Practical Research: Planning and Design

387 Pages·0179.822 MB·English

by  Paul D. Leedy,  Jeanne Ellis Ormrod

Paul D,~ eed'
Jean n • Ellls Or111rad

TENTH EDITION
Paul D. Leedy
Late of American University
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod
University of Northern Colorado (Emerita)
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Libraryo f Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Leedy, Paul D.
-I Practicalr esearch: planning and design I Paul D. Leedy, Jeanne Ell is C.hmrod.-lOth ed.
p.cm.
I
Includesb ibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-269324-0
ISBN-10: 0-13-269324-0
1. Research-Methodology. I. Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis,
Q180.55.M4L43 20l3 II. Title.
001.4-dc23
2011037270
10 9 8 7 s
6 4
l \ "
',
\
New to the Tenth Edition \
It is alwa ·
ys a Joy to write a new di . ° f p . .
many exciting n hi e rtron ractical Research, in part because there are always so
ew t mgs to say' Th. . d h b
numerous way S · is time aroun , t e ook has been revised and updated in
· s. orne changes are subtl di h ·
cI ar1ty- updar f I e ones-wor mg c anges to tighten the prose or enhance
, es o nternet addresses (URL ) fi k
tweaks to tab! d f s • so tware pac ages, and suggested readings; minor
es an igures to enhan h . ffi . d
changes ar (l) ce t err e ecnveness; an so on. Two more noticeable
e a new first chapter th bi d d
revious d · · . at com mes an con enses the first two chapters of the
P
e mon, which make fi (2) h .
signif h . s room or a new c apter on mixed-methods research. Another
c
team c ange rs the addiri ° f l
c l h i ion a new onceptua Analysis Exercise feature in which readers
an app Y c apter content t · · d · . . .
hi . . o new situations an scenarios. And given the mcreasmg technologi-
ca I sop isticanon of our read ers, a fie w topic. s m. el ud ed m. previous editions have been deleted
sue h as how t.o get an e-rnai· 1 account and send e-mail messages. ,
More specific changes in the tenth edition are as follows:
Chapter I (formerly Chapters 1 and 2): An integrationo f the ninth edition's first two
i+..
chapters into a single chapter called "The Nature and Tools of Research," with some of the
"old" second chapter's contents being moved to later chapters; a new figure on common pit
falls in reasoning (Figure 1.3).
?. : Chapter 2 {formerly Chapter 3): A discussion of independent and dependent variables
(which, in the ninth edition, appeared much later in the book) along with a new discus
sion of mediating and moderating variables; a new Conceptual Analysis Exercise on
identifying ciiffuent kinds of variables .
.~ t ~:.h.aptt;r 3 (Iorrnerly Chapter 4): Significantly revised and updated discussions of
library resources (including significant revisions to Tables 3.1 and 3.3).
£~ Chapter 4 (formerly Chapter 5 ): A reorganization of chapter content co be more logi
cal; two new Conceptual Analysis Exercises, "Identifying Scales of Measurement" and
"Identifying Problems with Validity and Reliability in Measurement"; a significantly
expanded discussion of research ethics; a new Checklist, "Determining Whether Your
Proposed Study Is Ethically Defensible."
m
Chapter 5 (formerly Chapter 6): A revised discussion of APA style, consistent with the
sixth edition of APA's Publication Manual (2010); a significantly expanded discussion of
common weaknesses in research proposals (Figure 5.3).
Ell Chapter 6 (formerly Chapter 7): An expanded discussion of sampling in qualitative
research; a new Conceptual Analysis Exercise, "Choosing a Qualitative Research Design."
~ Chapter 7 (formerly Chapter 8): Inclusion of comparative-historical research as a
methodology in the social sciences; a significant reduction in the length of the chapter
(in large part in response to most reviewers' feedback that they didn't assign ~his cha~ter).
m
Chapter 8 (formerly Chapter 9): A discussion of mediating and moderating variables
within the context of longitudinal designs. ·
~ ¥t \
':<
prerov~ \
(formerly Chapte~ 10): A ne:' .figur~ presenting Campbell an '1 ~:'. ~'
IV II Chapter 9 . list of chreats co internal validity (Figure 9.1); an expand d d'd Stanley's ': ,:t
(196 3) cl. assICe xi erimenral studies on t h e I nrerner; a new Checklist,e .. 1 i_s.c Us.s 1· on of ·J·
conducung p . bl " '-VOk1ng f" :~
d · Varra es. or r
Confoun ing( w chapter): An overview of various mixed-methods des· •·
r 10 ne igns; att . .
