The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project PDF
Preview The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project
The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project 3RD Edition Zina O’Leary SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road New Delhi 110 044 SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 3 Church Street #10-04 Samsung Hub Singapore 049483 © Zina O’Leary 2017 Chapter 13 © Zina O’Leary and Jennifer Hunt First edition published 2009 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers. Library of Congress Control Number: 2016948288 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-1-4739-5207-2 ISBN 978-1-4739-5208-9 (pbk) Editor: Jai Seaman Assistant editor: Alysha Owen Production editor: Ian Antcliff Copyeditor: Andy Baxter Proofreader: Neil Dowden Indexer: Silvia Benvenuto Marketing manager: Susheel Gokarakonda Cover design: Shaun Mercier Typeset by: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India Printed in the UK Contents About the Author Acknowledgements The companion website 1 Taking the Leap into the Research World The challenge of tackling a research project So what is this thing called research and why do it? Delving into the ‘construct’ of research Getting help along the way Chapter summary Further reading 2 Setting Up and Getting Started Getting started Navigating the process Staying on course Chapter summary Further reading 3 Developing Your Research Question The importance of good questions The preliminaries: defining your topic From interesting topics to researchable questions Characteristics of good questions Chapter summary Further reading 4 Undertaking Credible and Ethical Research Power, politics, ethics and research integrity Credibility: integrity in the production of knowledge Ethics: integrity and the ‘researched’ Chapter summary Further reading 5 Crafting a Research Proposal Role of the proposal Elements of the proposal Writing a winning proposal Obstacles and challenges Chapter summary Further reading 6 Reviewing Literature The importance of literature Sourcing relevant literature Managing the literature Writing the formal ‘literature review’ Chapter summary Further reading 7 Designing a Research Plan Moving from questions to answers Getting it right for the researcher Pragmatics: making it doable It’s all in the details Chapter summary Further reading 8 Understanding Methodologies: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches The quantitative tradition The qualitative tradition Chapter summary Further reading 9 Understanding Methodologies: Mixed Approaches Arguments for mixed methodology Challenges and possibilities Perspectives and strategies Chapter summary Further reading 10 Understanding Methodologies: Evaluative, Action-Oriented and Emancipatory Strategies Research that attempts to drive change Evaluative research Action research Emancipatory research Chapter summary Further reading 11 Identifying and Selecting Samples, Informants and Cases Where does the answer lie? Samples: selecting elements of a population Key informants: working with experts and insiders Cases: delving into detail Chapter summary Further reading 12 Primary Data: Surveys, Interviews and Observation The opportunities and challenges of collecting primary data Surveying Interviewing Observation Chapter summary Further reading 13 Secondary Data: Existing Data, Online Generated Data and Previous Studies What is secondary data? Working with existing data Working with online generated data Analysing previous studies Chapter summary Further reading 14 Analysing Quantitative Data Moving from raw data to significant findings Managing data and defining variables Descriptive statistics Inferential statistics Presenting quantitative data Chapter summary Further reading 15 Analysing Qualitative Data The promise of qualitative data The logic of QDA The methods of QDA Specific QDA strategies Presenting qualitative data A thought Chapter summary Further reading 16 The Challenge of Writing Up The writing challenge The writing process Creating powerful presentations Disseminating your work The final word Chapter summary Further reading Glossary Bibliography Index
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