Dissertation research methods : a step-by-step guide to writing up your research in the social sciences / edited by Philip Adu and D. Anthony Miles.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Planning your dissertation -- Conducting a literature review and developing a theoretical/conceptual framework -- Understanding the types of dissertation research -- Choosing an appropriate research methodology -- Understanding the seven types of research gaps -- Developing the research problem -- Developing the purpose statement -- Developing the research statement and research questions -- Research alignment: achieving research alignment in the study -- Understanding limitations and delimitations -- Understanding assumptions and how to write them in a study -- Understanding the differences between contributions and the significance of a study -- Deciding on the source of data -- Understanding the different kinds of data collection strategies -- Planning and implementing the data collection -- Understanding populations and sampling -- Planning and implementing the data analysis -- Ensuring quality in the study -- Writing your dissertation: the standard format - chapter 1 (introduction) -- Writing your dissertation: the standard format - chapter 2 (literature review) -- Writing your dissertation: the standard format - chapter 3 (research methodology) -- Writing your dissertation: the standard format - chapter 4 (data analysis and findings) -- Writing your dissertation: the standard format - chapter 5 (discussion and conclusions).

"Dissertation Research Methods: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Up Your Research in the Social Sciences focuses specifically on methodology when planning, writing and submitting your dissertation thesis. Written by two methodology experts in the social sciences, the book provides a step-by-step guide through each stage of the dissertation process. It covers all aspects of the methodological considerations needed from choosing a topic or research question, literature review, identifying research gaps, accessing potential study participants, utilizing the right sampling strategies, ways to analyze data, and writing up findings. Readers are introduced to the main research methods normally used in dissertations, and their characteristics, and are guided to choose an appropriate research method for their study, provide substantial description of the selected method, and articulate strong arguments supporting the method. The book is filled with templates, exemplars and tools to help students to write about methodology in their thesis, and to equip readers to successfully trouble shoot methodology challenges they may face. This compact book will be of use to all undergraduate and graduate students in the social sciences, Education and behavioural sciences looking for a guide to working with robust and defensible methodological principles in their dissertation research and theses"-- Provided by publisher.