Community Development: Research Tips

This book is a step-by-step guide to writing a literature review, and includes tips for modifying the process as needed depending on your audience, purpose, and goals. The lessons in this book can be applied to writing the background section for a thesis or an original research publication. Literature reviews are now much more challenging to compile today than they used to be. You need a structured approach to handle the sheer volume of published research available. This book will help you formulate a strategy for making decisions about what to include and not include in your review, and produce a reliable and unbiased summary of the existing research. You will learn skills for defining research questions, using search tools and managing citations. This book is part of the American Psychological Association's Concise Guides to Conducting Behavioral, Health, and Social Science Research series. Aimed at undergraduate students in research methods courses or others with a lab or research project, each book describes a key stage in the research process. Collectively, these books provide a solid grounding in research from start to finish.

All academics need to write, but many struggle to finish their dissertations, articles, books, or grant proposals. Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule. How can we write it all while still having a life? In this second edition of his popular guidebook, Paul Silvia offers fresh advice to help you overcome barriers to writing and use your time more productively. After addressing some common excuses and bad habits, he provides practical strategies to motivate students, professors, researchers, and other academics to become better and more prolific writers. Silvia draws from his own experience in psychology to explain how to write, submit, and revise academic work, from journal articles to books, all without sacrificing evenings, weekends, and vacations. The tips and strategies in this second edition have been updated to apply to academic writing in most disciplines. Also new to this edition is a chapter on writing grant and fellowship proposals.

Praised for its accessible approach to teaching disciplinary writing, the first edition of An Insider's Guide to Academic Writing was embraced by instructors and students at two-year and four-year schools alike. With its flexible, transferable frameworks and unique Insiders video interviews with scholars and peers, the text enables students -- and their instructors -- to adapt to a variety of writing situations in different disciplinary discourse communities.In the second edition, the authors build on that proven pedagogy with additional support for the writing process, critical reading, and reflection, to give students even more help with academic writing, no matter the discipline. Featuring two books in one, an innovative rhetoric for academic writing (available as its own book) and a thematic reader with readings from the disciplines, An Insider's Guide to Academic Writing is based on the best practices of a first-year composition program that has trained hundreds of teachers who have　instructed　thousands of　students. Also new to the second edition: a Launchpad with a complete e-book, in addition to modules about writing in applied fields.

This lively, practical text presents a fresh and comprehensive approach to doing qualitative research. The book offers a unique balance of theory and clear-cut choices for customizing every phase of a qualitative study. A scholarly mix of classic and contemporary studies from multiple disciplines provides compelling, field-based examples of the full range of qualitative approaches. Readers learn about adaptive ways of designing studies, collecting data, analyzing data, and reporting findings. Key aspects of the researcher's craft are addressed, such as fieldwork options, the five phases of data analysis (with and without using computer-based software), and how to incorporate the researcher's "declarative" and "reflective" selves into a final report.   Ideal for graduate-level courses, the text includes: * Discussions of ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, feminist research, and other approaches. * Instructions for creating a study bank to get a new study started. * End-of-chapter exercises and a semester-long, field-based project. * Quick study boxes, research vignettes, sample studies, and a glossary. * Previews for sections within chapters, and chapter recaps. * Discussion of the place of qualitative research among other social science methods, including mixed methods research.

This user-friendly book provides a step-by-step guide to using the five major approaches to research design: quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research. Chapters on each approach follow a unique format--they present a template for a research proposal and explain in detail how to conceptualize and fill in every section. Terminology commonly used within each approach is identified, and key moments of ethical decision making are flagged. Interdisciplinary research examples draw on current events and social justice topics. Unique coverage includes hot topics: replication studies and data sharing, tailoring proposals to different audiences, and more. The book also includes a general introduction to social research; an in-depth, practical discussion of ethics; and a chapter on how to begin a research study, from planning a topic to developing a research question via a literature review. Pedagogical Features *Multiple "Review Stops" in each chapter--quick quizzes with answer keys. *End-of-chapter writing exercises, research activities, and suggested resources. *Bold-face key terms and an end-of-book glossary. *Boxed tips from experts in the respective approaches. *Supplemental PowerPoint slides for instructors using the book in a class. Winner (Third Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Nursing Research Category

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; compose the sections of a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods research article; select the right peer-reviewed journal for submitting an article; and navigate the publication process. Readers are also guided to build vital self-coaching skills in order to stay motivated and complete projects successfully.   User-Friendly Features *Exercises (with answers) analyzing a variety of texts. *Annotated excerpts from peer-reviewed journal articles. *Practice opportunities that help readers apply the ideas to their own writing projects. *Personal reflections and advice on common writing hurdles. *End-of-chapter Awareness and Action Reminders with clear steps to take.

