Social Science Data Sources & Statistical Methods

This four volume encyclopedia has great explanations of research concepts. You can search this by keyword, however often the best approach is to use the Readers Guide to browse article categories, such as:
- Assessment
- Cognitive and Affective Variables
- Data Visualization Methods
- Disabilities and Disorders
- Distributions
- Evaluation Designs
- Instrument Development
- Research Concepts
- Research Designs
- Research Methods
- Research Tools
-Statistics
-Theories and Conceptual Frameworks
and more!

A practical, hands-on book for students who wish to learn how to conduct research. While the book covers quantitative and quantitative methods, it especially focuses on action research. Learn data collection methods, data analysis and interpretation, planning and initiating action, and evaluating research studies.

Explains how to find and evaluate sources, anticipate and respond to reader reservations, and integrate these pieces into an argument that stands up to reader critique.

Advice on honing a research topic, developing the research question, designing a study, and choosing the best strategies for sampling and measurement.

A comprehensive study of the main philosophical questions that confront empirical educational researchers. The book goes on to look at the criteria for high quality research, the relationship between different methodological approaches and the scope and limits of intervention studies.

Part I covers basic aspects of the research process, provides an example of a student research proposal, and shows how to evaluate a research report. Part II provides a separate chapter for each research methodology, including two chapters on qualitative research.

Defines, discusses, and offers applications for the central components of educational research. Chapters cover conceptual framework, epistemology, paradigm, theory, theoretical framework, and methodology/method.

This book links methodology and theory with clarity and precision, showing students and researchers how to navigate the maze of conflicting terminology. The major epistemological stances and theoretical perspectives that colour and shape current social research are detailed and the author reveals the philosophical origins of these schools of inquiry and shows how various disciplines contribute to the practice of social research.

Graduate level text covers quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods.
Provided by the Michigan eLibrary.

Professor Shore teaches you to master the five most crucial skills you need to succeed: how to read, write, speak, act, and research at a higher level.

Using the six-step model, you'll work seamlessly to narrow your research topic, focus your literature search, negotiate the myriad of books, periodicals, and reports about your topic--and, of course, write the review.

This book "is designed to prepare students for the real world of educational research. It focuses on scientifically-based methods, school accountability, and the professional demands of the twenty-first century, empowering researchers to take an active role in conducting research in their classrooms, districts, and the greater educational community."

Focuses on essential concepts in educational statistics, understanding when to use various statistical tests, and how to interpret results. Includes a discussion of testing, test score interpretation, reliability, and validity. A chapter on survey design and analysis provide the book readers with examples which demonstrate how the different statistical tests introduced in the book can be used to analyzed survey data.

This open-access textbook provides an outline of each step of the research process: conceptualizing its beginnings, generating proposals, getting ethics approval, relaxing from the stresses of research, writing academically, conducting a literature review, drafting a methods section, collecting the right data, formulating the findings, and sharing the results.

Illustrates all the steps in preparing qualitative and quantitative literature reviews.

Provides a step-by-step guide to using the five major approaches to research design: quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, arts-based, and community-based participatory research. Chapters on each approach present a template for a research proposal and explain how to conceptualize and fill in every section. This 2nd ed includes a chapter on the lit review.

From identifying issues in unstructured text data to categorizing documents and extracting valuable insights, the book provides practical use of LDA as a powerful tool in qualitative and quantitative research. Discusses the rapidly evolving landscape of topic modeling algorithms and offers tangible examples and applications of LDA in educational research.

Prepares researchers to develop their own theories and build on existing ones. Concrete strategies are provided to help readers generate ideas, define constructs, and think through relationships and processes that link constructs. Examples from multiple disciplines illustrate the use of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods orientations to theory construction.

Designed to help students learn to read educational research articles carefully, systematically, and critically. Readers will learn how to categorize titles, decode abstracts, find research questions, characterize research arguments, break down methods and procedures, explore references, apply analysis strategies, and interpret findings.

Covers the principles and history of action research, ethical and legal considerations, methods for conducting both formal and informal action research, data collection methods, analysis and interpretation, action planning and initiation, and results evaluation. Includes numerous examples, strategies, and illustrations that can be applied to elementary and secondary schools as well as university settings.

"It provides concrete examples of how to use authentic inquiry as a basis for collaborating with others to improve the quality of teaching and learning while cogenerating new theory and associated practices that bridge what has been described as a theory-practice divide."

Examines the theory and practice of design-based research (DBR), an important methodology for conducting studies in authentic educational contexts.

"Multilogical research highlights uses of sociocultural theory, authentic, event-oriented, interpretive inquiry, narrative, and willingness to learn from difference. Methodologies are historically constituted, emergent, contingent, and participatory, embracing collaborative, and contemplative practices, and value of many voices and diverse meaning systems."

Weaves together research, policy, and practice to offer YPAR as a practice with the power to challenge entrenched social and educational inequalities, empower critically aware youth, and revolutionize pedagogy in classrooms and communities,

PAR involves collaborative research, education and action which is oriented towards social change. This book offers a critical introduction to understanding and working with PAR in different social, spatial and institutional contexts.

