Acknowledgments ix
List of Boxes x
List of Figures and Tables xi
About the Website xiii
Chapter 1: Introduction: Start Your Research Journey 1
What Is Research? 1
What Type of Research Project Do You Have? 3
What Are the Procedures for Scientific Research? 6
Will There Be Bends and Detours in the Research Process? 6
How to Embark on Your Research Journey 7
How Will This Book Help You? 11
How Is This Book Organized? 12
Chapter 2: Topic Selection: Getting Started 15
Where Can You Start to Find a Good Topic? 15
How Can You Narrow Down Your Topic? 18
What Topic Is Appropriate for Your Research? 20
How Do You Know the Topic You Selected Is a Good Topic? 24
Can You Change Your Topic? 25
Exercises for Chapter 2 26
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 2 30
Chapter 3: Searching for Information 31
What Is Valid and Reliable Information? 31
What Do You Need to Prepare Before Searching for Information? 32
Should You Search in Libraries or on the Internet? 34
What Different Sources Are Available? 35
How Do You Go about Doing Library Research? 38
How Do You Conduct a Search Using Journal Article Databases? 43
How Do You Keep Organized Records of the Information Found? 50
How Do You Use the Information You Found? 53
Exercises for Chapter 3 54
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 3 57
Chapter 4: Reviewing the Literature 58
What Is a Literature Review? 59
Why Do You Need a Literature Review? 59
What Does the Literature Review Entail? 60
How to Sort Your Literature 61
How Do You Read Your Literature and Take Notes? 63
How Do You Evaluate and Synthesize Your Reviewed Literature? 64
How Do You Write Your Literature Review? 67
Exercises for Chapter 4 72
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 4 80
Chapter 5: Research Questions and Methods 81
What Are Your Research Questions? 81
What Are the Goals of Your Research? 84
What Method Should You Use in Your Research? 86
How Do You Use Theory in Your Research? 94
Are Ethical Matters Important in Your Research? 96
What Ethical Issues Should You Pay Attention To? 97
Exercises for Chapter 5 100
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 5 104
Chapter 6: Steps of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Designs 105
What Are Your Independent and Dependent Variables? 106
How Do You Select a Sample to Study from Your Target Population? 107
What Is an Acceptable Sample Size for Surveys? 108
How Do You Turn Your Concepts into Variables in Surveys? 110
What Are Levels of Measurement and Why Do They Matter? 111
What Do You Need to Know about Qualitative Research Designs? 116
How Do You Construct Your Interview Questions? 116
How Do You Select People for Interviews? 119
What Should You Do to Have Productive Interviews? 121
What Other Qualitative Data Collection Methods Can You Consider? 123
Exercises for Chapter 6 126
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 6 132
Chapter 7: Writing a Research Proposal 133
What Should You Include in Your Research Proposal? 134
Do You Need a Title for Your Proposal? 134
What Should You Write in Your Introduction? 135
What Should You Write in Your Literature Reviews? 136
What Should You Write about Your Research Methods? 139
What Else Do You Include in Your Proposal? 140
What Format Should You Use to List the References? 142
What Writing Styles Are Appropriate for Research Proposals? 143
Incorporating Feedback from Faculty Supervisors 143
Exercises for Chapter 7 145
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 7 149
Chapter 8: Practical Issues While Carrying Out Research 150
Do You Have to Get Your Research Project Approved by Your University? 151
How Can You Carry Out Your Data Collection Effectively? 152
What Are Common Practical Problems in Qualitative Research? 157
What Ethical Dilemmas Will You Encounter in the Field Research Process? 160
What Should You Do When You Face Ethical Dilemmas? 162
What Problems Are Common in Questionnaire Surveys? 162
How Can You Conduct Your Questionnaire Surveys Effectively? 164
Maintaining Good Communications with Your Supervisor 165
How to Complete Your Research Project on Time 166
Exercises for Chapter 8 168
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 8 172
Chapter 9: Quantitative Data Analysis 173
How Do You Start Entering Data From Your Survey or Interview Questionnaire? 174
Why Do You Need to Know the Levels of Your Measurement? 181
What Computer Data Analysis Procedure Should You Use for Your Research? 182
To Provide Descriptive Information about Your Respondents, Use Frequency, or Descriptive Analysis 182
To Determine If Two Variables Are Related to Each Other, Use Cross Tabulations and Chi-square Analysis 186
To Calculate Correlations between Two Variables That Are Measured at Interval or Ratio Level, Use Pearson's r 189
To Know Whether an Independent Variable Predicts or Explains an Effect on a Dependent Variable, Use Regression Analysis 192
To Predict or Explain the Effects of Several Independent Variables on a Dependent Variable, Use Multiple Regression Analysis 195
To Test If Two Means Are Significantly Different, Use the t-test 198
To Determine Whether More Than Two Means Are Significantly Different, Use Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) 203
Exercises for Chapter 9 207
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 9 210
Chapter 10: Qualitative Data Analysis 211
What Is the Purpose of Qualitative Data Analysis? 211
Do You Need to Transcribe All Your Interviews? 213
Where Do You Start? 214
What Is the Process of Inductive Analysis? Steps of Grounded Theory 219
What Is the Process of Deductive Coding in Content Analysis? 224
What Tools Can You Use to Organize and Summarize Codes? 226
How Do You Write about Findings from a Qualitative Analysis? 227
Exercises for Chapter 10 231
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 10 235
Chapter 11: Writing the Final Report 236
What Should You Include in Your Final Report? 236
How Is Your Final Report Different from Your Proposal? 237
What Should You Consider before You Start Writing Your Final Report? 239
Title of Your Final Report or Thesis 240
An Abstract of Your Final Report 241
Introduction 242
Literature Reviews 242
Research Methods 245
Findings 247
Discussions 249
Conclusions 250
References 250
How to Write a Report for Qualitative Research 251
Papers Based on Qualitative Field Research 251
Historical Research 253
Comparative Research 254
A Final Check 254
Exercises for Chapter 11 256
Your Project Outcome after Chapter 11 259
Index 261
