PART I: The Fundamentals The Nature, Tools, and Ethics of Research PART II: Focusing Your Research Efforts The Problem: The Heart of the Research ProcessReview of the Related LiteraturePlanning a Research ProjectWriting a Research Proposal PART III: Research Designs Descriptive ResearchExperimental, Quasi-Experimental, and Ex Post Facto DesignsQualitative Research MethodsMixed-Methods DesignsAction Research and Participatory Designs PART IV: Data Analyses Analyzing Quantitative DataAnalyzing Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Data PART V: Research Reports Planning and Preparing a Final Research Report Appendices Using a Spreadsheet: Microsoft ExcelUsing SPSSTwo Examples of a Dissertation Outline

Hallmark Features Practical Applications, Guidelines and Checklists help students enhance their research skills by translating abstract concepts and ideas into specific strategies and explicit criteria.Conceptual Analysis exercises allow readers to practice applying chapter content to short scenarios.Analysis of a Student Research Report features provide examples of annotated, student-written dissertations or other research reports written by actual students. Readers have the opportunity to see their peers’ rationales as they perform research and successfully complete their papers.In-depth illustrative examples of particular research designs and various data collection and data-analysis strategies are drawn from diverse academic disciplines.

New and Updated Features UPDATED: Focus on the ethics of research and biases that might adversely affect the quality of a research project. Ethics and bias topics are introduced in Chapter 1 and related issues are further discussed in Chapters 4 and 6 through 13.NEW: Discussions of open science practices in Chapters 5 and 13.UPDATED: Discussion of action research and participatory designs in Chapter 10.UPDATED: Technology-based strategies include new software options and current technological tools for planning a research project, collecting and analyzing data, and reporting and disseminating the findings.NEW/UPDATED: Pedagogy guides readers through the material, including new Learning Objectives, end-of-chapter Summaries, illustrative examples of particular research methodologies, and 5 additional Conceptual Analysis features. The LMS-Compatible Assessment Bank streamlines assignments and grading NEW: Quizzes, application exercises and chapter tests are included in an LMS-compatible packaged file. Learning Objective Quizzes, written by the author, are assignable for each chapter learning objective. Questions include feedback for the correct answer and for each distractor. Application Exercises give students more opportunities to apply what they have learned. Each exercise includes a model response written by the author.