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Book Details
Abstract
For courses in Experimental Methods and in Research Methods in Political Science and Sociology
An informative and unintimidating look at the basics of research in the social and behavioral sciences
Exploring Research makes research methods accessible for students – describing how to collect and analyze data, and providing thorough instruction on how to prepare and write a research proposal and manuscript. Author Neil Salkind covers the research process, problem selection, sampling and generalizability, and the measurement process. He also incorporates the most common types of research models used in the social and behavioral sciences, including qualitative methods. The Ninth Edition explores the use of electronic sources (the Internet) as a means to enhance research skills, includes discussions about scientific methods, and places a strong emphasis on ethics.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Title Page | 1 | ||
| Copyright Page | 2 | ||
| Contents | 5 | ||
| Preface | 9 | ||
| New to the Edition | 9 | ||
| How This Book Is Organized | 9 | ||
| What’s Special about This Book? | 10 | ||
| A Note to the Instructor | 10 | ||
| How to Use This Book | 11 | ||
| Available Instructor Resources | 11 | ||
| A Big Thanks | 11 | ||
| Acknowledgments for the Global Edition | 11 | ||
| Chapter 1: The Role and Importance of Research | 13 | ||
| Say Hello to Research! | 13 | ||
| What Research Is and What It Isn’t | 14 | ||
| A Model of Scientific Inquiry | 16 | ||
| Asking the Question | 17 | ||
| Identifying the Important Factors | 17 | ||
| Formulating a Hypothesis | 17 | ||
| Collecting Relevant Information | 18 | ||
| Testing the Hypothesis | 18 | ||
| Working with the Hypothesis | 18 | ||
| Reconsidering the Theory | 19 | ||
| Asking New Questions | 19 | ||
| Different Types of Research | 19 | ||
| Nonexperimental Research | 19 | ||
| Experimental Research | 21 | ||
| True Experimental Research | 22 | ||
| Quasi-Experimental Research | 22 | ||
| What Research Method to Use When? | 23 | ||
| Basic Research versus Applied Research | 23 | ||
| Summary | 24 | ||
| Exercises | 25 | ||
| Chapter 2: The Research Process Coming to Terms | 27 | ||
| From Problem to Solution | 27 | ||
| The Language of Research | 29 | ||
| All about Variables | 29 | ||
| Dependent Variables | 29 | ||
| Independent Variables | 30 | ||
| The Relationship between Independent and Dependent Variables | 31 | ||
| Other Important Types of Variables | 31 | ||
| Hypotheses | 32 | ||
| The Null Hypothesis | 32 | ||
| The Research Hypothesis | 33 | ||
| Differences between the Null Hypothesis and the Research Hypothesis | 34 | ||
| What Makes a Good Hypothesis? | 34 | ||
| Samples and Populations | 36 | ||
| The Concept of Significance | 36 | ||
| Summary | 37 | ||
| Exercises | 37 | ||
| Chapter 3A: Selecting a Problem and Reviewing the Research | 40 | ||
| Selecting a Problem | 41 | ||
| Defining Your Interests | 42 | ||
| Ideas, Ideas, Ideas (and What to Do with Them) | 43 | ||
| From Idea to Research Question to Hypothesis | 44 | ||
| Reviewing the Literature | 45 | ||
| Using General Sources | 46 | ||
| Using Secondary Sources | 49 | ||
| Using Primary Sources | 50 | ||
| Reading and Evaluating Research | 56 | ||
| What Does a Research Article Look Like? | 56 | ||
| Criteria for Judging a Research Study | 57 | ||
| Using Electronic Tools in Your Research Activities | 58 | ||
| Searching Online | 58 | ||
| The Great Search Engines | 58 | ||
| Using Boolean Operators in a Search | 60 | ||
| More about Google | 61 | ||
| Using Bibliographic Database Programs | 63 | ||
| Using the Internet: Beyond Searches | 65 | ||
| Research Activities and the Internet | 65 | ||
| A Bit about E-Mail | 66 | ||
| An Introduction to News Groups and RSS Feeds | 67 | ||
| And, Just a Bit about Web Sites | 69 | ||
| Using Social Media in Research | 70 | ||
| Writing the Literature Review | 72 | ||
| Summary | 73 | ||
| Exercises | 74 | ||
| Chapter 3B: The Importance of Practicing Ethics in Research | 76 | ||
| A Bit of History | 76 | ||
| Basic Principles of Ethical Research | 77 | ||
| Protection from Harm | 78 | ||
| Maintenance of Privacy | 78 | ||
| Coercion | 78 | ||
