TY  - BOOK
AU  - Kumar, Ranjit
TI  - Research methodology : a step-by-step guide for beginners
SN  - 8131704963
U1  - 001.42 
PY  - 2009///
CY  - Delhi
PB  - Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd.
N1  - CONTENTS Figures  xll Tables  xv Preface  xvii 1 Research: a way of thinking  1 Research: a way of examining your practice 2 Applications of research 4 Definitions of research 6 Characteristics of research 7 Types of research 8 Application 9 Objectives 10 Inquiry mode 12 Paradigms of research 13 Summary  14 2 The research process: a quick glance  15 The research process: an eight-step model 16 Steps in planning a research study 20 Step I: formulating a research problem 20 Step II: conceptualising a research design 20 Step III: constructing an instrument for data collection 22 Step IV: selecting a sample 23 Step V: writing a research proposal 23 Steps in conducting a study 24 Step VI: collecting data 24 Step VTI: processing data 24 Step VIII: writing a research report 25 Summary  25 Step I Formulating a research problem 27 3 Reviewing the literature 29 Place of literature review in research 30 Bring clarity and focus to your research problem 30 Improve your methodology 31 Broaden your knowledge base in your research area 31 Contextualise your findings 31 Procedure for reviewing the literature 31 Search for existing literature 32 Review the literature selected 35 Develop a theoretical framework 35 Develop a conceptual framework 37 Writing up the literature reviewed 37 Summary 38 4 Formulating a research problem 39 The research problem 40 The importance of formulating a research problem  40 Sources of research problems 41 Considerations in selecting a research problem 43 Steps in the formulation of a research problem 44 The formulation of objectives 50 Establishing operational definitions 51 Summary 53 5 Identifying variables 54 The definition of a variable 55 The difference between a concept and a variable 56 Concepts, indicators and variables 57 Types of variable 60 From the viewpoint of causation 60 From the viewpoint of the study design 63 From the viewpoint of the unit of measurement 64 Types of measurement scale 66 The nominal or classificatory scale 67 The ordinal or ranking scale 67 The interval scale 68 The ratio scale 70 Summary 71 6 Constructing hypotheses 72 The definition of a hypothesis 73 The functions of a hypothesis 74 The characteristics of a hypothesis 75 Types of hypothesis 76 Errors in testing a hypothesis 78 Summary 79 Step II Conceptualising a research design 81 7 The research design 83 The definition of a research design 84 The functions of a research design 84 Summary 91 8 Selecting a study design 92 Study designs based on the number of contacts 93 The cross-sectional study design 93 The before-and-after study design 95 The longitudinal study design 97 Study designs based on the reference period 98 The retrospective study design 99 The prospective study design 99 The retrospective-prospective study design 99 Study designs based on the nature of the investigation 100 The experimental study designs 101 Others-some commonly used study designs 108 Action research 108 Feminist research 110 The cross-over comparative experimental design 110 The replicated cross-sectional design 110 Trend studies 111 Cohort studies 112 Panel studies 112 Blind studies 113 Double-blind studies 113 Case studies 113 Summary 113 Step III Constructing an instrument for data collection 115 9 Selecting a method of data collection 117 Methods of data collection 118 Collecting data using primary sources 119 Observation 119 Types of observation 120 Problems with using observation as a method of data collection 120 Situations in which observation can be made 121 The recording of observation 121 The interview 123 Unstructured interviews 123 Structured interview 126 The questionnaire 126 Choosing between an interview schedule and a questionnaire 126 Different ways of administering a questionnaire 129 The contents of the covering letter 129 Advantages of a questionnaire 130 Disadvantages of a questionnaire 130 Advantages of the interview 131 Disadvantages of the interview 131 Forms of question 132 Advantages and disadvantages of open-ended questions 134 Advantages and disadvantages of closed-ended questions 135 Considerations in formulating questions 135 The construction of a research instrument 137 Asking personal and sensitive questions 138 The order of questions 140 Prerequisites for data collection 140 Collecting data using secondary sources 141 Problems with using data from secondary sources 141 Summary 142 10 Collecting data using attitudinal scales 143 Functions of attitudinal scales 144 