Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-researchers

by Colin Robson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1993

  $3.25

  Though few students of psychology and related social or behavioural sciences go on to be laboratory-based experimentalists, traditional courses concentrate largely on the design and analysis of laboratory experiments. Many graduates do however go on to jobs where they are called upon to carry out some form of enquiry task outside the laboratory - often in complex, poorly-controlled situations. Practitioners and professionals working with people (eg. in education, health and the social services as well as in industry) are increasingly being required to be involved in similar studies. This new text gives advice and support in the carrying out of such real world research. The emphasis is on achieving rigour and trustworthiness in the enquiry through systematic procedures appropriate to the task. Particular features include an advocacy of multi-method case study as a serious research strategy alongside field experimentation and the survey; and an even-handed coverage of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Many real world studies are evaluations and their distinctive features are stressed. A final section covers issues in making an impact , including different approaches to reporting, the place of enquiry and promoting change, and the relative roles of practitioners and researchers.

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $3.25

  This successful text furnishes students with the skills necessary to conduct research outside the laboratory, in real world situations. For the second edition, the text has been thoroughly revised and updated to make it as useful as possible for teachers and students from a range of behavioral and social science disciplines. The features of this new edition include: Updated examples and references, and new examples drawn in from the fields of applied psychology, applied social science, health studies, social work and education. Greater emphasis on flexible designs using largely qualitative methods, including additional coverage of ethnographic and grounded theory approaches. Critical discussion of the place of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and statistical significance testing in fixed, quantitative design research. The quantitative analysis section is based around version 10 of SPSS, while the section on qualitative analysis is based around the NUD*IST software. It includes additional material on combining quantitative and qualitative approaches. The material is more clearly situated within theoretical conceptualizations of the nature of social science research, pointing to the advantages of a critical realist approach. It has more incorporation of tests and test theory. There are improvements to the pedagogical material such as the addition of a glossary and detailed cross-referencing across chapters.