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A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research Tools and Techniques

by: Sommer, Barbara and Robert

A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research Tools and Techniques

by: Sommer, Barbara and Robert

ISBN 13:
9780195067125
ISBN 10:
0195067126
Edition: 3rd
Format: Hardcover
Copyright: 02/28/1991
Publisher: Oxford University Press
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Summary

The fifth edition of this popular research methods book emphasizes a hands-on, multimethod, interdisciplinary approach to behavioral research. In this book, research is seen not as a remote activity of a white-coat priesthood, but as an approach that can be used by people in many fields tosolve immediate problems and increase understanding of human behavior. Numerous examples from different nations are provided throughout.

Boxes	p. xvii
Preface	p. xix
Multimethod Approach	p. 1
What Is Behavioral Research?	p. 1
Theory and Research	p. 2
Validity and Reliability	p. 3
Why Do Behavioral Research?	p. 4
Specific Methods	p. 5
Multimethod Approach	p. 6
General Laws and Local Conditions	p. 9
Practical Experience	p. 10
Summary	p. 11
Ethics in Behavioral Research	p. 13
Protecting the Welfare of Research Participants	p. 15
Issues of Scientific Misconduct	p. 19
Psychologists' Code of Ethics	p. 21
Anthropologists' and Sociologists' Code of Ethics	p. 26
Local Procedures	p. 27
Summary	p. 27
Search the Technical Literature	p. 30
Using a College Library	p. 31
Source Credibility	p. 31
What to Look for in a Research Article	p. 35
Finding References	p. 35
How Far to Search?	p. 37
Meta-Analysis	p. 38
Searching the World Wide Web	p. 38
What to Save from the Search	p. 42
Getting Your Hands on the Materials	p. 43
Additional Resources	p. 44
Summary	p. 45
Observation	p. 47
Casual Observation	p. 48
Systematic Observation	p. 50
Video Recording	p. 54
Qualitative Approaches	p. 55
Equipment	p. 60
Limitations	p. 60
Summary	p. 61
Mapping and Trace Measures	p. 63
Mapping	p. 63
Trace Measures	p. 75
Summary	p. 79
Experimentation	p. 82
The Special Nature of the Experiment	p. 83
Variables	p. 85
Generating Hypotheses	p. 86
Experimental Control	p. 88
Doing an Experiment	p. 93
Types of Experiments	p. 93
Equipment	p. 98
Using the Internet	p. 99
Limitations	p. 101
Summary	p. 101
Simulation	p. 103
What Is a Simulation?	p. 104
Environmental Simulations	p. 104
Games	p. 105
Role-playing Exercises	p. 107
General Comments	p. 108
Limitations	p. 108
Summary	p. 109
Interview	p. 111
Uses and Types of Interviews	p. 113
How to Interview	p. 116
Analyzing the Results	p. 128
Reporting Interview Results	p. 129
Limitations	p. 129
Focus Groups	p. 131
Summary	p. 132
The Questionnaire	p. 135
Questionnaire Construction	p. 136
Pretesting	p. 144
Reproducing the Questionnaire	p. 146
Distributing the Forms	p. 146
Mail Surveys	p. 147
Scoring	p. 151
Interpretation	p. 152
Describing Survey Results	p. 154
Comparison of Interviews and Self-administered Questionnaires	p. 155
Internet Surveys	p. 155
Limitations	p. 156
Summary	p. 157
Attitude and Rating Scales	p. 159
What Is a Scale?	p. 159
Rating Scales	p. 160
Levels of Measurement	p. 160
Attitude Scales	p. 162
Semantic Differential	p. 165
Performance Rating Scales	p. 169
Consumer Rating Scales	p. 170
Sensory Evaluation	p. 172
Summary	p. 174
Content Analysis	p. 177
Quantification in Content Analysis	p. 177
Uses	p. 178
Finding Categories	p. 180
Sampling	p. 183
Analyzing Recorded Data	p. 184
Reliability	p. 185
Limitations	p. 185
Summary	p. 186
