Doing your research project : a guide for first-time researchers in education, health and social science /
Judith Bell.
- 4th ed.
- Maidenhead, England ; New York : Open University Press, 2005.
- xv, 267 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
Previous ed.: Buckingham: Open University Press, 1999.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [251]-260) and index.
Preface to the fourth edition -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- PART I -- Preparing the ground -- 1 Approaches to research -- Action research and the role of practitioner researchers -- Case study -- Survey -- The experimental style -- Ethnography and the ethnographic style of research -- The grounded theory approach -- Narrative inquiry and stories -- Which approach? -- Further reading -- 2 Planning the project -- Selecting a topic -- Getting started -- Hypotheses, objectives and researchable questions -- Working title and the project outline -- Timing -- Supervision -- Student -supervisor relationships -- Codes of practice for supervision -- Change of supervisor -- Keeping records of supervisory tutorials -- The research experience -- Planning the project checklist -- Further reading -- 3 Ethics and integrity in research -- Research contracts, codes of practice, protocols and the principle of informed consent -- Ethics committees -- Confidentiality and anonymity -- Ethical research in practice and the problems of 'inside' research -- Codes of ethical practice relating to intellectual ownership/property -- The ethics and integrity in research checklist -- Further reading -- 4 Reading, referencing and the management of information -- Reading -- Note-taking and guarding against plagiarism -- Referencing -- Creating, editing and storing references electronically -- The management of information -- A lot of fuss about nothing? -- Reading, referencing and the management of information checklist -- Further reading -- 5 Literature searching -- The library search -- Computer literature searching -- Devising a search strategy -- The critical examination of evidence -- To conclude -- Top ten guide to searching the Internet -- Electronic sources of information -- Databases, books, journal articles (and a few other resources) -- Libraries -- Citations and references -- Health and ethics -- 6 The review of the literature -- The 'critical review' of the literature -- Theory and theoretical (or conceptual) frameworks -- The 'critical review' in practice -- Reviewing the reviews -- Remember! -- The review of the literature checklist -- Further reading. PART III -- Interpreting the evidence and reporting the findings Introduction -- 12 Interpreting the evidence and reporting the findings -- List questions -- Quantity and category questions Grids Scales -- Verbal questions Conclusions -- Interpreting the evidence and reporting the findings checklist -- Further reading -- 13 Writing the report -- Getting started -- Structuring the report -- The need for revision -- Any possibility of plagiarism? -- Evaluating your own research -- Writing the report checklist -- Further reading -- Postscript -- References -- Index.
"We all learn to do research by actually doing it, but a great deal of time and effort can be wasted and goodwill lost by inadequate preparation. This book provides first-time researchers with the tools they need to establish good research habits and avoid some of the pitfalls and time-wasting false trails. It takes researchers from the stage of choosing a topic through to the production of a well-planned, methodologically sound, and well-written final report or thesis. It is written in plain English and makes no assumptions about previous knowledge." "This book is a guide to good practice for beginner researchers in any discipline embarking on undergraduate or postgraduate study, and for professionals in fields such as social science, education and health."--Jacket.