Understanding research methods : an overview of the essentials / Michelle Newhart and Mildred L. Patten.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction to research methods -- Reading, reviewing, and citing literature -- Basic concepts in quantitative research -- Designing quantitative research -- Assessing research quality: validity and reliability -- Sampling for quantitative research -- Analyzing quantitative data -- Quantitative research -- Writing about research.

'Understanding Research Methods' focuses concisely on key concepts and lesons in topics that are "chunked" to suit today's students. Each topic ends with suggestions for planning a research project by answering topic-specific prompts in a research planning journal. Topic review exercises encourage active learning. Finally, Questions for Discussion suggest open-ended prompts that could serve as conversation starters in the classroom or online. The final part of the book offers guidance and activities specific to writing a research report. This section can be used to support the development of project-based assignments for courses, or it can be used independently to support senior thesis projects, master's theses, disserations, or articles for publication. Instructors, will appreciate the organization of 'Understanding Research Methods' because it allows a great deal of customization and choice in which topics to cover and in what order to cover them, making it suitable for methodological training in a variety of courses and fields of study.