Writing up Quantitative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 PREFACE
 INTRODUCTION
 SECTION 1: FOUNDATIONS FOR WRITING QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH REPORTS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
 CHAPTER 1: METHODOLOGICAL ELEMENTS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
 INTRODUCTION
 FORMS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
 Content Analysis
 Primary Data Collection
 Secondary or Archival Data Analysis
 THE DEFINITIONAL HIERARCHY
 TYPES OF VARIABLES
 Measured and Manipulated Variables
 Extraneous Variables
 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
 Validity
 Reliability
 SUMMARY AND PRACTICE
 NOTES
 CHAPTER 2: STATISTICAL ELEMENTS OF QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
 INTRODUCTION. QUANTITATIVE PROPERTIES OF VARIABLESDESCRIBING YOUR DATA
 Frequencies
 Measures of Central Tendency
 Measures of Dispersion
 FITTING STATISTICAL MODELS TO YOUR DATA
 Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST)
 Estimating Error
 EXAMINING THE STRENGTH OF YOUR MODEL
 SUMMARY AND PRACTICE
 NOTES
 CHAPTER 3: SUCCESSFULLY WRITING ABOUT QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH (OR ANYTHING)
 INTRODUCTION
 MINDSET
 Truth: Writers Improve their Skills through Deliberate Practice
 Myth: Good Writers "Get It Right" The First Time
 Truth: Good Writers Revise, Revise, and Revise Some More. Myth: Good Writers Wait for Inspiration to Hit Before Starting to WriteTruth: Good Writers Schedule their Writing Time and Stick to their Schedule
 Myth: Good Writers Sound Smart
 Truth: Good Writers Work to Make their Prose Accessible and Engaging
 Myth: Good Writers Do Not Share their Writing with Others
 Truth: Good Writers Actively Seek and Process Feedback to Improve their Writing
 THE RULES
 Rule #1: Learn the Major Sections of the Report with Your Bare Hands
 Rule #2: Write to Learn. Then Write to Teach
 Rule #3: Report, Support, Do Not Distort
 Rule #4: Collect and Connect the Dots. Rule #5: Write for Your Audience (Which is categorically not Wikipedia)Rule #6: Seek Ye the 3 C's --
Clear, Concise, Coherent
 Rule #7 --
Language!
 Rule #8 --
Formatting is a Royal Pain in the Bleep, But it Matters
 WRITING BUILDS CHARACTER
 SUMMARY AND PRACTICE
 NOTES
 SECTION 2: WRITING A QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH REPORT
 CHAPTER 4:WHAT QUESTION DID YOU ASK?: And Why Should Anyone Care?
 INTRODUCTION
 WHAT IS THE CORE PROBLEM OR PHENOMENON YOU HAVE STUDIED?
 HOW WILL YOU HOOK YOUR READER?
 WHAT HAVE OTHER RESEARCHERS AND SCHOLARS LEARNED ABOUT THIS ISSUE? WHAT IS NOT KNOWN ABOUT YOUR PROBLEM OR PHENOMENON AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO FILL THIS GAP IN OUR KNOWLEDGE?WHAT DO YOU PREDICT WILL HAPPEN AND WHY?
 A NOTE ABOUT VERB TENSE
 QUESTIONS ACROSS SECTIONS
 SUMMARY
 NOTES
 CHAPTER 5: WHAT DID YOU DO?
 INTRODUCTION
 CONTENT ANALYSIS
 What Did You Sample?
 How Did You Operationalize Your Variables?
 How Did You Collect Data?
 SECONDARY OR ARCHIVAL DATASETS
 Who (or What) Did You Sample?
 How Did You Operationalize Your Variables?
 How Did You Collect Data?
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION WITH HUMAN PARTICIPANTS
 Who Did You Sample?