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The Research Experience
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The Research Experience
Planning, Conducting, and Reporting Research

Second Edition


August 2020 | 568 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
The Research Experience: Planning, Conducting and Reporting Research, Second Edition is the complete guide to the behavioral science research process. The book covers theoretical research foundations, guiding students through each step of a research project with practical instruction and help. The latest technological tools, such as SurveyMonkey®, Qualtrics®, and Amazon Mechanical Turk®, are included to show the increasing influence of the Internet to conduct studies and how research is conducted in the world today. Taking students through the process from generating ideas for research to writing and presenting findings helps them absorb and apply the material. With its practical emphasis and supporting pedagogy, students will be able to successfully design and execute a research project.

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Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Introduction
 
Chapter 1 Research, Biases in Thinking, and the Role of Theories
Why Research Matters

 
The Research Process: Humans Make Predictions

 
Heuristics and the Work of Kahneman and Tversky

 
Other Problems in Thinking

 
Doing Science as Tradition and Innovation

 
Research and the Value of Common Sense

 
Flexibility in Thinking

 
Theories: What They Are and Why They Matter

 
Ways in Which Theories May Differ: Scope and Parsimony

 
Making a Connection Between a Theory and a Good Research Question

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 2 Generating and Shaping Ideas: Tradition and Innovation
Overview

 
Ideas: Information Services, aka The Library

 
Ideas: Searching Effectively in the Library

 
Electronic Resources and Keywords

 
Keywords: The “Key” to Success

 
PsycINFO

 
Other Databases and Indexes in the Social Sciences

 
The Web and Peer Review

 
Particular Kinds of Articles

 
How Journals Differ: Issues Related to Quality

 
Open Access and Predatory Publishers

 
Publication Practices of Journals

 
Journal Articles Versus Book Chapters

 
Physically Obtaining an Article: A Closer Look at Databases

 
Summary of the Article Locator Search Process

 
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Systems and World Catalog (WorldCat)

 
What to Do With Your Articles (Read More Than the Abstract!)

 
The Introduction

 
The Method Section

 
The Results Section

 
The Discussion Section: Conflicts and Gaps

 
Keeping Track: ILL, Mendeley, and RefWorks

 
Confounding or Third Variables: Refining the Research Question and Closing the Research Gap

 
Time Pressure and Timelines

 
Academic Fraud and Steps Toward Transparency

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 3 Research Design Approaches and Issues: An Overview
Overview

 
Research Quality Affects Research Answers

 
What Research Can Tell You: The Continuum of Certainty

 
Correlation Versus Causation

 
Why Conduct Correlational Research?

 
The Language of Correlation and Causation

 
Correlational Research Approaches: Correlational and Quasi-Experimental

 
Hallmarks of True Experimental Approaches

 
Differentiation of Independent and Dependent Variables

 
Reframing a Research Idea

 
Type I Versus Type II Error

 
Type II Errors: Sample Size, Power, and Effect Size

 
Internal Validity

 
Behavior of the Experimenter and Demand Characteristics

 
Behavior of the Participant: Role Attitude

 
Single- and Double-Blind Approaches to Research

 
Cover Stories

 
Pilot Tests and Manipulation Checks

 
Summary of Additional Threats to Internal Validity

 
External Validity and Ecological Validity

 
Where Research Takes Place

 
Where Qualitative Research Takes Place

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 4 Ethics and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) Process
Overview

 
What Is the IRB, and Why Does It Exist?

 
History of Ethical Oversight

 
The APA Code of Ethics

 
What Is Research? What Are Human Subjects?

 
What Kinds of Projects Do Not Require IRB Review?

 
IRB Duties, Membership, and Levels of IRB Review

 
Deception

 
Components of the IRB Proposal

 
Informed Consent

 
Reasonable Person Standard

 
Debriefing

 
Children as a Vulnerable Population: Implications for Research

 
Ethics and Student Participation in Research: Alternatives to the Participant Pool

 
Offering Incentives in Research: Are Incentives Coercive?

 
The IRB Training Modules

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 5 Measurement: Qualities of Measures
Overview

 
The Concept of Measurement: Ideal Versus Real

 
The Purpose of Measures

 
Measurement Scale Types

 
Sensitivity of a Scale and Anchor Values

 
The Process of Identifying Measures: The Literature

 
Databases of Tests (PsycTESTS and HaPI)

 
Books of Measures

 
Department Resources and Professors

 
Catalogues of Measures and Fees Charged

 
Qualities of Measures: Reliability and Validity

 
The Importance of Computing Your Own Cronbach’s Alpha

 
Length and Difficulty of Measures

 
Instructions for Scoring

 
Names of Measures and Social Desirability Concerns

 
Qualifications for Use

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 6 Surveys: Developing Measures and Items
Overview

