Making Sense Of Research

This book is for practitioners at all levels, from teachers making site-specific decisions to administrators making schoolwide and policy decisions.

What is research and how does it work in the context of nursing, health and social care? This introductory guide provides you with a concise overview of the different research methods and terminology that you will come across when undertaking research in any course related to nursing, health and social care. The book′s easy-to-follow structure takes you from research novice to confident researcher, helping you to make sense of research and understand how it is implemented in healthcare practice. The new edition includes: Updates in light of the 2018 NMC standards, with more information on the impact of GDPR, consent and vulnerable groups, Personal and Public Involvement (PPI), and work-based projects. Improved case examples of real research, with more on group work, poster presentations, research output and dissemination, literature reviews, and dissertations. Upgraded activities that include reflective exercises, critical appraisal tools, a dissemination plan, and a glossary, all in the book. This is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students within the health and therapy professions, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, radiographers, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, and paramedics.

Making Sense of Social Research Methodology: A Student and Practitioner Centered Approach introduces students to research methods by illuminating the underlying assumptions of social science inquiry. Authors Pengfei Zhao, Karen Ross, Peiwei Li, and Barbara Dennis show how research concepts are often an integral part of everyday life through illustrative common scenarios, like looking for a recipe or going on a job interview. The authors extrapolate from these personal but ubiquitous experiences to further explain concepts, like gathering data or social context, so students develop a deeper understanding of research and its applications outside of the classroom. Students from across the social sciences can take this new understanding into their own research, their professional lives, and their personal lives with a new sense of relevancy and urgency. This text is organized into clusters that center on major topics in social science research. The first cluster introduces concepts that are fundamental to all aspects and steps of the research process. These concepts include relationality, identity, ethics, epistemology, validity, and the sociopolitical context within which research occurs. The second and third clusters focus on data and inference. These clusters engage concretely with steps of the research process, including decisions about designing research, generating data, making inferences. Throughout the chapters, Pause and Reflect open-ended questions provide readers with the space for further inquiry into research concepts and how they apply to life. Research Scenario features in each chapter offer new perspectives on major research topics from leading and emerging voices in methods. Moving from this dialogic perspective to more actionable advice, You and Research features offer students concrete steps for engaging with research. Take your research into the world with Making Sense of Social Research Methodology: A Student and Practitioner Centered Approach.

What are the essentials for undergraduates and postgraduates engaged in quantitative and qualitative research? How can the gap between formulating a research question and carrying out research be bridged? This accessible, well-judged text provides students with a matchless introduction to generic research skills. It is uncluttered, direct and unpatronizing. Key features of the book are: - Accessibility - Clarification of key issues and problem solving guidance - Demonstration of the importance of interplay between theory and research - Realism in defining essential research issues and the problems that researchers encounter `It is not the case that "anyone can do social research", most research requires training. Here Malcolm Williams provides such training.... Helpful and often humorous' - Roger Sapsford, University of Teesside

Grounded in the sister disciplines of sociology and anthropology, this textbook is an accessible and critical introduction to contemporary social research. Alex Khasnabish eschews the common disciplinary silos in favour of an integrated approach to understanding and practising critical social research. Situated in the North American context, the text draws on cross-cultural examples to give readers a clear sense of the diversity in human social relations. It is organized thematically in a way that introduces readers to the core areas of social research and social organization and takes an unapologetically radical approach in identifying the relations of oppression and exploitation that give rise to what most corporate textbooks euphemistically identify as “social problems.” Focusing on key dynamics and processes at the heart of so many contemporary issues and public conversations, this text highlights the ways in which critical social research can contribute to exploring, understanding and forging alternatives to an increasingly bankrupt, violent, unstable and unjust status quo.

The Making Sense series comprises four concise, readable guides to research and writing for use by students at all levels of undergraduate study. Designed especially for students in the social sciences, this book outlines the general principles of style, grammar, and usage, while covering such issues as how to conduct sociological research, how to write reports, and how to document sources. This fourth edition of the book has new material on evaluating Internet sources and avoiding plagiarism, as well as new and updated examples.