Understanding and Doing Successful Research: Data Collection and Analysis for the Social Sciences

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1 | Getting started
Introduction
What is research? Where and how do you start?
Coming up with a researchable research question
The rationale
Objectivity
Action research
A literature review
Identifying variables and indicators
So I don’t have to do a questionnaire then?
The ‘conventional’ stages in the design and execution of a research project
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
2 | The ethics of social research
Introduction
Why research ethics are important to you
Informed consent
Committees and guidelines
Confidentiality
What makes an ethical researcher?
Tearoom Trade
What type of researcher are you?
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
3 | Searching and reviewing the literature
Introduction
Constructing literature reviews
Why do I need to justify my research question?
Assessment issues
Identifying variables and indicators
Journals
Textbooks
The internet
When to end your search of the literature
Plagiarism
Wikipedia
Quoting and referencing
Developing a bibliography
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
4 | Secondary analysis – research using other people’s data
Introduction
Durkheim on suicide
Crime statistics
Databases and data sets
Conceptual and technical instruments
Categories of secondary data
Historical data
Advantages and disadvantages of secondary analysis
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
5 | Interviews
Introduction
Issues to be aware of
Structured and unstructured interviews
How to conduct the interview
Coding and data analysis: structured interviews
In-depth interviews
The funnel
Collaborative interviewing
Selecting the sample
Group interviews and focus groups
Online interviews
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
6 | The case study
Introduction
Forms of case study
Styles of case study
Emic v. etic approaches
The critical incident approach
Theoretical and empirical generalisations
Application to qualitative interviews
Criticisms of the case study approach
Analysis and interpretation of the case
Correspondence and pattern matching
Avoiding errors and using verification procedures
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
7 | Ethnographic approaches
Introduction
Ethical issues and trust
Verstehen
Empathy and shared feeling
Social action
Tertiary understanding
Guidelines to ensure authenticity
Learning the ropes
Marginality
Developing an ethnographic presence
Going native
Discourse
Practice – the unit of analysis
Redefining the concept of ‘site’: ethnography on the internet
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
8 | Observation, participant observation and observational inference
Defining participant observation
Understanding human meaning systems through observation
Problems with participant observation
Reading and recording observations
Covert methods
Observation in overt research projects
Summary of viewpoints
Data analysis
Thematic content analysis
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
9 | Biographical and autobiographical approaches
Introduction
Methods of data collection
Providing concrete examples
Advantages of biographical methods
Discourse and narrative
The feminist perspective
The ‘neurotic narrator’ and other problems
The problem of generalisation
What is narrative analysis?
Data analysis in biographical and autobiographical research
The ethical issues
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
10 | Documentary and narrative analysis
Introduction
Semiology
Content analysis
Diaries
Letters
Visual methods
Analysing photographic data
Case studies and documentary methods
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
11 | Measurement and statistical inference
Introduction
Common measures to identify central tendency
Variance and standard deviation
Classification
Measurement
Scientific parsimony
Why do we construct categories?
Probability
Scales of measurement
Complete inference
Producing knowledge from research findings
Correlations, causes and mechanisms
SPSS
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
12 | What is a sample survey?
Introduction
How the social survey began
Planning: how to go about conducting surveys
What is sampling?
The Institute of Community Studies
Questionnaires
Non-response
How to distribute the questionnaire
Devising questions
Descriptive and analytical surveys
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
13 | Mixed methods research
General characteristics of mixed methods research
At what stage does the mixing of methods take place?
Characteristics of mixed methods research
Why mix methods and/or methodologies?
Crystallisation
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
14 | Evaluation research and experiments
What is evaluation?
Evaluation: formative and summative
Evaluation: internal and external
Central features of evaluation research
Experiments
Summary and report writing
Writing an evaluation report
Conclusion
Erica’s research project
Bibliography
15 | Successfully completing the research project
Introduction
The structure of the report
Referencing
Where and when to start the writing up
Index