In this form of participatory action research, research participants are invited to document aspects of their lives through photography and then provide written or oral accounts of the images they create. Designed to situate participants as experts on their lives and their experiences, the photovoice methodology is conceptualized as being comprised of eight steps: identification, invitation, education, documentation, narration, ideation, presentation, and confirmation.

Offers a broad framework to understand this critical research methodology as a way to address inherit challenges in conducting research with young people.

This book explores the topic of visual research methods and their relevance to education. It highlights the use of visual media, such as images and videos, to enhance our understanding of complex concepts and phenomena.

A practical guide to the full range of arts-based research (ABR) genres--narrative inquiry, fiction-based research, poetry, music, dance, theatre, film, and visual art.

This is an unlimited ebook, so you won't ever get a "busy signal." Use the chapter links to read this online. You can only print a limited number of pages. Be wary of using the PDF download option to read chapters, as this will quickly deplete your printing quota. Instead read online and print only specific key pages. If you have trouble accessing content in the book, clearing cookies from your browser may solve the problem.. More tips for EBSCO ebooks.

Provides the structure, detail, and guidance needed for beginning researchers to complete a systematic case study, including how to determine an appropriate research design, conduct informative interviews, record observations, document analyses, delineate ways to confirm case study findings, describe methods for deriving meaning from data, and communicate findings.

Extends the comparative case study methodology established by Bartlett and Vavrus.

Outlines the key methodological approaches to the study of lived experience, texts and social contexts within the field of cultural studies.

Chapters in this text define ethnography, describe researching first-hand experience as well as secondary sources of ethnographic data, covers analysing ethnographic data, using ethnography, writing and representing ethnography, offers ethical considerations, and more. Provided via the Michigan Electronic Library.

An authoritative state-of-the-art review of, and critical reflection on, educational ethnography as it is being theorized and practiced today.

Explores the theory behind the method and how to use it to develop and evaluate education projects.

Chapters define and provide practical advice for using grounded theory.

This accessibly written book is ideal for use in graduate courses or by practicing researchers and evaluators.

Offers lessons for numerous methods of data collection and data analysis.

Offers info on both qualitative and quantitative online research, organised into nine sections: 1. Online Research Methods; 2. Designing Online Research; 3. Online Data Capture and Data Collection; 4. The Online Survey; 5. Digital Quantitative Analysis; 6. Digital Text Analysis; 7. Virtual Ethnography; 8. Online Secondary Analysis: Resources and Methods; 9. The Future of Online Social Research.

Offers a step-by-step guide to overcoming the challenges in research projects that deal with "big and broad data," from the formulation of research questions to the interpretation of findings. Includes chapters on specific social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

A step-by-step guide to qualitative research in the field of education.

Offers qualitative researchers an entrée into the world of working with archival repositories and special collections.

This textbook for learning the fundamentals of qualitative research methods presents a concise yet rigorous description of how to design and conduct fieldwork projects and how to examine data in multiple ways for interpretive insight.

Presents approached to teaching 71 qualitative and mixed research methods.

This guide is for educational researchers interested in conducting ethically sound qualitative studies with diverse populations, including refugees, documented and undocumented immigrants, and people with disabilities. Models an approach of metacritical reflexivity and researcher positionality.

Provides step-by-step guidance for new and experienced interviewers to develop, shape, and reflect on interviewing as a qualitative research process.

Offers narratives that provide real world experiences and accounts of how researchers navigated problematic situations, as well as their considerations in doing so. These contributions give students and researchers a chance to understand the possibilities of research challenges and better prepare for these eventualities and how to deal with them.

Offers a clear understanding of the range of issues related to researcher stance, and an overview of some of the most cutting-edge qualitative techniques in use today with info on processes of data analysis, synthesis and interpretation that are employed in these various approaches.

A comprehensive resource on qualitative methods in education.

Outlines each chapter of the dissertation as well as the necessary steps to start and complete the dissertation, such as working with a faculty chair and committee, developing a peer support group, and organizing literature.

Guide to understanding, designing, conducting, and presenting a qualitative research study.

This is an unlimited ebook, so you won't ever get a "busy signal." Use the chapter links to read this online. You can only print a limited number of pages. Be wary of using the PDF download option to read chapters, as this will quickly deplete your printing quota. Instead read online and print only specific key pages. If you have trouble accessing content in the book, clearing cookies from your browser may solve the problem. More tips for EBSCO ebooks.
Made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

A comprehensive guide on the theoretical foundations & practical application of qualitative methodology. Adopting a phronetic-iterative approach, this book leads readers through the chronological progression of a qualitative research project, from designing a study and collecting & analyzing data to developing theories and effectively communicating the result.

Introduces an approach to qualitative research methodology in education and related fields that is distinct from traditional approaches derived from the behavioral or natural sciences--an approach rooted in the "everyday lived experience" of human beings in educational situations. Offers detailed methodological explications and practical examples of hermeneutic-phenomenological inquiry.

Includes chapters on traditional analytic strategies such as grounded theory, content analysis, hermeneutics, phenomenology and narrative analysis, as well as coverage of newer trends like mixed methods, reanalysis and meta-analysis.

