A Practical Introduction to Real-World Research: Getting the Job Done

by Loreen Wolfer

Overview

This practical text combines social research methods with coverage of statistical analysis to help students develop the applied research skills needed for future careers in public and private organizations, while also delivering a solid foundation for those going on to graduate school.

Throughout the book, the author offers a real-world example and then breaks it down into a decision tree, which helps lead students to a possible statistical decision (rather than starting with the statistic). This text gives students a toolbox of the most common and in-demand skills and demonstrates how those skills can be used to make the best research decisions. The book takes students through the entire real-world research process, from the formation of a research topic to measurement and sampling, to methods for gathering information and making sense of the data, and finally presenting to a non-academic audience in a way that "gets the job done."  

Resources for instructors and students are available on an accompanying website for the book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781544378282
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/15/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	580
File size:	81 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Loreen Wolfer received her PhD from Cornell University and is a Professor of Sociology in the Sociology / Criminal Justice department at the University of Scranton.  She is also the Chief Evaluator for the University of Scranton’s Center for the Analysis and Prevention of Crime.  As such, she has evaluated programs for the Federal Office of Probation, the Office of Youth and Family Services, and various county-level court sponsored programs.  Her other research interests include family and media studies. 

Table of Contents

Part I: Establishing the Issue
Chapter 1: Introduction to research
Chapter 2: Getting Started: Topics, Literature Reviews, and Hypotheses
Part II: Setting the Foundation for Observation
Chapter 3: Ethics in Research
Chapter 4: Measurement
Chapter 5: Sampling
Part III: Methods of Gathering Information
Chapter 6: Experiments
Chapter 7: Surveys
Chapter 8: Qualitative Approaches
Chapter 9: Evaluation Research
Part IV: Making Sense and Presenting the Information
Chapter 10: Preparing Quantitative Data
Chapter 11: Descriptive Statistics
Chapter 12: Confidence Intervals and One-Sample Hypothesis Testing
Chapter 13: Hypothesis Testing with Two or More Samples
Chapter 14: Finding the Degree of Association and Prediction
Chapter 15: Data Presentation and Writing Results
Chapter 16: Qualitative Analysis