Doing Your Research Project: A Guide For First-Time Researchers

Copyright Page......Page 4
Dedication......Page 5
Brief Table of Contents......Page 6
Detailed Table of Contents......Page 7
Foreword......Page 12
Acknowledgements......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
PART I Preparing the Ground......Page 20
Introduction......Page 23
The research journey......Page 24
What it means to carry out research......Page 25
What it means to be a researcher......Page 26
Intentional roles of the researcher......Page 28
Unintentional roles of the researcher......Page 29
The responsibilities of the researcher......Page 32
Self-reflection......Page 33
The Researcher and the Research Journey Checklist......Page 34
Further reading......Page 35
Introduction......Page 36
Styles of research......Page 37
Advantages and disadvantages of quantitative and qualitative research methods......Page 38
Action research and the role of practitioner researchers......Page 39
Case study......Page 41
Survey......Page 43
Applied research......Page 44
The experimental style......Page 45
Ethnography and the ethnographic style of research......Page 47
The grounded theory approach......Page 48
Thematic analysis......Page 50
Narrative inquiry and stories......Page 51
Which approach?......Page 53
Laying the Groundwork Checklist......Page 54
Further reading......Page 55
Selecting a topic......Page 58
Getting started......Page 59
The purpose of the study......Page 62
Hypotheses, objectives and researchable questions......Page 63
Working title and the project outline......Page 64
Timing......Page 65
Supervision......Page 66
Keeping records of supervisory tutorials......Page 67
Writing as you go along and the research diary......Page 68
Planning the Project Checklist......Page 69
Further reading......Page 72
Introduction......Page 73
Research contracts, codes of practice, protocols and the principle of informed consent......Page 74
Ethics committees......Page 77
Confidentiality and anonymity......Page 78
Safeguarding confidentiality and anonymity if disseminating information online......Page 79
Ethical research in practice, the problems of ‘inside’ research and personal codes of practice......Page 83
Codes of ethical practice relating to intellectual ownership/property......Page 86
Ethics and Integrity in Research Checklist......Page 88
Further reading......Page 91
Reading......Page 93
Note-taking and guarding against plagiarism......Page 95
Referencing......Page 98
Creating, editing and storing references......Page 102
Backing-up: better safe than sorry......Page 103
Making a note of references......Page 104
The management of information......Page 105
A lot of fuss about nothing?......Page 109
Self-reflection......Page 110
Reading, Note-taking, Guarding against Plagiarism, Referencing and the Management of Information Checklist......Page 111
Further reading......Page 113
Introduction......Page 115
Defining the parameters of your search (search limiters) and keywords......Page 116
Digital or print?......Page 118
Google Search......Page 119
Google Books......Page 120
Journals......Page 123
Evaluating sources......Page 125
Copyright and licensing restrictions when downloading items from the web......Page 126
The Top Ten Guide to Searching the Internet Checklist......Page 127
Further reading......Page 132
Introduction......Page 133
The ‘critical review’ of the literature......Page 134
Theory and theoretical (or conceptual) frameworks......Page 135
The ‘critical review’ in practice......Page 136
Reviewing the reviews......Page 139
Using quotations......Page 140
Self-reflection......Page 141
Review of the Literature Checklist......Page 142
Further reading......Page 143
Introduction......Page 147
Reliability and validity......Page 148
Thinking about computerized data analysis?......Page 150
Further reading......Page 151
Introduction......Page 152
Approaches to documents......Page 153
The location of documents......Page 154
The selection of documents......Page 158
The critical analysis of documents......Page 160
Fact or bias?......Page 162
The Analysis of Documentary Evidence Checklist......Page 164
Further reading......Page 166
Introduction......Page 167
Ethical considerations in the use of the Internet and social media for the collection of data......Page 170
Social media, the research process and social digital tools......Page 174
Using social media in research......Page 186
Summary......Page 190
Using Social Media in Research Checklist......Page 191
Further reading......Page 192
Introduction......Page 194
Question types......Page 196
Question wording......Page 198
Drawing a sample......Page 203
Piloting the survey......Page 205
The rights of respondents and your rights and responsibilities......Page 206
Analysis of data......Page 207
Designing and Administering Surveys Checklist......Page 208
Further reading......Page 212
Advantages and disadvantages of the interview......Page 214
The ethics of conducting interviews......Page 215
The interview schedule......Page 216
Group interviews and focus groups......Page 219
Recording interviews......Page 220
Skype and Google Hangouts......Page 222
Remember!......Page 223
Planning and Conducting Interviews Checklist......Page 225
Further reading......Page 229
Introduction......Page 231
Representativeness......Page 233
The diary-interview method......Page 234
Piloting returns forms and instructions to participants......Page 235
Five case studies......Page 236
The ethics of diary use......Page 239
Blogs and vlogs......Page 240
Diaries, Logs, Critical Incidents, Blogs and Vlogs Checklist......Page 241
Further reading......Page 244
Introduction......Page 245
Unstructured observation......Page 246
Participant observation......Page 247
Structured observation and keeping records......Page 248
Recording behaviour......Page 250
Content......Page 252
After the event......Page 254
Observation Checklist......Page 255
Further reading......Page 257
PART III Interpreting the Evidence and Reporting the Findings......Page 261
Introduction......Page 263
List questions......Page 264
Quantity and category questions......Page 267
Measures of central tendency......Page 268
Coding......Page 273
Grids......Page 276
Scales......Page 277
Conclusions......Page 284
Interpreting the Evidence and Reporting the Findings Checklist......Page 285
Further reading......Page 287
Getting started......Page 289
The final writing task......Page 290
Structuring the report......Page 292
The need for revision......Page 297
Evaluating your own research......Page 299
Writing the Report Checklist......Page 301
Further reading......Page 305
Glossary......Page 306
References......Page 321
Index......Page 329
Back Cover......Page 366