Personal Documents and Archival Measures	p. 188
Personal Documents	p. 188
Life Histories	p. 194
Archival Measures	p. 197
Summary	p. 200
Case Study	p. 202
Advantages of a Case Study	p. 203
Choosing a Topic	p. 204
Unusual Individuals	p. 205
Obtaining Cooperation	p. 206
Cross-verification	p. 207
Limitations	p. 209
Summary	p. 209
Action Research	p. 211
Trade-offs	p. 212
Self-survey	p. 212
Other Techniques	p. 212
Steps in Action Research	p. 213
Why Action Research Is Different	p. 215
Tower or Swamp?	p. 216
Summary	p. 216
The Big Fuzzies: Research on Difficult-To-Define Concepts	p. 218
Positive Psychology	p. 219
A Word on Qualitative Research	p. 220
Summary	p. 221
Standardized Tests and Inventories	p. 224
What Is a Test?	p. 224
Test Reliability and Validity	p. 225
Using Tests and Inventories	p. 226
Locating Suitable Tests	p. 228
Obtaining the Tests	p. 229
Constructing a Test	p. 230
Projective Tests	p. 232
Limitations	p. 232
Summary	p. 233
Sampling	p. 235
Types of Samples	p. 236
How Large a Sample?	p. 240
Gaining Access	p. 241
Measuring Nonrespondent Bias	p. 241
Describing the Method of Sampling	p. 242
Limitations	p. 242
Summary	p. 243
Descriptive Statistics	p. 245
Descriptive Statistics for Categorical Measures	p. 246
Descriptive Statistics for Continuous Measures	p. 247
Figures	p. 253
Statistical Tabulations and Analyses	p. 256
Summary	p. 258
Inferential Statistics	p. 261
First, Some Background	p. 262
Statistical Tests for Continuous Data	p. 264
A Statistical Test for Categorical Data: Chi-square	p. 274
Correlation	p. 278
Presenting the Results of Statistical Tests	p. 283
Effect Size	p. 283
Limitations of This Chapter	p. 284
Summary	p. 284
Writing and Reviewing a Research Report	p. 290
Article for a Scientific Journal	p. 291
Technical Reports	p. 299
Writing a Critique	p. 301
Summary	p. 304
After the Report	p. 305
Feedback to Participants	p. 306
Further Research	p. 306
Publishing the Findings	p. 307
Other Publication Outlets	p. 309
Application	p. 310
News Releases	p. 312
Professional Meetings	p. 312
Summary	p. 315
Concluding Notes	p. 317
Helpful Hints	p. 317
Critical Values	p. 321
Critical Values for t Test	p. 321
Critical Values for Chi-square Test	p. 322
Critical Values for Pearson Product-moment Correlation Coefficient (r)	p. 323
Critical Values for Spearman Rank-order Coefficient (r[subscript s])	p. 324
Abridged Table of Random Numbers	p. 325
Critical Values of F	p. 326
Statistical Tests	p. 328
Calculation of a t Test for Matched Scores	p. 328
Calculation of a One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)	p. 329
Computation of the Pearson Product-moment Coefficient (r)	p. 331
Computation of the Spearman Rank-order Coefficient (r[subscript s])	p. 333
Using Computer Software for Data Analysis	p. 334
List Comparisons, Contrasts, and Correlations	p. 335
Data Entry	p. 335
Data Analysis	p. 337
Avoid Blind Analysis	p. 338
Example of a Manuscript Prepared According to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association	p. 340
Example of Style Used for a Technical Report	p. 354
Glossary	p. 360
Name Index	p. 371
Subject Index	p. 376
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research Tools and Techniques

A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research Tools and Techniques

9780195067125

0195067126

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research Tools and Techniques

A Practical Guide to Behavioral Research Tools and Techniques

9780195067125

0195067126

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

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