Real world research : a resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers / Colin Robson.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This successful text on carrying out research in 'real world' situations has been thoroughly revised and updated in order to make it as useful as possible to teachers and students from a range of behavioral and social science disciplines. Includes new examples from applied psychology, applied social science, health studies, social work and education. Provides more coverage of qualitative methods. Pedagogical material has been updated to include a glossary and detailed cross-referencing across chapters. Bases the quantitative analysis section around version 10 of SPSS and the section on qualitative analysis around the NUD*IST software.Situates material more clearly within theoretical conceptualizations of the nature of social science research, pointing to the advantages of a critical realist approach. For sample chapters please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/robson

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface to Second Edition
• Acknowledgements
• Ways of Using the Book
• Carrying out an Enquiry
• Part I Before You Start
• Keeping a Research Diary
• 1 Real World Enquiry
• Focusing on the Real World
• Fixed and Flexible Designs
• Can All This Be Safely Skipped?
• Evaluation, Action Research and Change
• The Audience for this Book
• Returning to the Real World
• Further Reading
• 2 Approaches to Social Research
• Introduction
• Being Scientific
• Relativist Approaches
• Current Views of Social Research
• Realism and Real World Research
• A Pragmatic Approach
• Further Reading
• 3 Developing a Proposal
• Introduction
• Deciding on the Focus
• Deciding on the Research Questions
• Developing the Research Questions
• The Place of Theory
• Ethical Considerations
• Further Reading
• Part II Designing the Enquiry
• 4 General Design Issues
• Introduction
• A Framework for Research Design
• Getting a Feel for Design Issues
• Choosing a Research Strategy
• Establishing Trustworthiness
• Further Reading
• 5 Fixed Designs
• Introduction
• General Features of Fixed Designs
• Establishing Trustworthiness in Fixed Design Research
• Experimental Fixed Designs
• Experiments and the Real World
• Field Experiments
• Randomized Controlled Trials and the 'Gold Standard'
• Realist Critique of Randomized Controlled Trials
• True Experiments
• Quasi-Experiments
• Single-Case Experiments
• Non-Experimental Fixed Designs
• Relational Designs
• Comparative Designs
• Sample Size in Fixed Designs
• Further Reading
• 6 Flexible Designs
• Research Traditions in Qualitative Research
• Establishing Trustworthiness in Flexible Design Research
• Case Studies
• Ethnographic Studies
• Grounded Theory Studies
• Other Traditions of Flexible Research Design
• Sample Size in Flexible Designs
• Further Reading
• 7 Designs for Particular Purposes: Evaluation, Action & Change
• Evaluation Research
• Action Research
• Intervention and Change
• Researchers and Practitioners
• Further Reading
• Part III Tactics - the Methods of Data Collection
• Selecting the Method(s)
• 8 Surveys and Questionnaires
• Introduction
• Advantages and Disadvantages of the Survey
• Why a Survey?
• Approaches to Survey Data Collection
• Carrying Out a Sample Survey
• Diaries
• Sampling in Surveys - and Elsewhere
• Probability Samples
• Non-probability Samples
• Representative Sampling and the Real World
• Further Reading
• 9 Interviews
• Introduction
• Types and Styles of Interviews
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Interviews
• General Advise for Interviewers
• Content of the Interview
• Carrying Out Different Types of Interview
• Informant Interviews
• Group Interviews
• Analysis of Interview Data
• Skills in Interviewing
• Further Reading
• 10 Test and Scales
• Attitude Measurement
• Semantic Differential Scales
• Other Scaling Techniques
• Using Existing Tests and Scales
• Further Reading
• 11 Observational Methods
• Introduction
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Observation
• Observation in Real World Research
• Approaches to Observation
• Participant Observation
• Getting Started
• Observational Biases
• Structured Observation
• Observer Effects
• Deciding on a Coding Scheme
• Coding Sequences of Behaviour
• Reliability and Structured Observation
• Further Reading
• 12 Additional Methods of data Collection
• Unobtrusive Measures
• Using Documents
• Content Analysis
• Using Data Archives
• Brief Review of Additional Approaches
• Using Multiple Methods
• Further Reading
• Arranging the Practicalities
• Part IV Dealing with the Data:
• Collecting the Data
• Analyzing and Interpreting the Data
• Preparing for Analysis
• 13 The Analysis of Quantitative Data
• Introduction
• Creating a Data Set
• Startin