A perennial bestseller since 1997, this updated tenth edition of Understanding Research Methodsprovides a detailed overview of all the important concepts traditionally covered in a research methods class. It covers the principles of both qualitative and quantitative research, and how to interpret statistics without computations, so is suitable for all students regardless of their math background. The book is organized so that each concept is treated independently and can be used in any order without resulting in gaps in knowledge--allowing it to be easily and precisely adapted to any course. It uses lively examples on contemporary topics to stimulate students' interest, and engages them by showing the relevance of research methods to their everyday lives. Numerous case studies and end-of-section exercises help students master the material and encourage classroom discussion. The text is divided into short, independent topic sections, making it easy for you to adapt the material to your own teaching needs and customize assignments to the aspect of qualitative or quantitative methods under study--helping to improve students' comprehension and retention of difficult concepts. Additional online PowerPoint slides and test bank questions make this a complete resource for introducing students to research methods. 　 New to this edition: New topic section on design decisions in research Additional material on production of knowledge and research methods Significant development of material on ethical considerations in research Fresh and contemporary examples from a wide variety of real, published research Topic-specific exercises at the end of each section now include suggestions for further steps researchers can take as they build their research project.

Visual Research Methods is a guide for students, researchers and teachers in the social sciences who wish to explore and actively use a visual dimension in their research. This book offers an integrated approach to doing visual research, showing the potential for building convincing case studies using a mix of visual forms including: archive images, media, maps, objects, buildings, and video interviews. Examples of the visual construction of 'place', social identity and trends of analysis are given in the first section of the book, whilst the essays in the second section highlight the astonishing creativity and innovation of four visual researchers. Each detailed example serves as a touchstone of quality and analysis in research, with themes ranging from the ethnography of a Venezuelan cult goddess to the forensic photography of the skeleton of a fourteenth-century nobleman. They give a keen sense of the motives, philosophies and benefits of using visual research methods. This volume will be of practical interest to those embarking on visual research as well as more experienced researchers. Key concerns include the power of images and their changing significance in a world of cross - mediation, techniques of analysis and ethical issues, and how to unlock the potential of visual data for research.

This book is a step-by-step guide to writing a literature review, and includes tips for modifying the process as needed depending on your audience, purpose, and goals. The lessons in this book can be applied to writing the background section for a thesis or an original research publication. Literature reviews are now much more challenging to compile today than they used to be. You need a structured approach to handle the sheer volume of published research available. This book will help you formulate a strategy for making decisions about what to include and not include in your review, and produce a reliable and unbiased summary of the existing research. You will learn skills for defining research questions, using search tools and managing citations. This book is part of the American Psychological Association's Concise Guides to Conducting Behavioral, Health, and Social Science Research series. Aimed at undergraduate students in research methods courses or others with a lab or research project, each book describes a key stage in the research process. Collectively, these books provide a solid grounding in research from start to finish.

Community-based research (CBR) offers useful insights into the challenges associated with conducting research and ensuring that it generates both excellent scholarship and positive impacts in the communities where the research takes place. This depends on two important variables: the capacity of CBR to generate good information, and the extent to which CBR is understood and constructed as a two-way relationship that includes a set of responsibilities for both researchers and communities. Offering expert advice on the crucial relationship between communities and researchers, the authors outline the main stages of the CBR process to guide researchers and practitioners. They discuss the reasons for conducting CBR, provide tips on how to design research, and detail how researchers and communities should get to know one another, as well as how best to work in the field and how to turn fieldwork into research that counts. By focusing on the lessons learned from the use of CBR, the authors make the messages, lessons, and practices applicable to a variety of research settings. Drawing collectively from decades of community-based research experience and including vignettes from researchers from around the world who share their CBR experiences, Doing Community-Based Research is an essential book for scholars, students, practitioners, and the educated public.

An informative real-world guide to studying the "why" of human behavior Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods is a practical, comprehensive guide to the collection and presentation of qualitative data. Unique in the market, this book describes the entire research process -- from design through writing -- illustrated by examples of real, complete qualitative work that clearly demonstrates how methods are used in actual practice. This updated fourth edition includes all new case studies, with additional coverage of mixed methods, non-sociological settings, funding, and a sample interview guide. The studies profiled are accompanied by observation field notes, and the text includes additional readings for both students and instructors. More than just theory, this guide is designed to give you a real-world practitioner's view of how qualitative research is handled every step of the way. Many different disciplines rely on qualitative research as a method of inquiry, to gain an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the governing forces behind it. Qualitative research asks "why" and "how," and the data is frequently complex and difficult to measure. This book shows you how to effectively handle qualitative work, regardless of where it's being applied. Understand the strengths and limitations of qualitative data Learn how experts work around common methodological issues Compare actual field notes to the qualitative studies they generated Examine the full range of qualitative methods throughout the research process Whether you're studying sociology, psychology, marketing, or any number of other fields, especially in the social and behavioral sciences, human behavior is the central concern of your work. So what drives human behavior? That's what qualitative research helps to explain. Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods gives you the foundation you need to begin seeking answers.

