Understanding And Evaluating Educational Research

For courses in Research Methods in Education. Understanding and Evaluating Research, fourth edition, is a market leading textbook appropriate for all courses in educational research. A reader, this text contains quantitative and qualitative educational research articles from a variety of professional journals. With each article is a sample article analysis and exercises that help students become better consumers of research. The fourth edition is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of new articles, advance organizers, annotations to explain different sections, revised discussion of research typology, and an appendix with answer to evaluation criteria questions. Those features together with the two mixed-method studies, revised and expanded discussion of qualitative methods, more emphasis given to randomized designs, revision of research typology, and updated articles make this a must have book for understanding and evaluating research. NEW! Revision of research typology discussed in the first chapter Readers gain useful insight on how to classify research studies, and present criteria by which all educational research should be judged. NEW! Addition of a chapter on Mixed-Method Designs (Chapter 5), and two mixed-method studies. NEW! Revised and expanded discussion of qualitative methods and designs. Includes characteristics of mixed-method designs and the criteria for how this type of research should be evaluated. NEW! Eight new articles on descriptive quantitative non-experimental designs. NEW! The most current, relevant articles included from a wide variety of journals and of varied reading levels. Selected articles have been published within the past five years, representing a diverse range of topics found in education (e.g., educational administration, counseling, special education, curriculum, adult education, early childhood education).

Understanding and Evaluating Research, third edition, is a supplemental textbook appropriate for all courses in educational research. A reader, this text contains quantitative and qualitative educational research articles from a variety of professional journals. With each article is a sample article analysis and exercises that help students become better consumers of research. The third edition is greatly enhanced by the inclusion of a new chapter on Mixed Method Designs and two mixed-method studies, revised and expanded discussion of qualitative methods, more emphasis given to randomized designs, revision of research typology, and features eight new articles.

When learning how to read, analyze, and design one's own research, it is useful to review examples of similar research. Understanding and Evaluating Qualitative Educational Research uses published research articles to teach students how to understand and evaluate qualitative research in education. Each example within a category of qualitative research - ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, case study, action research, narrative, and mixed methods - is accompanied by commentary from the editor regarding why the particular approach was used and how and why the various aspects of the example relate back to the approach taken. This commentary guides students in learning how to read, analyze, and create their own qualitative research studies. Included in the text is a series of "Issues and Concepts" that are at the forefront of the changing field. This text gives students in qualitative educational research a well-rounded and practical look at what qualitative research is, along with how to read, analyze, and design studies themselves.

Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide shows students how to be critical consumers of research and to appreciate the power of methodology as it shapes the research question, the use of theory in the study, the methods used, and how the outcomes are reported. The book starts with what it means to be a critical and uncritical reader of research, followed by a detailed chapter on methodology, and then proceeds to a discussion of each component of a research article as it is informed by the methodology. The book encourages readers to select an article from their discipline, learning along the way how to assess each component of the article and come to a judgment of its rigor or quality as a scholarly report.

Note: This is the loose-leaf version of Fundamentals of Educational Research and does not include access to the Enhanced Pearson eText. To order the Enhanced Pearson eText packaged with the loose-leaf version, use ISBN 0134013492. Accessible, contemporary, and thoughtful, Fundamentals of Educational Research helps readers become intelligent consumers of educational research and introduces basic research principles to those who may eventually use research in their work. Principles for conducting research and criteria for evaluating its overall credibility are presented in a concise manner, with numerous excerpts from published studies to enable readers to learn to read, understand, and evaluate research and to judge the usefulness of the findings for educational practice. The text facilitates learning with the inclusion of chapter objectives, roadmaps and concept maps, study questions, consumer tips, more than 175 examples from published articles, several full length articles, and author reflections. The Enhanced Pearson eText features embedded video and assessments. Improve mastery and retention with the Enhanced Pearson eText* The Enhanced Pearson eText provides a rich, interactive learning environment designed to improve student mastery of content. The Enhanced Pearson eText is: Engaging. The new interactive, multimedia learning features were developed by the authors and other subject-matter experts to deepen and enrich the learning experience. Convenient. Enjoy instant online access from your computer or download the Pearson eText App to read on or offline on your iPad® and Android® tablet.* Affordable. Experience the advantages of the Enhanced Pearson eText along with all the benefits of print for 40% to 50% less than a print bound book. * The Enhanced eText features are only available in the Pearson eText format. They are not available in third-party eTexts or downloads. *The Pearson eText App is available on Google Play and in the App Store. It requires Android OS 3.1-4, a 7” or 10” tablet, or iPad iOS 5.0 or later.

Clinically oriented professionals and students need to understand and evaluate the research and statistics in professional articles, especially given today's emphasis on evidence-based practice. This book demonstrates how the research approach and design help determine the appropriate statistical analysis. Understanding and Evaluating Research in Applied and Clinical Settings features: *short, independent, chapters that do not have to be read in order; *a guide to understanding why a particular statistic was selected; *an emphasis on effects sizes including measures of risk potency; *numerous cross-disciplinary examples to illustrate the material; and *methods to help determine practical and clinical significance and their relation to meta-analysis and evidence-based practice. This book is intended for practitioners and students in psychology, education, counseling, mental and allied health, nursing, and medicine, and as a text for courses on understanding research methods and statistics.

The book is intended to help students understand and interpret research articles and how to evaluate what was done in the research. It is not intended to show them how to do research but rather how to understand research articles and evaluate that research.