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Real world research is a common responsibility of professionals and practitioners in a wide range of both public and private settings. These include teachers, social workers and health service professionals, managers and specialists in business, architects, designers, criminologists and accountants among many others.
Real World Research provides a clear route-map of the various steps needed to carry out a piece of applied research to a high professional standard. It is accessible to those without a social science background while providing rigorous and fully up-to-date coverage of contemporary issues and debates. It brings together materials and approaches from different social science disciplines, seeing value in both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as their combination in mixed-method designs.
Colin Robson's bestselling textbook is essential reading for many higher education courses, at both undergraduate, taught postgraduate and doctoral level, as well as practitioners and others carrying out research as part of their job. A very extensive website, which is closely keyed in to the text, provides additional resources including copious examples of research and further discussion of research issues, links to other useful resources and selected journal articles, annotated lists of further reading and an extensive set of PowerPoint slides.
List of contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
Ways of using the book
The main steps when carrying out a project
PART I: SETTING THE SCENE
Introduction
Approaches to Social Research
PART II: PLANNING: SELECTING A STRATEGY
Developing Your Ideas
General Design Issues
Fixed Designs
Flexible Designs
Multi-Strategy (Mixed Method) Designs
Designs for Particular Purposes: Evaluation, Action and Change
Ethical and Political Considerations
PART III: TACTICS: THE METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
Surveys and Questionnaires
Interviews and Focus Groups
Tests and Scales
Observational Methods
Additional Methods of Data Collection
Writing a Project Proposal
PART IV: CARRYING OUT THE PROJECT: ARRANGING THE PRACTICALITIES
PART V: DEALING WITH THE DATA
The Analysis and Interpretation of Quantitative Data
The Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data
Writing and Conducting Desk-based Research
Reporting and Disseminating
PART VI THE REALTY OF RESEARCH
The Current Climate: Funding, Austerity, Ethics and Policy
Appendix A: Using Specialist Software for Quantitative Analysis
Appendix B: Using Specialist Software for Qualitative Analysis
Glossary
References and Author Index
Subject Index
Summary
Real world research is a common responsibility of professionals and practitioners in a wide range of both public and private settings. These include teachers, social workers and health service professionals, managers and specialists in business, architects, designers, criminologists and accountants among many others.
Real World Research provides a clear route-map of the various steps needed to carry out a piece of applied research to a high professional standard. It is accessible to those without a social science background while providing rigorous and fully up-to-date coverage of contemporary issues and debates. It brings together materials and approaches from different social science disciplines, seeing value in both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as their combination in mixed-method designs.
Colin Robson's bestselling textbook is essential reading for many higher education courses, at both undergraduate, taught postgraduate and doctoral level, as well as practitioners and others carrying out research as part of their job. A very extensive website, which is closely keyed in to the text, provides additional resources including copious examples of research and further discussion of research issues, links to other useful resources and selected journal articles, annotated lists of further reading and an extensive set of PowerPoint slides.
