Real World Research (Paperback)

PART I: SETTING THE SCENE

Chapter 1: Introduction    

What is real world research? – Design matters – Evaluation & change – The audience for this book – Returning to the real world – Beginning the journey

Chapter 2: Approaches to social research

Introduction – What is science? – Postmodernism & extreme relativist approaches – Two traditions – The quantitative paradigm – The qualitative paradigm – Paradigms & research questions – A pragmatic approach – Multi-strategy research designs – Realism & real world research – The purposes of research – Practical value of the theoretical material covered in the chapter

PART II: PLANNING – SELECTING A STRATEGY

Chapter 3: Developing your ideas

Introduction – Deciding on the focus – Searching & reviewing the literature – Research questions – Developing your research question(s) – The place of theory

Chapter 4: General design issues

Introduction – A framework for research design – Getting a feel for design issues – Choosing a research design strategy – Establishing trustworthiness

Chapter 5: Desk-based research

Introduction – Types of desk-based research – Doing a literature review as a desk-based project – The main steps when carrying out a literature review as a desk-based project – Doing a systematic review – Doing realist reviews – In summary

Chapter 6: Fixed designs

Introduction – General features of fixed designs – Establishing trustworthiness in fixed design research – True experiments – Designs involving matching – Quasi-experiments – Single-case experiments – Non-experimental fixed designs – Sample size in fixed designs

Chapter 7: Flexible designs

Introduction – General features of flexible designs – Research traditions in qualitative research – Case studies – Ethnographic studies – Grounded theory studies – Other traditions – Sampling in flexible designs – Establishing trustworthiness in flexible design research

Chapter 8: Multi-strategy (mixed method) designs

Introduction – The quantitative-qualitative incompatibility thesis – The mixed methods movement – Types of multi-strategy designs – Designing & carrying out multi-strategy research – Pragmatism, realism or ‘anything goes’? – Dealing with discrepancies in findings

Chapter 9: Designs for particular purposes: evaluation, action & change

Introduction – Evaluation research – Action research – Intervention & change – Researchers & practitioners 

Chapter 10: Ethical & political considerations

Introduction – Ethical codes & guidelines – Ethical issues – Researcher safety & risk – Working with vulnerable groups – General ethical responsibilities – Ethical review boards & committees – Politics & real world research – Sexism, racism & social research

PART III: TACTICS – THE METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

Chapter 11: Surveys & questionnaires

Introduction – Designing surveys – Carrying out a sample survey – Designing & using a questionnaire – Diaries – Sampling in surveys & elsewhere – Probability samples – Non-probability samples

Chapter 12: Interviews & focus groups

Introduction – Types & styles of interviews – General advice for interviewers – Content of the interview – Carrying out different types of interview – Focus groups – Dealing with interview data – Skills in interviewing

Chapter 13: Tests & scales

Introduction – Measurement scales – Other scaling techniques – Using existing tests & scales – Developing your own test

Chapter 14: Observational methods

Introduction – Observation in real world research – Approaches to observation – Participant observation – Getting started as a participant observer – Structured observation – Deciding on a coding scheme – The use of existing coding schemes – Developing your own scheme – Coding sequences of behaviour – Reliability & structured observation

Chapter 15: Additional methods of data collection

Introduction – Unobtrusive measures – Content analysis of documents – Secondary data analysis – Introduction to a range of more specialist techniques – Internet-based research – Feminist research methods – Using multiple methods

Chapter 16: Writing a project proposal

Introduction – How to recognize a good proposal – The content of a research proposal – The problem of pre-specifying flexible design studies – Shortcomings of unsuccessful proposals – Sources of funding

PART IV: CARRYING OUT THE PROJECT

PART V: DEALING WITH THE DATA

Chapter 17: The analysis & interpretation of quantitative data

Introduction – Creating a data set – Starting data analysis – Exploring the data set – Exploring relationships between two variables – Exploring relationships among three or more variables – Analysing differences – Quantitative analysis & different fixed design research strategies

Chapter 18: The analysis & interpretation of qualitative data

Introduction – Types of qualitative analysis – Using the computer for qualitative data analysis – Dealing with the quantity of qualitative data – Thematic coding analysis – Data analysis in grounded theory studies – Alternative approaches to qualitative analysis – Integrating qualitative & quantitative data in multi-strategy designs

Chapter 19: Reporting, disseminating & moving forward

Introduction – Reporting your findings – Ethics & reporting – Reporting fixed design research – The scientific journal format – Reporting flexible design studies – Reporting on multi-strategy design studies – Reporting on case studies – Reporting on literature reviews – Writing for non-academic audiences – Alternative forms of presentation – Writing skills – Where next?

Appendix A: Using specialist software for quantitative analysis

Appendix B: Using specialist software for qualitative analysis