Carrying out a research project is a daunting task. It presents you with deadline anxieties, unfamiliar language and practical dilemmas. This book is a straightforward guide that will help you manage your research project successfully. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Martin Brett Davies is Professor Emeritus at the University of East Anglia Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Preface	xiii
Acknowledgements	xiv
Part 1 Planning your research project	1
Chapter 1 So you're going to do a research project	3
The dominance of research findings in our lives	3
Becoming a researcher	6
The basic rules	8
Qualitative and quantitative research methods	9
Are you ready to be a good project manager?	11
Ten steps to get you off to a good start	12
Are you on message?	15
The nature of research	17
Exercise	18
Chapter 2 Let's make a start	19
Choosing a topic and turning it into a question	19
Practicalities	22
Selecting your methodology	25
Fourteen ways of 'doing research'	27
Conclusion	35
Chapter 3 Drawing up your personal project road map	36
Clarify your own ideas	36
Make time for an exploratory stage	37
Find out how people will react to your method	38
Do a literature review	38
Give thought to five additional issues	43
Prepare a final draft of your research instrument	46
Carry out a pilot study	47
Put it all together in a timed road map	48
Timed road map	49
Part 2 Quantitative research	51
Chapter 4 The principles of sampling	53
Types of sample	55
Probability samples	61
Non-probability samples	62
In defence of the convenience sample	63
Representativeness - and bias	63
The basic rules of sampling in a learning context	64
When you come to write your report...	67
A note about experiments	68
Chapter 5 Carrying out your survey	70
Twenty quality questions for carrying out a successful survey	71
An exercise	76
An investigation into gender differences in the division of labour within married/cohabiting couples	77
Now it's your turn	79
Jo Kensit's project results	80
Chapter 6 Questionnaires	82
Questionnaires are driven by the researcher's own agenda	82
The researcher has a professional obligation to maintain high standards	83
Rating the performance of job candidates	91
Twelve more things for you to think about	94
Chapter 7 The art and science of survey interviewing	101
The initial encounter	101
Interviews should give respondents freedom to use their own words	102
The principles of good practice	103
The design of interview schedules	104
Examples drawn from six classes of interview data	105
Exercise	107
Preparing your interview schedule	107
Finally	110
Exercise	111
Chapter 8 Analysing your survey data	113
Step 1 Think design, think analysis	116
Step 2 Living with your data	117
Step 3 Data entry using SPSS	118
Step 4 Don't despise your frequency distributions	119
Step 5 At this point, life gets more complicated	121
Step 6 Cross-tabulations	122
Step 7 Third variable analysis	123
Step 8 Comparing numerical values - measures of central tendency	125
Step 9 Comparing numerical values - correlations and rank order	127
Step 10 Probability	129
Step 11 Dealing with open-ended questions	131
Step 12 Drawing your analysis to a close	131
A note on inferential statistics	131
Part 3 Qualitative research	135
Chapter 9 Studying a small sample	139
Why study a small sample?	139
Identifying your research question	140
Qualitative research is dynamic and interactive	142
Strategic sampling	143
A hypothetical example of strategic sampling	144
Exercise	146
Gathering your core sample	146
What factors to take into account in gathering your sample	147
Majorities and minorities are equally important	148
The strategic approach to research planning	149
Exercise	150
Chapter 10 Qualitative research interviewing	151
Introduction	151
How will you present yourself?	152
Having a base	154
Unstructured or semi-structured interviewing with a small sample	155
The impact of the research interviewer	156
Ten rules for running your interview	158
What kinds of questions are suitable for use with a small sample?	160
Exercise	161
The meaning of words	162
Recording your interview	162
Some of the ideas on offer	164
Chapter 11 There is more to qualitative research than interviewing	168
Ethnography and the anthropological tradition	168
Participant observation	170
Insider research	172
Non-participant observation	174
Exercise	176
Learning a lesson from the novelist	177
Focus groups	178
The art of successful focus group management	181
Content analysis	181
Case studies	184
N = 1 explorations	186
Chapter 12 Analysing qualitative data	187
Content analysis of the answers to open-ended questions	188
Interpretive content analysis of complete interviews	189
Being an only child	194
Sexual infidelity	195
A cautionary note	196
Observation	197
Observing behavioural dominance in children	199
Focus groups	202
Case studies	204
Triangulation and multiple (or mixed) methods	205
NUD*ist, NVivo and computer analyses	205
Part 4 The last lap	207
Chapter 13 Writing your report	209
How to produce a successful report	209
A note on word length	216
Presenting your findings in a quantitative research study	217
Presenting percentages	217
Producing a bar chart by using MS Excel	222
Presenting your findings in a qualitative research study	223
Postscript: Over to you...	228
Part 5 Into more complex territory	229
Chapter 14 A qualitative researcher's briefing sheet	231
Ten golden rules in qualitative research	231
The language of qualitative research	232
A concise glossary	233
A cautionary view	243
Chapter 15 Testing for statistical significance	245
Eight useful ways of testing for statistical significance	247
Testing for significance in cross-tabs	248
Exercise	249
Comparing differences between means	253
When to use the Mann-Whitney test	254
When to use the t-test for unmatched or independent samples	255
When to use the t-test for paired or related samples	256
Comparing pairs of scores in matched samples	258
When to use the Wilcoxon test	258
When to use the sign test	259
Testing for significance in correlations	260
When to use Spearman's rho	261
When to use Pearson's product moment correlation	263
Some terms you need to know and understand	264
Bibliography	267
Index	270

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.