 
Developing Your Own Instrument

 
Scale Types and Flexibility in Answering Research Questions

 
The Order of Questions in a Survey

 
Online Survey Software Tools

 
Features of Online Survey Software Programs

 
Program Features

 
Google Docs Forms

 
Downloading Online Surveys Into SPSS

 
Survey Appearance

 
A Few Final Cautions (and Encouragements) About Online Survey Software

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 7 Correlational Research and Specialized Nonexperimental Designs
Overview

 
Correlational Research: General Characteristics

 
What Correlational Data Can Tell Us

 
Considerations of Internal and External Validity in Correlational Research

 
Drawbacks to Correlational Approaches

 
Correlational Design: Quasi-Experimental Design (i.e., Questions About Groups)

 
Statistics Used in Correlational Designs

 
Factor Analysis: Data Reduction for Correlations Among Multiple Variables

 
Specialized Nonexperimental Designs

 
Time-Series and Interrupted Time-Series Designs

 
Strengths and Weaknesses of This Approach

 
When Is This Approach Used?

 
Real-World Challenges: Postoccupancy Evaluation (POE)

 
Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Designs

 
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Longitudinal Approach

 
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Cross-Sectional Approach

 
Cohort-Sequential Design

 
Advantages of Using Multiple Methods

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 8 Qualitative Research
Overview

 
Qualitative Research

 
Qualitative Research and the Concept of Reflexivity

 
Acceptance of Qualitative Methodology in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

 
Qualitative Approaches to Research

 
How to Capture Behavior: Behavioral Categories

 
How Often and How Long to Observe

 
Calculation of Inter-rater Reliability (IRR)

 
Acceptable Values for Inter-rater Agreement

 
Participant and Nonparticipant Observation and Overt/Covert Observation

 
Ethnography: Extended Observation

 
Issues in Ethnography: Gaining Access

 
Initial Ethnographic Tours

 
Preserving Information

 
Grounded Theory

 
Phenomenology

 
Focus Groups

 
Interviews: Degrees of Structure

 
Recording or Not

 
Case Studies and Case Histories

 
Where Qualitative Meets Quantitative: Content Analysis

 
Summary of Steps in a Content Analysis

 
Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS)

 
Qualitative Research and the Emotional Self: A Final Consideration

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 9 Experimental Research: Between-Subjects Designs: Conceptual and Practical Considerations
Overview

 
Between-Subjects Designs: What Are They?

 
Characteristics of Between-Subjects Designs: Advantages and Disadvantages

 
Nomenclature Surrounding IVs

 
Sensitivity of IV

 
More on Power, Sample Size, and Power Calculations

 
Number of IVs and Interaction Effects

 
Evaluating an Interaction by Hand

 
Common Types of Between-Subjects Design

 
Matched Group Design

 
Multiple Comparisons

 
Handling Error Variance

 
Summary of Between-Subjects Design Considerations

 
Multiple Dependent Variables (DVs) in a Research Design

 
Practical Considerations: Finding and Creating IVs (Scenarios, Visual Images, Movie Clips, Auditory Clips)

 
Existing Literature: Method Section

 
Visual Images: Manipulating an Image

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
Project Update Form

 
 
Chapter 10 Experimental Research: Within-Subjects Mixed , and Pre–Post Designs: Conceptual and Practical Considerations
Overview

 
Characteristics of Within-Subjects Design: Advantages and Disadvantages

 
Types of Research Questions More Commonly Asked in Within-Subjects Designs

 
Counterbalancing

 
ABBA Order

 
Block Randomization

 
Simple and Complex Within-Subjects Designs

 
Adding Complexity to Within-Subjects Designs

 
Mixed Designs

 
Pre–Post Designs: Characteristics

 
Types of Pre–Post Designs

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 11 Recruiting Participants
Overview

 
Who Participates in Research: An Overview

 
The Participant Pool: The Workhorse of Social Science Research

 
The Drawbacks to Participant Pools: Concerns About Internal Validity

 
Limits on the Number of Participants Available From Unpaid Participant Pools

 
Keeping Track of Participants: Online Participant Management Systems

 
Practical Issues in Communicating About Recruiting

 
Research on Sensitive Topics and the Role of the IRB

 
Recruiting Off Campus

 
Using Your Personal Connections

 
Using Your Institution’s Connections

 
Bureaucracy

 
Vulnerable Populations in the Community

 
Physical Security Issues in Conducting Research Off Campus

 
Service Learning Courses and Recruiting Participants: Opportunities and Complications