S Chapte 'fie co mixed-methods research; a new Checklist "Pinnin D ent1on
. ues speci h d ' g own h
to i~s . d Feasibility of a Mixed-Met o s Study." t e
L g1stICS an · f 1.: bl 11 5 ("D · ·
0 A significant expansion o a e . escnptton oflnferential S . .
11.
m Chapter . d Their Purposes ") ; a de scn. pti.o n of NCE s as an i. ncreasingly com tat1st1cai
P
p cedures an ib d l . monfor
ro d d core (NCEs are descri e on y m a footnote, as their use see rn..
of scan ar s . ) ms to be
estn.c te d 1 arg ely to K-12 educ.a tion f. . . b
r Expanded discussions o wntmg a srracts and using tables and fi
12.
im1 Chapter . 1 . f di . 1 bi id gures to
rch findings; an exp anation o rgita o jeer 1 entifiers (DOis) as a
resent resea . . . . recent
P . · n referencing online resources; a new section on ethics, titled "Maine . .
innovanon airung
1 . .
ic Integrity" (note that ethics are covered m greater depth in Chapte
Your Ac ad em . . fi . . r 4)·' a
. if dy expanded discussion of con erence presentanons, which now includes po
signi ICan . G id fi " . ster
. well as paper sessions; a new e 1.m es eature, Presenting an Effiect'
~~as U1 ~
Paper or Poster." . . .
~ Appendixes A and B: Updat~d discussions of ~icrosoft Excel (Appendix A) and SPSS
(AppendixB ) co be consistent with recent changes in these software packages.
. rrant change is a significantly enhanced online accompaniment to the book known
Anoeh e r impo ..
as MyResearchLab. When students purchase the tent~ e~1uon, they also get an access code with
which they can set up a personal account for use on this invaluable supplementary learning tool.
The Purpose of This Book
Practical Research: Planning and Design is a broad-spectrum, cross-disciplinary book suitable for a
wide variety of courses in basic research methodology. Many basic concepts and strategies in
research transcend the boundaries of specific academic areas, and such concepts and strategies are
at the heart of this book. To some degree, certainly, research methods do vary from one subject
area to another: A biologist might gather data by looking through a microscope, a historian by
examining written documents from an earlier time period, and a psychologist by administering
tests or systematically observing people's behavior. Otherwise, the basic approach to research is
the same. Regardless of the discipline, the researcher identifies a question in need of an answer,
collects data potentially relevant to that answer, analyzes and interprets the data, and draws con
clusions that the data seem to warrant.
Students in the social sciences, the natural sciences, education, medicine, business adminis
tration, landscape architecture, real estate, and other academic disciplines have used this text as
a guide to the successful completion of their research projects. Practical Research guides students
from problem selection to completed research report with many concrete examples and practi
cal, how-to suggestions. Students come to understand that research needs planning and design,
and they discover how their own research projects can be executed effectively and professionally.
Essentially, this is a do-it-yourself, understand-it-yourself manual. From that standpoint, it can
be~ guide for students who are left largely to their own resources in carrying out their research
pro1ects. The book, supplemented by occasional counseling by an academic advisor, can guide
the student to th l · f fi .
e comp enon o a success ul research project.
Le ·
arn1ng about the Research Process Is an
Essential Component of Academic Training
All too often stude · k hi than
amas · ' nts mrsra enly believe that conducting research involves not mg more
sing a large nu b f t: . t: d They
reach th h m er 0 racrs and incorporating them into a lengthy, toornote paper.
blt. ng pre t · reshold of a masters, thesi.s or doctoral di. ssertatio. n only to 1 earn t h at si· rnp ly assemd ·
ev1ously kno . c d h ust o
wn mrormation is insufficient and unacceptable. Instea ' t ey m
a.
reface
v .
some:hing radically different: They must answer a question that has never been answered before
and, 10 the process, must discover something that no one else has ever discovered. Something has
~one tragically wrong in the education of students who have, for so many years of their school-
in · 1
g, entire Y misunderstood the true nature of research.
k Research has one end: the discovery of truth. Its purpose is to learn what has never been
f nown before; to ask a significant question for which no conclusive answer has previously been
ound; a~d, by collecting and interpreting relevant data, to find an answer to that question.
L:arning about and doing research are of value far beyond that of merely satisfying a program
requirement. Research methods and their application to real-world problems are skills that will
serve you for the rest of your life. The world is full of problems that beg for solutions; conse
q~entl~ it is full of research activity! The media continually bring us news of previously unknown
bwlogical and physical phenomena, life-saving medical interventions, and ground-breaking
technological innovations-all the outcomes of research. Research is not an academic banality; it
is a vital and dynamic force that is indispensable to the health and well-being of Planet Earth
and its human and nonhuman inhabitants.
