complicated subject like statistics simplest usable form. The importance of software, like MS Excel, SPSS, for statistical analyses is included. Written in a simple language, it covers all aspects of management of data with details of statistical tools required for analysis in a research work. Complete with a glossary of key terms and guides to further reading, this book is an essential text for anyone coming to research for the first time and is widely relevant across the disciplines of sciences. This book is designed to introduce Masters, and doctoral students to the process of conducting scientific research in the life sciences, social sciences, education, public health, and related scientific disciplines. It conforms to the core syllabus of many universities and institutes. The target audience for this book includes those are going to start research as graduate students, junior researchers, and professors teaching courses on research methods.The book entitled "A guide to Research Methodology for Beginners" is succinct and compact by design focusing only on essential concepts rather than burden students with a voluminous text on top of their assigned readings. The book is structured into the following nine chapters.Chapter-1: What is Scientific Research?Chapter-2: Literature ReviewChapter-3: How to develop a Research Questions & HypothesesChapter-4: Research Methods and the Research DesignChapter-5: Concept of Variables, Levels and Scales of Measurements for Data collectionChapter-6: Data Analysis, Management and PresentationChapter-7: Tips for Writing Research ReportChapter-8: Glossary Related to Research MethodologyChapter-9: ReferencesIt is a comprehensive and compact source for basic concepts in research and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. The target audience for this book includes those are going to start research as graduate students, junior researchers, and professors teaching courses on research methods.

An introduction to statistics covers the concepts measurement theory, descriptive statistics, knowlege reprensentation, probability theory, correlations, and parametric statistics.

Fully updated throughout, this fifth edition is essential reading for master's-level CIPD and non-CIPD students alike. Balancing theoretical frameworks and practical guidance, Research Methods in Human Resource Management explains everything from defining a hypothesis and planning the research process through to reviewing literature and documents, collecting and analysing both qualitative and quantitative data. There is also guidance on how to write the research project with best practice sample literature reviews and write-ups included. Fully updated throughout, this edition now includes expert discussion of how secondary data can be used in a research project as well as new material on ethics, sustainability and data collection in a hybrid world. This book also includes international examples and discussion of collecting data from different geographies. Mapped to the CIPD Advanced module, Business Research in People Practice, this is an invaluable textbook for all postgraduate HR students needing to complete a dissertation or research project. 'Review and Reflect' sections at the end of each chapter, case illustrations and activities help to consolidate learning and online resources include an Instructor's manual, PowerPoint slides and annotated weblinks.

If you are studying at undergraduate or masters level it's likely that you will have to write a dissertation, critical essay or project report before you can graduate. Unfortunately, many good pieces of student research and inquiry are devalued - and sometimes even fail - because they are badly planned, structured or written. Make all that hard work count! This new guide looks directly at the processes, techniques and objectives of writing the dissertation itself. It covers longer term aspects - such as planning, scheduling, structuring - and more immediate ones - such as style, detail and managing the length. - Learn how to understand and decode the academic language of research questions, learning outcomes, objectives and assessment criteria, and translate them into the right form of words. - Discover how to maintain that essential focus on your objectives and research question or hypothesis, and their connection to your discussion and eventual conclusions. - Develop a schedule, identifying the tasks and milestones that will keep you on track, and update the plan as you go. - Find a style and structure that will help shape your writing to satisfy the examiners. - Manage the overall length and chapter lengths, and learn how to cut excess content and avoid repetition. - Master the technicalities of dissertation writing, such as methodologies, literature reviews, note systems, referencing...- Learn to how to transform an adequate dissertation into a good one by attending to fluency and detail - grammar, accuracy, consistency, punctuation - and the controlled use of aids such as spellcheckers and style checkers. - Avoid plagiarism and other evils. How can you avoid falling into cheating, either by accident or by carelessness under pressure? With examples and self-checking exercises to help you to stay on the right track, this essential guide will also serve as a valuable aid to all types of academic writing.

A practical guide to using modern software effectively in quantitative research in the social and natural sciences. This book offers a practical guide to the computational methods at the heart of most modern quantitative research. It will be essential reading for research assistants needing hands-on experience; students entering PhD programs in business, economics, and other social or natural sciences; and those seeking quantitative jobs in industry. No background in computer science is assumed; a learner need only have a computer with access to the Internet. Using the example as its principal pedagogical device, the book offers tried-and-true prototypes that illustrate many important computational tasks required in quantitative research. The best way to use the book is to read it at the computer keyboard and learn by doing. The book begins by introducing basic skills: how to use the operating system, how to organize data, and how to complete simple programming tasks. For its demonstrations, the book uses a UNIX-based operating system and a set of free software tools: the scripting language Python for programming tasks; the database management system SQLite; and the freely available R for statistical computing and graphics. The book goes on to describe particular tasks: analyzing data, implementing commonly used numerical and simulation methods, and creating extensions to Python to reduce cycle time. Finally, the book describes the use of LaTeX, a document markup language and preparation system.