Real World Research - Colin Robson

. .

Résumé :

Provides students and practitioner alike with clear and systematic guidance on performing social research in applied settings

Real World Research supplies the multidisciplinary skills necessary to conduct social research projects inside and outside of the classroom or the workplace. Offering well-balanced coverage of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, this highly practical resource incorporates approaches from different social science disciplines to help readers find answers to real-life research questions in healthcare, education, business and management, and in many other public and private settings. Detailed yet accessible chapters include step-by-step advice for developing a research question, choosing a research design strategy, collecting and analyzing the data, interpreting and reporting the results, and more.

The fifth edition contains timely coverage of contemporary methodologies, key ethical issues, and ongoing debates within the field of social research. New and expanded sections address topics such as evidence?based approaches to social research, ethical considerations when conducting research involving people, carrying out projects based solely on existing research, and the importance and implications of internet-based research. Featuring a wealth of up-to-date examples drawn from a wide range of disciplines, this classic textbook:

• Focuses on useful real-world research in applied settings such as homes, schools, businesses, and other workplaces
• Provides a concise overview and a well-defined example of each main step of the research process
• Highlights the importance of collaboration, cooperation, and active participation in social research
• Explains flexible research designs using largely qualitative methods, including additional coverage of ethnographic and grounded theory approaches
• Includes an extensive companion website with numerous research examples, links to journal articles, PowerPoint slides, and many other additional resources

Real World Research, Fifth Edition, remains essential reading for those tasked with developing, performing, and reporting the findings of a research project, including students, academics and educators, social scientists, health practitioners, and professionals in a diverse range of fields....

Biographie:

Colin Robson is Emeritus Professor, School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK. He is the former Chief Consultant of the Education of Children with Difficulties, Disabilities and Disadvantages project at the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Paris, France. Professor Robson is the author of several books including Experiment, Design and Statistics in Psychology and Small-Scale Evaluation: Principles and Practice....

Sommaire:

Acknowledgments xiv

Preface xv

Why a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings? xvii

Ways of using the book xviii

The main steps in carrying out a project xx

The readership for this book xxi

About the companion website xxiv

Part I Setting the Scene 1

Keeping a project diary 2

Chapter 1 What is real-world research? 5

What is real-world research? 5

Leaving the laboratory 7

Research evidence and real-world experience 8

Evaluation and change 8

Participation and collaboration 9

Ethical and political issues 10

Returning to the real world 10

Why do research in the real world? 12

Website examples 13

Beginning the journey 14

Chapter 2 Approaches to social research 18

What is science? 20

Postmodernism and extreme relativist approaches 22

The two traditions: Quantitative and qualitative social research 23

The quantitative paradigm 26

The qualitative paradigm 29

Paradigms and research questions 31

A pragmatic approach 33

Mixed research designs 35

Realism and real-world research 35

Working in open systems 42

The purposes of research 44

Practical value of the theoretical material covered in the chapter 46

Part II Planning: Selecting a Strategy 55

Chapter 3 Developing your ideas 57

Design matters 57

Deciding on the focus of a project 60

Searching and reviewing the literature 65

Research questions 73

Developing your research question(s) 78

The place of theory 81

Chapter 4 General design issues 92

A framework for research design 93

Getting a feel for design issues 96

Choosing a research design strategy 97

Establishing trustworthiness 103

Chapter 5 Desk-based research 106

Types of desk-based research 107

Doing a literature review as a desk-based project 116

The main steps to take in carrying out a literature review as a desk-based project 117

Doing a systematic review 121

Doing a realist review 126

In summary 129

Chapter 6 Fixed designs 135

General features of fixed designs 137

Establishing trustworthiness in fixed-design research 139

True experiments 158

Quasi-experiments 163

Single-case experiments 172

Non-experimental fixed designs 178

Sample size in fixed designs 183

Chapter 7 Flexible designs 190

General features of flexible designs 191

Research traditions in qualitative research 194

Case studies 195

Ethnographic studies 201

Grounded theory 206

Other approaches 210

Sampling in flexible designs 210

Establishing trustworthiness in flexible-design research 213

Chapter 8 Mixed designs 223

The quantitative-qualitative incompatibility thesis 224

The mixed? methods movement 225

Types of mixed designs 226

Designing and carrying out mixed? design research 229

Pragmatism, realism or 'anything goes'? 232

Dealing with discrepancies in findings 233

Concluding comments 235

Chapter 9 Designs for particular purposes: Evaluation, action, participation and change 239

Evaluation 240

Action research 255

Intervention and change 259

Researchers and practitioners 260

Chapter 10 Ethical and political considerations 268

Ethical codes and guidelines 271

Ethical issues 273

Researcher safety and risk 285

Working with vulnerable groups 287

General ethical res...