More immediate, however, is the need to apply research methodology to those lesser daily prob
lems that nonetheless demand a thoughtful resolution. Those who have learned how to analyze
problems systematically and dispassionately will live with greater confidence and success than
those who have shortsightedly dismissed research as nothing more than a necessary hurdle on the
way to a degree. Given the advantages that a researcher's viewpoint provides, considering an aca
demic research requirement as annoying and irrelevant to one's education is simply untenable.
Many students have found that Practical Research has helped them both understand the nature
of the research process and complete their research projects. Its simplification of research con
cepts and its readability make it especially suitable for those undergraduate and graduate stu
dents who are introduced, perhaps for the first time, to genuine research methodology.
\XTe hope we have convinced you that research methodology is not a temporary hurdle on the
way to a degree but, instead, an unparalleled opportunity to learn how you might better tackle
. any problem for which you do not have a ready solution. In a few years you will undoubtedly
look back on vour coarse in research methodoiogy as one of the most rewarding and practical
courses in your entire educational experience. We have found it so in our own experience, and
many of cur 5t'.'d~·ntf. have told us likewise.
r;
No man is an i/and, entire of it se/fe; every rr:an is a
peece of the Continent, a part of the matne. . .
So wroteJ ohn Donne, the great dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in the 17th century. And so write we
authors at the beginning of the 21st. .
Those who have had a part in the making of this book, known and unknown, friends and col-
leagues, gentle critics and able editors-all-are far too many to salute individually. Those of
you who have written in journals and textbooks about research methods and strategies, the gen
erations of graduate and undergraduate students whom we have caught and who have also taught
us, the kindly letters and e-mails that so many of you have written to tell us how this book has
helped you in your own research endeavors-to all of you, we extend our acknowledgment and
appreciation wherever you may be. You have had the greater part in bringing this book through
its previous nine editions. We are especially grateful to the reviewers of the ninth edition, who
offered many invaluable suggestions for strengthening the tenth edition so that it can better
assist novice researchersi n the 21st century: Robert Balicki, Cleary University; Ronald S. Beebe,
University o~ Ho~scon-Downtown; John W. Hangsleben, Fontbonne University; Chris Liier,
Ball.State Umvers~cy; ~usan Moscou, Mercy College; Angela Owusu-Ansah, Samford University;
Dons Prater, Un1ve~s1ty of Houston; Helen Stiff-Williams, Regent University; and Edyth
Wheeler, Towson University.
We.are also indebted co the students whose research p::or-:.;,··h, doctoral dissertations and
masters theses have enabled us co illustrate some of the resea ~,--1-> '"'-~ writing srrar · d rib d
· h b k · - · ·· · ·· " "·' "" eg1es escri e
J
m. t e oo · In particular, we extend gratitude to Rosenna Ba1<1 r; vay Corbett Di h k
RG: ;:;dK ' · k La '·•--•, .[", ma ac son
~~~r~d ~:~:!;:e7' ;et~r ~~a~~nwo~h, Marthe\~ McKenzie, Ki~berly Mitchell:
Leavenworth and Matt McKenzi: ga:;e ha . ": ancy T~ra1lkill, and Debby Zambo. Pete
us t err time as well as the. r h
recommendations for the chapter on hist . l h 1 researc reports, and their
E . onca researc were superb
qually important is to say "Thank you, thank ou than .. .
and Jouve India who were key players . b . . y '. k you to folks at Pearson Education
Shannon Steed sifted through the ma rn n~grng this book to fruition. Early in the process
about h . ny reviewer comments a d ffi d h '
d ow to improve the book in numerous wa b h n o ere elpful suggestions
a:;otedly and dependably oversaw production a::h ~ small and more substantial. Mary Irvin
~essed both the big-picture issues and the nitt e ~ars~n e~d, and Lynda Griffiths doggedly
phagmg: Lynda's patience and good humor th yh-gntty etatls during copy editing and final
t e spring and f roug out many f
Finally we msummher ok 2011 were very much appreciated un oreseen circumstances during
' ust t an Paul Smith d . .
for the book during the wri . an Kevin Davis, former and c .
shared our vision fo h b trng and production of this te h di ~rrent editors, respectively,
guidance to help u . r t e ook and struck the ever-so . nt e rtron. Both Kevin and Paul
d ·11 s improve the bo k hi] -important balan b
an 1 ustrate the com . 0 w i e also trusting . . ce etween providing
1
p ex, multifaceted nature of researc~uprlm st~ncts about how best to explain
annmg and design.
.......
,.... "'''·'
,Acknowledgments
No author is an island. enrire of i~lf. EYttY author bu bad many hands guiding his or bc.1
pen an~ many minds adding rich.ncu and~ to his or ber own thoughts. All of you hnt ~
exceedingly helpful. all of you have been ·a peece of dx Cocuinmc. a pan of dx maint. fa«
that, we offtt our hwnblc and hearty thanks.
}MUtEllU~