This volume captures themes and debates around elucidating and studying workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment. The chapters presented here underscore the complexities and nuances of the phenomenon and showcase the various techniques relevant to and concerns associated with researching it. Debates abound as to what workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment is and what it is not, leading to a construct bind. Viewpoints are exchanged over how best to uncover the topic so as to ensure that recommendations for action are anchored in rigour. Section 1 portrays the gamut of variants that constitute workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment, such as interpersonal bullying, depersonalized bullying and cyberbullying, alongside theoretical underpinnings, contentious stances and contemporary contextual influences. Section 2 speaks to the challenges of studying a sensitive, multi-person, multi-level problematic, highlighting the possibilities offered by quantitative, qualitative and mixed paradigms. Advanced designs and innovative strategies that facilitate explanatory power, reliability and validity are put forward.

`This clearly written and user-friendly book is ideal for students or researchers who wish to get a basic, but solid grasp of a topic and see how it fits with other topics. By following the links a student can easily and efficiently build up a clear conceptual map of social research′ - Malcolm Williams, Reader in Sociology, Cardiff University `This is a really useful book, written in an accessible manner for students beginning their study of social research methods. It is helpful both as an introductory text and as a reference guide for more advanced students. Most of the key topics in methods and methodology are covered and it will be suitable as a recommended text on a wide variety of courses′ - Clive Seale, Brunel University At last, an authoritative, crystal-clear introduction to research methods which really takes account of the needs of students for accessible, focused information to help with undergraduate essays and exams. The key concepts discussed here are based on a review of teaching syllabi and the authors′ experience of many years of teaching. Topics range over qualitative and quantitative approaches and combine practical considerations with philosophical issues. They include several new topics, like internet and phone polling, internet searches, and visual methods. Each section is free-standing, can be tackled in order, but with links to other sections to enable students to cross-reference and build up a wider understanding of central research methods. To facilitate comprehension and aid study, each section begins with a definition. It is followed by a summary of key points with key words and guides to further reading and up-to-date examples. The book is a major addition to undergraduate reading lists. It is reliable, allows for easy transference to essays and exams and easy to use, and exceptionally clearly written for student consumption. The book answers the needs of all those who find research methods daunting, and for those who have dreamt of an ideal introduction to the subject.

A revolutionary textbook introducing masters and doctoral students to the major research approaches and methodologies in the social sciences. Written by an outstanding set of scholars, and derived from successful course teaching, this volume will empower students to choose their own approach to research, to justify this approach, and to situate it within the discipline. It addresses questions of ontology, epistemology and philosophy of social science, and proceeds to issues of methodology and research design essential for producing a good research proposal. It also introduces researchers to the main issues of debate and contention in the methodology of social sciences, identifying commonalities, historic continuities and genuine differences.

With the growth of practitioner research, this book leads the way by addressing key issues faced by ‘insider researchers’ – those doing research projects in the organizations and communities in which they themselves work, or where they are already familiar with the setting. The authors explore the implications of these research contexts, and discuss approaches and methodologies that researchers in these contexts might adopt, with a particular focus on ethics - one of the key concerns for students undertaking a research project of this type.

Poor data quality can seriously hinder or damage the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations and businesses. The growing awareness of such repercussions has led to major public initiatives like the "Data Quality Act" in the USA and the "European 2003/98" directive of the European Parliament. Batini and Scannapieco present a comprehensive and systematic introduction to the wide set of issues related to data quality. They start with a detailed description of different data quality dimensions, like accuracy, completeness, and consistency, and their importance in different types of data, like federated data, web data, or time-dependent data, and in different data categories classified according to frequency of change, like stable, long-term, and frequently changing data. The book's extensive description of techniques and methodologies from core data quality research as well as from related fields like data mining, probability theory, statistical data analysis, and machine learning gives an excellent overview of the current state of the art. The presentation is completed by a short description and critical comparison of tools and practical methodologies, which will help readers to resolve their own quality problems. This book is an ideal combination of the soundness of theoretical foundations and the applicability of practical approaches. It is ideally suited for everyone – researchers, students, or professionals – interested in a comprehensive overview of data quality issues. In addition, it will serve as the basis for an introductory course or for self-study on this topic.

The bestseller that pioneered the comparison of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research design continues in its Fourth Edition to help students and researchers prepare their plan or proposal for a scholarly journal article, dissertation or thesis.

Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide shows students how to be critical consumers of research and to appreciate the power of methodology as it shapes the research question, the use of theory in the study, the methods used, and how the outcomes are reported. The book starts with what it means to be a critical and uncritical reader of research, followed by a detailed chapter on methodology, and then proceeds to a discussion of each component of a research article as it is informed by the methodology. The book encourages readers to select an article from their discipline, learning along the way how to assess each component of the article and come to a judgment of its rigor or quality as a scholarly report.