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Introduction
Attributions
What Is Science?
Science and Knowing
The Scientific Method
Research Paradigms and Theories
Chapter Summary
AI Use in Research
Human Research
Informed Consent
Scientific Misconduct
Selecting a Topic: What Makes a Good Research Question?
Approaches to Research
Causality and Generalizability: Finding an Explanation
Goals of Research
Basic vs. Applied Research
Choosing a Research Question
Transforming Research Questions into Testable Hypotheses
Formulating Clear and Testable Hypotheses
Why Read Prior Research?
Finding Literature
Evaluating Sources
Citing Sources
Reading Scholarly Articles
What Is a Literature Review?
Writing a Literature Review
Refining Your Research Question
What is Research Design?
Who, What, When, Where, and How?
Common Types of Research Designs
Why is Measurement Important?
Operationalization
Measurement Quality
Quality Qualitative Data
The Purpose of Sampling
Types of Sampling
Sampling Bias
A Quick Note on Experimental Designs
Correlational Designs
Survey Research
Effective Survey Questions
What about other options?
Common Qualitative Approaches to Research
Qualitative Data Collection
Focus Groups
Interviews
Observational Research
Document and Media Review
Best Practices for Qualitative Research
Experimental Designs
Quasi-Experimental Designs
Evaluating Experiments and Quasi-Experiments
Studies of Studies
Multiple Methods and Mixed Methods Designs
Evaluation Research
Sensitive, Participatory, and Action Research
Types of Variables
Data Preparation and Descriptive Statistics
Data Visualization
Interpreting Correlations
Ethical Considerations
The Steps of Analyzing Qualitative Data
Coding
Content Analysis
Thematic Analysis
Grounded Theory Analysis
Interpreting Results and Drawing Conclusions
Reporting and Disseminating Research
Writing a Research Report
Conducting Follow-Up Research
Appendix
Index
Glossary of Key Terms
Attributions Index
A Final Note from the Authors
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