From diaries and letters to surveys and interview transcripts, documents are a cornerstone of social science research. This book guides you through the documentary research process, from choosing the best research design, through data collection and analysis, to publishing and sharing research findings. Using extensive case studies and examples, it situates documentary research within a current context and empowers you to use this method to meet new challenges like digital research and big data head on. In a jargon-free style perfect for beginner researchers, this book helps you to: · Interrogate documentary material in meaningful ways · Choose the best research design for your project, from literature reviews to policy research · Understand a range of approaches, including quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. Accessible, clear and focused, this book gives you the tools to conduct your own documentary research and celebrates the importance of documentary analysis across the social sciences.

This rigorous volume focuses on the underlying perspectives justifying the major approaches currently being used in educational research. Introductory chapters lay the foundation for exploring varying research perspectives. Nine specific perspectives on research—post positivism, pragmatism, constructivism, ethics and deliberate democracy, criticism, interpretivism, race/ethnicity/gender, arts-based research, and post structuralism—are examined, through discussions written by senior scholars known for their expertise in the perspective. And, a “guided tour” of criticism is given, in which these same scholars demonstrate the use of the “critical method” by critiquing six studies selected as exemplars of different research approaches. For education students who aspire to become researchers, and for those who simply need to read and understand research literature.

This book provides a useful guide for researchers, reviewers, and consumers who are charged with judging the quality of qualitative studies.

This Second Edition of Diana Ridley’s bestselling guide to the literature review outlines practical strategies for reading and note taking, and guides the reader on how to conduct a systematic search of the available literature, and uses cases and examples throughout to demonstrate best practice in writing and presenting the review. New to this edition are examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines, a new chapter on conducting a systematic review, increased coverage of issues of evaluating quality and conducting reviews using online sources and online literature and enhanced guidance in dealing with copyright and permissions issues.

This book is both a handbook for defining and completing a research project, and an astute introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science.

This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.