| Informed Consent | 79 | ||
| Confidentiality | 80 | ||
| Debriefing | 80 | ||
| Sharing Benefits | 81 | ||
| Ensuring High Ethical Standards | 81 | ||
| The Role of Professional Organizations | 82 | ||
| A Summary of Ethical Guidelines | 82 | ||
| Ethics and Children | 82 | ||
| Ethics Regarding Online Research | 83 | ||
| Summary | 83 | ||
| Exercises | 84 | ||
| Chapter 4: Sampling and Generalizability | 85 | ||
| Populations and Samples | 85 | ||
| Probability Sampling Strategies | 86 | ||
| Simple Random Sampling | 86 | ||
| Systematic Sampling | 88 | ||
| Stratified Sampling | 89 | ||
| Cluster Sampling | 90 | ||
| Nonprobability Sampling Strategies | 90 | ||
| Convenience Sampling | 90 | ||
| Quota Sampling | 90 | ||
| Samples, Sample Size, and Sampling Error | 91 | ||
| How Big Is Big? | 92 | ||
| Summary | 93 | ||
| Exercises | 93 | ||
| Chapter 5: Measurement, Reliability, and Validity | 95 | ||
| The Measurement Process | 95 | ||
| Levels of Measurement | 95 | ||
| Nominal | 96 | ||
| Ordinal | 97 | ||
| Interval | 97 | ||
| Ratio | 98 | ||
| Continuous versus Discrete Variables | 98 | ||
| What Is All the Fuss? | 99 | ||
| Reliability and Validity: Why They Are Very, Very Important | 99 | ||
| A Conceptual Definition of Reliability | 100 | ||
| Increasing Reliability | 101 | ||
| How Reliability Is Measured | 102 | ||
| Types of Reliability | 102 | ||
| Establishing Reliability: An Example | 104 | ||
| Validity | 105 | ||
| A Conceptual Definition of Validity | 105 | ||
| Types of Validity | 105 | ||
| Establishing Validity: An Example | 107 | ||
| The Relationship between Reliability and Validity | 108 | ||
| Closing (and Very Important) Thoughts | 108 | ||
| Summary | 109 | ||
| Exercises | 110 | ||
| Chapter 6: Methods of Measuring Behavior | 112 | ||
| Tests and Their Development | 113 | ||
| Why Use Tests? | 113 | ||
| What Tests Look Like | 114 | ||
| Types of Tests | 114 | ||
| Achievement Tests | 114 | ||
| Multiple-Choice Achievement Items | 115 | ||
| Attitude Tests | 119 | ||
| Personality Tests | 121 | ||
| Observational Techniques | 121 | ||
| Techniques for Recording Behavior | 122 | ||
| Questionnaires | 123 | ||
| Summary | 126 | ||
| Exercises | 126 | ||
| Chapter 7: Data Collection and Descriptive Statistics | 128 | ||
| Getting Ready for Data Collection | 128 | ||
| The Data Collection Process | 129 | ||
| Constructing Data Collection Forms | 129 | ||
| Coding Data | 131 | ||
| The Ten Commandments of Data Collection | 131 | ||
| Getting Ready for Data Analysis | 132 | ||
| Descriptive Statistics | 133 | ||
| Distributions of Scores | 133 | ||
| Comparing Distributions of Scores | 134 | ||
| Measures of Central Tendency | 134 | ||
| You and Excel—Computing Measures of Central Tendency | 136 | ||
| Measures of Variability | 137 | ||
| The Range | 137 | ||
| The Standard Deviation | 137 | ||
| You and Excel—Computing Measures of Variability | 138 | ||
| Understanding Distributions | 138 | ||
| The Normal (Bell-Shaped) Curve | 139 | ||
| The Mean and the Standard Deviation | 139 | ||
| Standard Scores: Computing and Using z Scores | 141 | ||
| What z Scores Really, Really Mean | 142 | ||
| Summary | 142 | ||
| Exercises | 143 | ||
| Chapter 8: Introducing Inferential Statistics | 144 | ||
| Say Hello to Inferential Statistics! | 144 | ||
| How Inference Works | 144 | ||
| The Role of Chance | 145 | ||
| The Central Limit Theorem | 145 | ||
| The Idea of Statistical Significance | 147 | ||
| Tests of Significance | 148 | ||
| How a Test of Significance Works | 148 | ||
| t-Test for Independent Means | 149 | ||
| How to Select the Appropriate Test | 151 | ||
| You and Excel—Computing a t-Value for a Test of Independent Means Using the ToolPak | 152 | ||
| Some Other Tests of Significance | 152 | ||
| Working with More Than One Dependent Variable | 154 | ||
| Significance versus Meaningfulness | 155 | ||
| Meta-Analysis | 156 | ||
| How Meta-Analyses Are Done | 157 | ||
| Summary | 158 | ||
| Exercises | 158 | ||
| Chapter 9: Nonexperimental Research Descriptive and Correlational Methods | 160 | ||
| Descriptive Research | 160 | ||
| Survey Research | 161 | ||
| How to Conduct Survey Research | 163 | ||
| Correlational Research | 165 | ||
| The Relationship between Variables | 165 | ||
