by Amanda M. Rosen
We live in a world of information. The sheer wealth of data available to us is exciting but also overwhelming. How do we separate truth from fiction? Where do we look for reliable sources? What products are best and what studies are accurate? Which headlines can be trusted?
Table of contents:
Professor Biography......Page 3
Table of Contents......Page 5
Course Scope......Page 7
Lecture 1—Why Research Methods Matter......Page 9
Types of Research......Page 11
The Scientific Method of Research......Page 14
Lecture 2—Characteristics of Good Research......Page 18
Key Characteristics of Good Research......Page 19
Determining Whether Good Research Has Been Done......Page 23
Lecture 3—Doing Research Ethically......Page 26
The Nuremberg Code......Page 27
The Belmont Report......Page 29
Ethical Behavior of Researchers......Page 32
Institutional Review Boards......Page 33
Lecture 4—From Topic of Interest to Research Question......Page 36
Selecting a Topic......Page 37
Characteristics of Good Research Questions......Page 38
Tips on Writing a Good Research Question......Page 42
Lecture 5—What’s Already Known? The Literature Review......Page 44
What to Look For......Page 45
How to Find the Sources You Need......Page 47
Where to Look for Sources......Page 48
What to Do with Your Sources......Page 50
How to Draw and Present Your Conclusions......Page 52
Lecture 6—Generating Hypotheses and Theories......Page 54
Theories......Page 55
Hypotheses......Page 56
How to Write a Strong Hypothesis......Page 58
Lecture 7—Selecting a Research Design......Page 63
Quantitative Approaches to Research......Page 64
Qualitative Approaches to Research......Page 66
Choosing the Best Research Design for Your Project......Page 69
Lecture 8—Measuring Concepts and Phenomena......Page 73
Measurement......Page 74
Lecture 9—Choosing Populations, Samples, and Cases......Page 81
Samples, Populations, and Cases......Page 82
Sampling Problems......Page 84
Sample Size......Page 85
Sampling Methods......Page 86
Lecture 10—The Classic Experiment......Page 90
Features of True Experiments......Page 91
Validity......Page 94
Designs for True Experiments......Page 97
Lecture 11—The Value of Quasi Experiments......Page 100
True Experiments versus Quasi Experiments......Page 101
Types of Quasi-Experimental Designs......Page 102
Lecture 12—Designing and Conducting a Survey......Page 108
Types of Surveys......Page 109
Writing Survey Questions......Page 113
Lecture 13—Understanding Election Polls......Page 118
Unscientific Polls......Page 119
The 5 Rules of Good Polling......Page 121
Transparency in Poll Reporting......Page 124
Lecture 14—Research by Case Study......Page 127
The Single Case Study......Page 128
When a Case Study Is Useful for Your Research......Page 130
Type of Data to Use in a Case Study......Page 131
Categories of Cases......Page 133
Lecture 15—Interpretivism and Field Research......Page 136
Field Research......Page 138
Interviews......Page 140
Observation......Page 144
Lecture 16—Applied, Evaluative, and Action Research......Page 147
Evaluation Research......Page 148
Action Research......Page 151
Market and Product Research......Page 155
Lecture 17—Gathering and Preparing Data......Page 157
Assessing Your Data......Page 158
Preparing and Coding Your Data......Page 162
Statistical Data Analysis......Page 165
Lecture 18—Using Statistics to Interpret Data......Page 168
Central Tendency......Page 169
Variation......Page 171
Frequency......Page 172
Distributions and Z-Scores......Page 173
Lecture 19—Statistical Inferences from Data......Page 176
Z-Tests......Page 179
ANOVA......Page 183
Lecture 20—Assessing Correlation and Causation......Page 186
Correlation versus Causation......Page 187
Scatterplots......Page 189
Correlation Coefficients......Page 192
Lecture 21—From Bivariate to Multivariate Analysis......Page 194
Cross-Tabulation Tables......Page 195
Chi-Squared Tests......Page 196
Linear Regression......Page 197
Lecture 22—Foundations of Qualitative Analysis......Page 203
Qualitative versus Quantitative Analysis......Page 204
When to Use Qualitative Methods of Analysis......Page 207
A Basic Approach to Qualitative Analysis......Page 208
Lecture 23—Qualitative Analysis Variations......Page 211
Grounded Theory......Page 212
Other Qualitative Approaches......Page 215
Lecture 24—The Art of Presenting Your Findings......Page 219
How to Craft a Formal Research Report......Page 220
Front Matter......Page 221
Introduction......Page 222
Literature Review......Page 223
Theory......Page 224
Discussion of Results......Page 225
References......Page 226
Sharing Your Findings......Page 227
Quiz......Page 229
Answers and Explanations......Page 238
Bibliography......Page 250
Image Credits......Page 261
