How To Do Research: 15 Labs for the Social & Behavioral Sciences / Edition 1

by Jane F. Gaultney, Hannah D. (duBreuil) Peach

Overview

Designed to help students make the leap from learning about research to doing research, How To Do Research by Jane F. Gaultney and Hannah D. Peach provides an easy-to-understand walkthrough of the entire research process, from selecting a topic and conducting a literature review through presenting an APA-style paper or presentation. All of the 15 cross-disciplinary labs included are appropriate for use in the social, behavioral, and health sciences, and follow a consistent format: objective, description of a journal article, canned data, examples of what output should look like, pointers on interpreting the output, and a suggested activity for those who wish to collect their own data.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483385129
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	01/26/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Dr. Jane Gaultney is professor of Psychology and a faculty member of the Health Psychology Ph D Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has taught Research Methods for many years (never mind exactly how many), and uses the labs in this manual as teaching tools on a regular basis. She received a Ph D in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University. Her current research program looks at sleep and its association with cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes.

Table of Contents

PART I: Before You Collect Data
LAB 1. Finding a Topic, Finding Sources, and Critically Reading Appropriate Articles
Finding a Topic
What Are the Steps of a Research Project?
Tips for Finding Sources
How to Read an Article
Closure
If You Want to Go Further . . . Secondary Analyses of Large Data Sets Available Online
LAB 2: How to Write a Literature Review
The Literature Review
APA Style
If You Want to Go Further . . . Writing “Good”
LAB 3: After the Literature Review: Theory > Hypothesis > Design > Analysis > Results > Interpretation
The Logic Behind the Research
Theory > Hypothesis > Design > Analysis: Method Section
Theory > Hypothesis > Design > Analysis > Results
Theory > Hypothesis > Design > Analysis > Results > Interpretation
If You Want to Go Further . . . Cultural Considerations
Pick a Card, Any Card . . .
LAB 4: Ethics of Research
How to Treat Participants (Human or Otherwise)
The Ethics of Reporting Research
If You Want to Go Further . . . The Role of the IRB
Preparing a Proposal for the IRB
What to Expect Once Your Project Has Been Approved
PART II: Collecting Data - Research Designs and Tools
LAB 5: Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research: What Is It, and What Do You Do With It?
If You Want to Go Further . . . Content Analysis
What’s the Point of All This Qualitative Information? Development of a Grounded Theory
Communicating the Results
LAB 6: Case Studies and Single-Subject Designs
Case Study Versus Single-Subject Design
Who Uses Behavior Modification?
If You Want to Collect Your Own Data . . . It's All About You
If You Want To Go Further . . . Large-Scale Epidemiology: The Opposite Approach
LAB 7: Surveys
Types of Survey Questions
Writing the Method
If You Want To Collect Your Own Data . . .
Distributing the Survey
Informed Consent—Really, Really Important!
Producing the Abbreviated Lab Report
If You Want to Go Further . . . Developing the Survey
LAB 8: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
Descriptive Versus Inferential Statistics
Scales of Measurement
T-Test
Closure
If You Want to Go Further . . . More About Effect Size
Types of Effect Size Statistics
How Big Is Big Enough?
To Summarize
Reviewing What You've Learned: Answer Key
LAB 9: Correlational Design
Experimental Versus Non-Experimental
If You Want to Collect Your Own Data . . . Closure
If You Want to Go Further . . . Partial Correlations
LAB 10: Regression Analysis
A Step Up
Practice and Review
Summing Up
If You Want to Go Further . . . Hierarchical Regression
LAB 11: Two-Group Designs
The Two-Group Design
If You Want to Collect Your Own Data . . . Be the Participant
Levels of Processing Data
If You Want to Go Further . . . Chi-Squared Analysis
LAB 12: Multiple-Groups Designs
Going Beyond the Two-Group Design
If You Want to Collect Your Own Data . . . Cautions!
Putting It All Together
If You Want to Go Further . . . Categorical IVs and DVs in Regression
Coding Categorical Predictor Variables for Regression
Logistic Regression
LAB 13: Factorial Designs
Background
Are We There Yet?
More Practice With Interactions
If You Want to Go Further . . . More About Testing Interactions
What Happens With Categorical Predictors?
What Happens With Repeated-Measures Data?
Answers for More Practice With Interactions
PART III: After Collecting Data
LAB 14: Writing the Discussion Section, Sharing Your Findings Using a Poster or Oral Presentation
Discussion Section Checklist
Creating and Presenting a Poster
Preparing an Oral Presentation of Your Findings
Closure
If You Want to Go Further . . . The Publication Process: What to Expect When You’re Submitting
LAB 15: Tables and Figures
Tables
Figures
How Do I Create a Figure?
Using SPSS
If You Want to Collect Your Own Data . . .
If You Want to Go Further . . .
A Few More (Optional) Things
In Conclusion