| What Correlation Coefficients Look Like | 165 | ||
| Computing the Pearson Correlation Coefficient | 166 | ||
| You and Excel—Computing a Correlation Using the ToolPak | 168 | ||
| Interpreting the Pearson Correlation Coefficient | 168 | ||
| Summary | 170 | ||
| Exercises | 170 | ||
| Chapter 10: Nonexperimental Research Qualitative Methods | 172 | ||
| Conducting Qualitative Research | 172 | ||
| How Qualitative Research Differs | 172 | ||
| Research Sources | 173 | ||
| Documentation | 173 | ||
| Archival Records | 173 | ||
| Physical Artifacts | 173 | ||
| Direct Observation | 173 | ||
| Participant Observation | 174 | ||
| Focus Groups | 174 | ||
| Case Studies | 175 | ||
| Some Advantages of the Case Study Method | 175 | ||
| Some Disadvantages of the Case Study Method | 176 | ||
| Ethnographies | 176 | ||
| Historical Research | 177 | ||
| Conducting Historical Research | 177 | ||
| The Steps in Historical Research | 178 | ||
| Sources of Historical Data | 178 | ||
| Primary or Secondary Sources: Which Are Best? | 179 | ||
| Authenticity and Accuracy | 180 | ||
| The Limitations of Historical Research | 181 | ||
| Qualitative Research Tools | 181 | ||
| Summary | 181 | ||
| Exercises | 182 | ||
| Chapter 11: Pre- and True Experimental Research Methods | 183 | ||
| Experimental Designs | 184 | ||
| Pre-Experimental Designs | 184 | ||
| True Experimental Designs | 185 | ||
| Internal and External Validity and Experimental Design | 187 | ||
| Threats to Internal Validity | 187 | ||
| Threats to External Validity | 189 | ||
| Increasing Internal and External Validity | 189 | ||
| Internal and External Validity: A Trade-Off? | 190 | ||
| Controlling Extraneous Variables | 190 | ||
| Matching | 191 | ||
| Use of Homogeneous Groups | 191 | ||
| Analysis of Covariance | 191 | ||
| Summary | 192 | ||
| Exercises | 192 | ||
| Chapter 12: Quasi-Experimental Research A Close Cousin to Experimental Research | 194 | ||
| The Quasi-Experimental Method | 194 | ||
| Quasi-Experimental Designs | 195 | ||
| The Nonequivalent Control Group Design | 195 | ||
| The Static Group Comparison | 196 | ||
| Single-Subject Designs | 196 | ||
| Multiple Baseline Designs | 198 | ||
| Evaluating Single-Subject Designs | 199 | ||
| Developmental Research | 199 | ||
| The Utility of Follow-Up Studies | 201 | ||
| The Role of Age in Studying Development | 201 | ||
| Summary | 202 | ||
| Exercises | 202 | ||
| Chapter 13: Writing a Research Proposal | 204 | ||
| The Format of a Research Proposal | 204 | ||
| Appearance | 205 | ||
| Evaluating the Studies You Read | 205 | ||
| Criteria for Judging a Research Study | 206 | ||
| Planning the Actual Research | 207 | ||
| Selecting a Dependent Variable | 207 | ||
| Reviewing a Test | 209 | ||
| Basic Information | 209 | ||
| General Test Information | 209 | ||
| Design and Appearance | 209 | ||
| Reliability | 209 | ||
| Validity | 209 | ||
| Norms | 209 | ||
| Evaluation | 209 | ||
| Selecting a Sample | 209 | ||
| Data Collection and Analysis | 210 | ||
| Selecting an Inferential Statistic | 211 | ||
| Protecting Human Subjects | 211 | ||
| Summary | 211 | ||
| Exercises | 211 | ||
| Chapter 14: Writing a Research Manuscript | 212 | ||
| What a Manuscript Looks Like | 212 | ||
| Title Page | 212 | ||
| Abstract | 212 | ||
| Introduction | 213 | ||
| Method | 213 | ||
| Results | 213 | ||
| Discussion | 213 | ||
| References | 213 | ||
| Appendices | 214 | ||
| Author Notes | 214 | ||
| Footnotes | 214 | ||
| Table Captions | 214 | ||
| Tables | 214 | ||
| Figure Captions | 214 | ||
| Figures | 214 | ||
| Nuts and Bolts | 214 | ||
| Summary | 214 | ||
| Appendix A: Fifty Excel Shortcuts for the Mac and Windows | 237 | ||
| Appendix B: Sample Data Set | 240 | ||
| Appendix C: Answers to End-of-Chapter Exercises | 245 | ||
| Bibliography | 257 | ||
| Glossary | 259 | ||
| Credits | 264 | ||
| Index | 265 | ||
| A | 265 | ||
| B | 265 | ||
| C | 265 | ||
| D | 265 | ||
| E | 266 | ||
| F | 266 | ||
| G | 266 | ||
| H | 266 | ||
| I | 267 | ||
| J | 267 | ||
| K | 267 | ||
| L | 267 | ||
| M | 267 | ||
| N | 268 | ||
| O | 268 | ||
| P | 268 | ||
| Q | 268 | ||
| R | 268 | ||
| S | 269 | ||
| T | 270 | ||
| U | 270 | ||
| V | 270 | ||
| W | 270 | ||
| Z | 270 |