Quantitative and Statistical Research Methods This user-friendly textbook teaches students to understand and apply procedural steps in completing quantitative studies. It explains statistics while progressing through the steps of the hypothesis-testing process from hypothesis to results. The research problems used in the book reflect statistical applications related to interesting and important topics. In addition, the book provides a Research Analysis and Interpretation Guide to help students analyze research articles. Designed as a hands-on resource, each chapter covers a single research problem and offers directions for implementing the research method from start to finish. Readers will learn how to: Pinpoint research questions and hypotheses Identify, classify, and operationally define the study variables Choose appropriate research designs Conduct power analysis Select an appropriate statistic for the problem Use a data set Conduct data screening and analyses using SPSS Interpret the statistics Write the results related to the problem Quantitative and Statistical Research Methods allows students to immediately, independently, and successfully apply quantitative methods to their own research projects.

Everyone is a member of a community, and every community is continually changing. To successfully manage that change, community members need information. This book is an in-depth review of all of the research methods that communities can use to solve problems, develop their resources, protect their identities, and build power. With an engaging writing style and numerous real world examples, Randy Stoecker shows how to use a project-based research model in the community to: diagnose a community condition; prescribe an intervention for the condition; implement the prescription; and evaluate its impact. At every stage of this model there are research tasks, from needs and assets assessments to process and outcome studies. Readers also learn the importance of involving community members at every stage of the project and in every aspect of the research, making the research part of the community-building process.

An indispensable reference for postgraduates, providing up to date guidance in all subject areas Methods for Postgraduates brings together guidance for postgraduate students on how to organise, plan and do research from an interdisciplinary perspective. In this new edition, the already wide-ranging coverage is enhanced by the addition of new chapters on social media, evaluating the research process, Kansei engineering and medical research reporting. The extensive updates also provide the latest guidance on issues relevant to postgraduates in all subject areas, from writing a proposal and securing research funds, to data analysis and the presentation of research, through to intellectual property protection and career opportunities.  This thoroughly revised new edition provides: Clear and concise advice from distinguished international researchers on how to plan, organise and conduct research. New chapters explore social media in research, evaluate the research process, Kansei engineering and discuss the reporting of medical research. Check lists and diagrams throughout.  Praise for the second edition: "... the most useful book any new postgraduate could ever buy." (New Scientist) "The book certainly merits its acceptance as essential reading for postgraduates and will be valuable to anyone associated in any way with research or with presentation of technical or scientific information of any kind."(Robotica)  Like its predecessors, the third edition of Research Methods for Postgraduates is accessible and comprehensive, and is a must-read for any postgraduate student.

Research Methods: The Basicsis an accessible, user-friendly introduction to the different aspects of research theory, methods and practice. Structured in two parts, the first covering the nature of knowledge and the reasons for research, and the second the specific methods used to carry out effective research, this book covers: Structuring and planning a research project The ethical issues involved in research Different types of data and data quality Analysing and organising data to draw sound conclusions Writing up and displaying data in effective ways @text: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 social sciences and humanities.

This accessible text provides a roadmap for producing a high-quality literature review--an integral part of a successful thesis, dissertation, term paper, or grant proposal. Each step of searching for, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing prior studies is clearly explained and accompanied by user-friendly suggestions, organizational tips, vignettes, and examples of student work. Also featured are excerpts from peer-reviewed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods articles. This is the first book to focus on crafting different types of reviews (systematic, traditional-narrative, or hermeneutic-phenomenological) that reflect the writer's research question, methodological choices, and approaches to knowledge. It describes what all reviews have in common and highlights distinct characteristics of each type. The book includes dos and don'ts for evaluating studies and constructing an argument, and software suggestions for locating, organizing, and arranging sources.   Pedagogical Features *Checklists and "To Do" activities that break down key steps to take. *Boxed examples, graphics that organize and visually illustrate key concepts, and summary tables. *Group activities that invite students to further explore and apply the methods discussed in each chapter. *Detailed directions for using four different organizing strategies: synthesis matrix, summary table, mapping, and topic outline. *End-of-chapter summaries and "What's Next" sections. *Assessment matrices for reviewing and refining the completed literature review. Winner (First Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Nursing Research Category