Practical Problems in Research Methods: A Casebook with Questions for Discussion

by Estabrook Verdugo

Overview

• Each of the 53 cases presents a practical problem faced by a researcher and the solution he or she selected.

•The questions encourage students to evaluate the researcher’s solution and consider alternatives.

•All cases are drawn from the published literature. Your students will evaluate real problems faced by practicing researchers.

•All major topics in research methods are covered. Here are samples from the seven major sections of the book: •Sampling: Sampling Hispanic Adults by Telephone
•Measurement: Social Desirability
•Operational Definitions: Defining “Physical Abuse” of Children
•Procedures: Controlling the Distribution of a Questionnaire
•Experimental and Causal-Comparative Design: Forming Comparison
•Groups in Classroom Research on Reading
•Ethical Considerations: Prescreening Adolescents for Stress
•Interpretation of Results: Health Risk Behaviors of Adolescents

•The extensive instructor’s guide provides discussion points as well as samples of students’ answers obtained in the field tests.

•This supplementary book makes dry textbook principles come alive! Students learn that research is a dynamic process—that for many problems there are competing solutions, each with its own advantages and drawbacks.

•The 35 short cases are ideal for classroom discussions. The 18 longer ones make great homework assignments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781351969772
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	119
Sales rank:	227,890
File size:	537 KB

About the Author

Estabrook Verdugo

Table of Contents

SECTION I: Short Cases

Part A: Sampling

Case 1: Sampling Hispanic Adults by Telephone

Case 2: Using a Sample of Convenience

Case 3: Using Quota Sampling

Case 4: Using an Incentive to Increase Response Rate

Case 5: Obtaining a Sample of Psychotherapy Clients

Part B: Measurement

Case 6: Measuring the Attractiveness of Participants

Case 7: Measuring Social Desirability

Case 8: Measuring Students’ Distant Memories

Case 9: Evaluating an Acculturation Scale

Case 10: Determining the Validity of Self-Reports

Part C: Operational Definitions

Case 11: Defining “Physical Abuse” of Children

Case 12: Defining “Economic Well-Being”

Case 13: Defining “Substance Abuse” Among Pregnant Women

Case 14: Defining a “Social Interaction”

Case 15: Defining “Sex” in a National Survey

Part D: Procedures

Case 16: Controlling the Distribution of a Questionnaire in a Nutrition Study

Case 17: Identifying Duplicate Responses to an Anonymous Questionnaire

Case 18: Using a Simulated Setting to Evaluate Disciplinary Fairness Training

Case 19: Using Confederates in an Experiment

Case 20: Working with Severely Angry Participants

Part E: Experimental/Causal Comparative Designs

Case 21: Selecting Participants for a Comparison of Asian and White Americans

Case 22: Forming Experimental and Control Groups in a Study of Drug Prevention

Case 23: Forming Comparison Groups in Classroom Research on Reading

Case 24: Forming Comparison Groups for a Study of Postpartum Disorders

Case 25: Identifying Comparison Groups for a Study of Childhood Abuse

Part F: Protecting the Rights of Participants/Ethical Considerations

Case 26: Using Deception in a Study of Social Interactions

Case 27: Prescreening Adolescents for Stress

Case 28: Estimating HIV Rates Among Young Men

Case 29: Soliciting Professors for a Study of Their Intellect

Case 30: Hiding the Purpose of a Study from Employees

Part G: Interpretation of Results

Case 31: Interpreting Cause-and-Effect: Health Risk Behaviors of Adolescents

Case 32: Interpreting Results in Light of Social Desirability

Case 33: Evaluating Attrition in a Study on Hypnosis

Case 34: Interpreting Differences in Physical Victimization

Case 35: Interpreting Reported Differences in Husbands’ Marital Aggression

SECTION II: LONGER CASES

Case 36: Using Interviews to Measure Mothers’ Use of Physical Discipline
Descriptor: Measurement

Case 37: Defining Group Therapy Used with Elementary School Children
Descriptor: Operational Definition

Case 38: Getting Informed Consent for Research During an Emergency
Descriptor: Ethics

Case 39: Interpreting Data on Cigarette Smoking by Seventh Graders
Descriptor: Interpretation

Case 40: Encouraging Responses to a Mailed Survey
Descriptors: Sampling, Interpretation

Case 41: Interpreting Limitations in a Study of Childhood Cancer and Stress
Descriptors: Sampling, Interpretation

Case 42: Studying the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages to Minors
Descriptors: Sampling, Procedures, Ethics

Case 43: Identifying Heroin Addicts Who Falsify Information
Descriptors: Sampling, Measurement, Ethics

Case 44: Observing Children’s Aggressiveness on the Playground
Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics, Interpretation

Case 45: Introducing Participants to a Study on Lie Telling
Descriptors: Measurement, Operational Definitions, Procedures

Case 46: Measuring Sex-Role Stereotyping Among Children
Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics

Case 47: Studying Suicide Ideation and Acculturation Among Adolescents
Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics

Case 48: Encouraging Truthfulness in Telephone Interviews
Descriptors: Measurement, Interpretation

Case 49: Estimating the Credibility of Young Children’s Reports
Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics, Interpretation

Case 50: Designing an Experiment on Cross-Cultural Training
Descriptors: Measurement, Experimental Design, Ethics, Interpretation

Case 51: Designing an Experiment on Worrying Among the Elderly
Descriptors: Operational Definition, Experimental Design, Interpretation

Case 52: Designing an Experiment on Reducing the Risk of Bulimia
Descriptors: Operational Definition, Experimental Design

Case 53: Interpreting a “Natural Experiment” on Anonymous Testing for HIV
Descriptors: Causal Comparative Design, Interpretation