Chapters cover concepts for collecting qualitative data, details on collecting specific types of data, digital and internet data, triangulation & mixed methods, as well as collecting data on specific populations.

This extensive source covers foundational theories, functions, strategies, and approaches to qualitative research design.

Designed for upper-level sociology students, this text offers conceptual sections on both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, as well as pracical sections on conducting quantitative data analysis using SPSS and qualitative data analysis using Dedoose.

Illustrates the techniques of qualitative research to help readers learn to read, analyze, and design studies themselves.

Clarifies the complicated aspects of content analysis through step-by-step instruction and practical advice.

The book contains foundational context, instructions, and practical examples to help researchers in the field of education begin to understand how to create data management workflows for large-scale, typically federally funded, research studies.

Teaches research design (including epistemology, research ethics, forming research questions, quantitative design, sampling methodologies, and design assumptions) and introductory statistical concepts (including descriptive statistics, probability theory, and sampling distributions), basic statistical tests (like z and t), ANOVA designs, including more advanced designs like the factorial ANOVA and mixed ANOVA, simple linear regression, and multiple regression using SPSS for analysis.

Shows readers how to craft high quality, precisely-worded survey questions that will elicit rich, nuanced, and ultimately useful data to help answer their research or evaluation questions. Addresses language preferences for demographic questions, creative question design to avoid survey fatigue, web-based survey formats, culturally-responsive survey design, and factors that influence survey responses (memory, social desirability, etc.)

Offers insights and suggested actions that range from working with existing data sets in more racially just ways to more radically reimagining the entire educational research process.

This book presents different data collection and representation techniques: elementary descriptive statistics, confirmatory statistics, multivariate approaches and statistical modeling. The fundamentals of each approach and the reasons behind them are methodically analyzed, and both simple and advanced examples are given to demonstrate how to use them.

Designed for upper-level sociology students, this text offers conceptual sections on both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, as well as pracical sections on conducting quantitative data analysis using SPSS and qualitative data analysis using Dedoose.

Outlines the writing process and provides suggestions for getting the "turgid" out of turgid academic prose. Offers suggestions on how to best structure various forms of documents, such as journal articles, academic books, proposals, reports, academic letters, memos, and more.

Offers academic writers a direct, practical prescription for writing that will be read and understood, including advice on how to sharpen arguments and make complex ideas compelling, as well as the workings of introductions & conclusions, transitions, signposts, paragraphs, and sentences.

Helps scholars uncover their unique writing process and design a writing practice that fits how they work. Includes techniques for overcoming writing barriers.

Guides academics through the process of peer reviewing manuscript articles, outlining the methods and proficiencies required to write a high-quality review.

This book draws on the tools and techniques of storytelling employed in fiction and non-fiction writing to help academic writers enhance the clarity, presentation, and flow of their scholarly work.

Jensen introduces tools and techniques that encourage frequent, low-stress writing. She points out common ways writers stall and offers workarounds that maintain productivity. Her focus is not on content, but on how to overcome whatever stands in the way of academic writing.

Combines research on feminist and intersectional writing methodologies with explorations of links between academic and creative writing practices. Contributors discuss what it means for academic writing processes to explore intersectional in-between spaces between monolithic identity markers and power differentials such as gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality and nationality.

Empowers educators to address the federal Every Student Succeeds Act mandate that schools use evidence-based improvement strategies. Recommendations include utilizing existing research; generating evidence on the success of their own improvement efforts; and building an organizational culture of evidence use.

This edited volume brings together leading scholars from the fields of educational leadership and policy studies to discuss qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methods.

Reviews theoretical work from around the globe and describes approaches to conducting quantitative, qualitative, and community-based research with participants; doing content or media analysis; and evaluating programs or interventions. The focus is studying gender inequities as they are experienced by individuals and groups from diverse cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and with diverse gender identities.

Explores intersections of imperialism and research - specifically, the ways in which imperialism is embedded in disciplines of knowledge and tradition as 'regimes of truth.' Concepts such as 'discovery' and 'claiming' are discussed and an argument presented that the decolonization of research methods will help to reclaim control over indigenous ways of knowing and being.

Systematically presents the essential components of research that every special education teacher must know.

Presents widely used methods and provides students and researchers with a clear understanding of when, how, and why they are applied.

Presents integrated coverage of psychological research methods and statistical analysis.

A text on researching human behavior.

A broad-based examination into the role of scientific inquiry in contemporary special education, including overviews of the philosophical, ethical, methodological, and analytical fundamentals of social science and educational research.

A text on research in psychology.

Reviews the basics of qualitative and quantitative approaches and explores how to differentiate the major types of research as well as how to understand, read, evaluate, and apply results. Also included is an overview of ethical considerations that apply specifically to student affairs.

Chapters by experienced IDT researchers address methodologies such as meta-analysis, social media research, user experience design research, eye-tracking research, and phenomenology.

This guidebook on assessment, evaluation, and research in student affairs will be useful to both researchers and student affairs professionals. Chapters written by experts explore evaluation & research design; methodology, data collection, & data analysis; interpreting, reporting, & using results; values, ethics, & politics of SA assessment; and more.