Difficulties in developing an attitudinal scale 145 Types of attitudinal scale 145 The summated rating or Likert scale 145 The equal-appearing interval or Thurstone scale 150 The cumulative or Guttman scale 151 The relationship between attitudinal and measurement scales 151 Summary 151 11 Establishing the validity and reliability of a research instrument 152 The concept of validity 153 Types of validity 154 Face and content validity 154 Concurrent and predictive validity 155 Construct validity 155 The concept of reliability 156 Factors affecting the reliability of a research instrument 157 Methods of determining the reliability of an instrument 157 External consistency procedures 157 Internal consistency procedures 158 Summary 159 Step IV Selecting a sample 161 12 Sampling 163 The concept of sampling 164 The concept of sampling in qualitative research 165 Sampling terminology 165 Principles of sampling 166 Factors affecting the inferences drawn from a sample 168 Aims in selecting a sample 169 Types of sampling 169 Random/probability sampling designs 169 Non-random/non-probability sampling designs 177 'Mixed' sampling designs 180 The calculation of sample size 181 Summary 184 Step V Writing a research proposal 185 13 Writing a research proposal 187 The research proposal 188 Contents of a research proposal 188 Preamble/introduction 190 The problem 192 Objectives of the study 193 Hypotheses to be tested 194 Study design 195 The setting 197 Measurement procedures 198 Ethical issues 198 Sampling 198 Analysis of data 199 Structure of the report 201 Problems and limitations 202 Appendix 203 Work schedule 203 Summary 205 Step VI Collecting data 207 14 Considering ethical issues In data collection 209 Ethics 210 Stakeholders in research 211 Ethical issues concerning research participants 212 Collecting information 212 Seeking consent 212 Providing incentives 213 Seeking sensitive information 213 The possibility of causing harm to participants 214 Maintaining confidentiality 214 Ethical issues relating to the researcher 214 Avoiding bias 214 Provision or deprivation of a treatment 214 Using inappropriate research methodology 215 Incorrect reporting 215 Inappropriate use of information 215 Ethical issues regarding the sponsoring organisation 216 Restrictions imposed by the sponsoring organisation 216 The misuse of information 216 Summary 216 Step VII Processing data 217 15 Processing data 219 Editing data collected through structured inquiries (quantitative studies) 220 Editing data collected through unstructured interviewing  222 Coding data: introduction 222 Coding quantitative/categorical (qualitative and quantitative) data 224 Developing a code book 224 Pre-testing a code book 235 Coding the data 235 Verifying the coded data 240 Coding descriptive/quantitative data 240 Developing a frame of analysis for quantitative studies 241 Frequency distributions 242 Cross-tabulations 242 Constructing the main concepts 243 Statistical procedures 243 Developing a frame of analysis for qualitative studies 244 Analysing data 244 The role of computers in research 245 The role of statistics in research 245 Summary 246 16 Displaying data 247 Tables 248 Structure 248 Types of tables 250 Types of percentages 251 Graphs 252 The histogram 253 The bar chart 255 The stacked bar chart 255 The 100 per cent bar chart 255 The frequency polygon 256 The cumulative frequency polygon 258 The stem-and-leaf display 259 The pie chart 259 The line diagram or trend curve 260 The area chart 260 The scattergram 261 Summary 262 Step VIII Writing a research report 263 17 Writing a research report 265 Research writing in general 266 Referencing 266 Writing a bibliography 267 Developing an outline 267 Writing about a variable 269 Summary 271 18 Research methodology and practice evaluation 273 What is evaluation? 274 Why evaluation? 275 Intervention-development-evaluation process 277 Perspectives in the classification of evaluation studies 278 Types of evaluation from a focus perspective 280 Evaluation for planning a program/intervention 281 Process/monitoring evaluation 283 Impact/outcome evaluation 287 Cost-benefit/cost-effectiveness evaluation 291 Types of evaluation from a philosophical perspective 292 Goal-centered/objective-oriented evaluation 293 Consumer-oriented/client-centred evaluation 293 Improvement-oriented evaluation 293 Holistic/illuminative evaluation 293 Understanding an evaluation: the process 294 Involving stakeholders in evaluation 302 Ethics in evaluation 303 Summary 304 Appendix  Developing a research project-a set of exercises for beginners 305 References 323 Index 327
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