The Researchers Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Practitioner Research

Description

Designed for those undertaking research for the first time, this fully updated edition of The Researcher's Toolkit is a practical and accessible guide for all those partaking in small-scale research. Jargon-free and assuming no prior knowledge, it covers the entire research process, from defining a research topic or question through to its completion. This second edition has been fully revised by a collaborating team with a wealth of knowledge and practical experience in research project work. Including activity boxes to highlight key concepts and short summary boxes to indicate fundamental elements of various research areas, the chapters cover The importance of research and framing your research question and research ethics Practical elements associated with planning and executing your research activity The application of survey-based research methods and the value provided by social media as data collection devices Deploying both quantitative and qualitative tools and techniques to analyse research data Writing up your research work and preparing it for wider access and consumption Examining the effect of your research work through assessing or measuring its impact The Researcher’s Toolkit is a must-read guide for students and budding researchers as well as educators seeking to explain academic research and writing to their pupils. It will benefit anyone looking to complete a research project whether inside academia or beyond. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures Preface Chapter 1: Why research?: What to look out for and what to think of The purpose of research The focus of research To expand knowledge in a discipline or area To create impact Traditions and methods Underlying elements: Ontology, epistemology, methodology Some examples of traditions: positivism, constructivism, pragmatism Positivism Constructivism Pragmatism Approaches to collecting data – methods and tools Quantitative methods Qualitative methods Mixing quantitative and qualitative methods Action research Ethics of research Consenting to participate (informed consent) Voluntary participation Anonymity Confidentiality Potential for harm Accurate reporting Summary References Chapter 2: Planning the research Planning your research and the messy research journey Stages in the process Things to think about before you start Resources Amount of time available Accessibility of research sample (your participants or respondents) Framing your questions Being realistic about what you can do The hypothesis Exploring the literature Developing a strategy An example research plan A visual plan – the GANTT chart Timing and planning Collecting data Analysing data Drawing conclusions Writing and submitting your report Methodology Ethics as part of your planning Informed consent Summary References Chapter 3: Collecting your data: Literature and other forms of data The importance of data – finding out what is already out there Collecting data through a literature review Types of literature review Literature review as a list Literature review as a search Literature review as a survey or scan Literature review as a knowledge enhancer Literature review as a steering instrument Literature review as a report Locating the literature Developing a review strategy: search terms and lists Selecting appropriate literature and maintaining literature notes Aggregating literature material Critically analysing the literature Being aware of bias Collecting other research data Fundamental types – quantitative and qualitative Which tools or instruments? Experiment-based research Survey-based research Research interviews Before the interview Setting up the interview ‘space’ Conducting the interview Focus group interviews The focus group checklist Observation as a data collection tool Types of data collected: passive and contextualised A note on using social media as data collection tools Summary References Chapter 4: Analysing your data Dealing with data Coding and classifying data Analysing qualitative data Content analysis Concept-driven and data-driven coding Guides to help you code Qualitative data analysis software Narrative analysis Digital narrative – digital storytelling Discourse analysis Critical Discourse Analysis Grounded theory Analysing quantitative data Quantitative data analysis software Descriptive tools and techniques Describing data The mode, the median, and the mean Standard deviation Associating data Formula for correlating data A note on inferential analysis Statistical significance Testing for significance Presenting your data Dealing with ever-increasing amounts of data – the role of data visualisation Summary References Chapter 5: Writing it all up Getting started: preparing your writing Tips for getting started An example for organising the write-up Time management Formatting and structuring your writing: an example Preliminary part Title Abstract List of contents Lists of figures and tables Preface Acknowledgements The main text Introduction Literature review Methods Results Analysis and discussion Conclusions and recommendations The end matter Fallacies (mistakes) to avoid when writing Thinking about your audience when writing Presenting your work to others A note on ethics when writing up Submitting your research report to others Styling your report Social media and publication Storytelling Visualising your data Tone and voice Summary References Chapter 6: Research impact What is impact? The development of impact Examples of impact Academia Industry Public sector Society Sharing impact (and research) findings with others Different interpretations of impact Co-production as impact Example of co-production across the sectors Assessing impact Limitations of assessing impact Dissemination A dissemination identifier Limitations to dissemination Contextualising research impact (by using Merton’s norms) Summary References Index