 
Conflicts of Interest and Multiple Relationships

 
Dustin’s Dozen: Tips for Collecting Data in the Field

 
Identifying Information

 
Other Sources of Participants: The Online Approach

 
Online Use of Adverts (Advertisements) Versus Snowball Samples

 
Ethical Issues in Online Environments: The Facebook Emotional Contagion Study

 
Sampling

 
Nonresponse Bias and Threats to Internal Validity

 
Nonresponse and Nonresponse Bias

 
Response Rates and Reporting Them

 
Incentives: Practical Issues

 
Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk): The World Awaits

 
Questions of Validity in Using Amazon MTurk

 
Google Consumer Surveys

 
Online Paid Panels

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 12 Organizing Data and Analyzing Results
Overview

 
Paper and Online Surveys: An Overview

 
The Importance of Labeling

 
Labeling in a Data File and Deciding on a Coding System

 
Other Labeling Recommendations

 
Labeling Issues in Online Survey Software

 
Entering Individual Items Versus Item Totals

 
Backing Up Data

 
Dealing With Missing Data: Differing Points of View

 
Replacing Missing Data Through Single Value Imputation

 
Some Recommendations for Missing Data

 
Identifying Missing Data

 
Handling Out-of-Range Values

 
Handling Outliers

 
Manipulation Checks

 
Going Fishing and Other Data Dredging Practices

 
Ethics, Cleaning Up, and Reporting Your Data: Final Comments

 
Preliminary Analyses

 
Significance Levels and p Values: What Are They?

 
Transforming and Selecting Data: Useful Commands in SPSS

 
Summary of Data Organization Steps

 
Evaluating Your Hypotheses: Where to Begin

 
Making Use of Free Response Items

 
Additional Aids: Online Calculators and Word Clouds

 
Other Statistical Software

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
 
Chapter 13 Writing and Presenting Your Research
Overview

 
Writing: One Section at a Time

 
Writing: Avoiding Plagiarism

 
Writing: Bias-Free Language

 
The Writing Itself: Clear and Simple

 
The “Shape” of Your Paper

 
Title Page, Authorship, and Author Note

 
The Title of the Paper and Its Importance

 
The Abstract

 
The Introduction: Content

 
The Method Section

 
Writing About Results

 
Discussion

 
Nonsignificant Results: What Can You Say?

 
Statistical Versus Practical Significance

 
General Formatting Issues: Mastering APA Style

 
Presenting Numbers: The Short Story

 
Common Grammatical Mistakes

 
Creating Conference Presentations

 
Summary

 
Practice Quiz

 
Build Your Skills

 
Highly Recommended Papers

 
 
Appendices
 
Glossary
 
References

Supplements

SAGE Edge for Instructors
edge.sagepub.com/devlin2e

Online resources included with this text

The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site, which offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.
SAGE Edge for Students
edge.sagepub.com/devlin2e

The open-access Student Study Site makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime. It offers flashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts, as well as learning objectives that reinforce the most important material.

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“The material reflects current thinking in the field…This textbook does a very thoughtful job of organizing [tables and figures]. [A majority of my students are visual learners]…having all of the tables and figures is greatly appreciated…The focus on presentations and presenting the research is very helpful.”

“[This] textbook is very copious and thoughtful, without being overwhelming or patronizing…this textbook has a really nice balance and is comfortable to read. Additionally, the figures/tables are very helpful and are great for all learners, especially visual learners.”

Jeannie Stamatakis-Amess
Lincoln University

“[The key strengths of the text are] the style of writing, the examples, the depth of the information, [and] some chapters are beautifully organized and helpful, [such as writing your research].”

Michaela Porubanova
Farmingdale State College

Excellent text. Well-organized and accessible.

Dr Thomas Frederick
Online & Professional Studies, California Baptist University
March 30, 2021
Key features
NEW TO THIS EDITION:
  • Updated Ethics Chapter (Ch. 4) reflects the revised Common Rule governing research with human subjects.
  • This edition incorporates updates in the seventh edition of the APA Publication Manual, including Bias-Free Language and new citation and reference styles.
  • Separate chapters on Correlational and Nonexperimental Research and Qualitative Research give more depth to these designs as important fields of study.
  • Covers Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS) to show students all the information that needs to be provided about a project.
  • Includes an explanation of ABBA and randomized block designs for students to better understand options for specialized designs.
  • Updated information on SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, and statistics software packages provides students with the latest information for online research.
  • Practice Quizzes have been added to the end of each chapter to test student understanding.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Thorough coverage of research design and methods fundamentals emphasizes the practical issues involved in producing research projects and reports.
  • Coverage of current technological applications enables students to utilize the latest online tools for their research projects.
  • Attention to the kinds of errors in thinking that undermine the research process helps students understand how basic human tendencies such as heuristics influence the research process.
  • Practical information on finding resources and using library databases helps students get started on understanding the research landscape and developing their research question.
  • Three types of questions throughout every chapter include Revisit and Respond, Try This Now, and Build Your Skills to promote student learning.
  • Glossary callouts and in-text definitions help students understand the terminology of research methods.

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