How to do your research project : a guide for students in education and applied social sciences / Gary Thomas.

CW068

Previous edition: 2009.

CW017

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Your introduction : starting points -- Preparing : project management, ethics and getting clearance -- The literature review -- Decide on your question -- again -- Methodology, part 1 : deciding on an approach -- Methodology, part 2 : the design frame -- The right tools for the job : data gathering -- How to analyse the information you gather -- Concluding and writing up.

[Part 1: Your introduction: starting points] Question: Where do I begin? Answer: Begin at the beginning, with an introduction -- Doing the BIS -- Thinking of a research idea -- Purposes of research -- Moving on to research questions -- Kinds of question-and some nutshell-sized studies and their implications -- Descriptive or explanatory questions? -- A research question-or a hypothesis? -- Coming up with a question -- Is it feasible? Problems with research questions -- Prima facie questions -- Kinds of evidence and kinds of answer -- A title -- What research is-and what it isn't -- Overview -- Checklist -- Further reading.

[Part 2: Preparing: project management, ethics and getting clearance] Understanding tie structure of your dissertation or thesis -- Drawing a timeline -- Just look at those fingernails! Time management -- Stresses in doing research -- Working with your supervisor -- The importance of being ethical -- Getting clearance - ethical review -- What to think about in considering ethics -- Access -- Overview -- Checklist -- Further reading.

[Part 3: The literature review] Primary and secondary sources -- Quality of sources -- Your literature review should tell a story - it should not be a list -- Making it a story -- Speed reading and taking notes -- Critical awareness: be your own Jeremy Paxman -- Click on 'Search': finding information -- Reference managers -- Hints on searching - separating the wheat from the chaff -- Understanding how sources are cited: the Harvard referencing system -- Taking notes and quotes -- Overview -- Checklist -- Further reading.

[Part 4: Decide on your question - again] Seeing the wood for the trees -- From storyboard to storyline -- Your final question -- Theory -- Overview -- Checklist -- Further reading.

[Part 5: Methodology Part 1: deciding on an approach] Research design -- Research approach -- Frameworks for thinking about the social world - paradigms -- Paradigms and research approach -- From purposes to questions to approaches to data gathering -- Overview -- Checklist.

[Part 6: Methodology Part 2: the design frame] Some general issues in design -- Sampling -- Variables -- Reliability -- Validity -- Experimenter effects -- Generalisation and generalisability -- Positionality -- Triangulation -- The design frames -- Action research -- Case study -- Ethnography -- Evaluation -- Experiment -- Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies - and surveys -- Comparative study -- No design frame -- Can I mix design frames and methods? -- Postmodernism -- How to structure and write your methodology chapter -- Overview -- Checklist -- Further reading.

[Part 7: The right tools for the job: data gathering] Tools and methods -- Be creative -- Data-gathering tools mainly for use with words -- Interviews -- Accounts -- Diaries -- Group interviews and focus groups -- Document interrogation -- Data-gathering tools - for use with words and/or numbers -- Questionnaires -- Observation -- Gathering image-based data -- Data-gathering tools - mainly for use with numbers -- Measurements and tests -- Official statistics -- Overview -- Checklist -- Further reading.

[Part 8: How to analyse the information you gather] Network analysis -- Construct mapping and theme mapping -- Grounded theory -- Thick description -- Discourse and content analysis -- Computers and verbal data analysis -- Sociograms -- Analysing numbers -- Kinds of numbers -- Eyeballing -- Using Excel to do your data analysis -- Statistics that describe -- Statistics that help you understand a relationship between two variables -- Statistics that help you to deduce (or infer) -- Discussing your analysis -- Analysis and synthesis -- Drawing out 'theory' -- Overview -- Checklist -- Further reading.

[Part 9: Concluding and writing up] Writing a conclusion -- Writing up -- Writing an abstract and finalising the title -- General points about writing and presentation -- Coda -- Checklist -- Further reading.

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