Research Methods and Applications for Student Affairs


Book Description

A COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE FOR UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING RESEARCH METHODS Research Methods and Applications for Student Affairs offers students and professionals in the field an authoritative and accessible guide to help navigate research in student affairs. This comprehensive resource on research methods instruction clearly shows how to interpret the various forms of research, how to be critical as a research consumer, and how to use research to inform practice. Author J. Patrick Biddix—a noted scholar and expert in the field—presents a detailed overview of three qualitative-focused and four quantitative-focused research methods. The text reviews the basics of these 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. Biddix also includes important information on using mixed methods approaches. The user-friendly text includes insights on key issues, as well as descriptions of the individual sections that comprise research studies. Also included is an overview of ethical considerations that apply specifically to student affairs. Research Methods and Applications for Student Affairs is an essential guide for enhancing research methods' skills, and offers direction for applying those skills in actual work situations.




Research Methods and Applications for Student Affairs


Book Description

A COMPREHENSIVE RESOURCE FOR UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING RESEARCH METHODS Research Methods and Applications for Student Affairs offers students and professionals in the field an authoritative and accessible guide to help navigate research in student affairs. This comprehensive resource on research methods instruction clearly shows how to interpret the various forms of research, how to be critical as a research consumer, and how to use research to inform practice. Author J. Patrick Biddix—a noted scholar and expert in the field—presents a detailed overview of three qualitative-focused and four quantitative-focused research methods. The text reviews the basics of these 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. Biddix also includes important information on using mixed methods approaches. The user-friendly text includes insights on key issues, as well as descriptions of the individual sections that comprise research studies. Also included is an overview of ethical considerations that apply specifically to student affairs. Research Methods and Applications for Student Affairs is an essential guide for enhancing research methods' skills, and offers direction for applying those skills in actual work situations.




Research Methods


Book Description

Research Methods: Information, Systems, and Contexts, Second Edition, presents up-to-date guidance on how to teach research methods to graduate students and professionals working in information management, information science, librarianship, archives, and records and information systems. It provides a coherent and precise account of current research themes and structures, giving students guidance, appreciation of the scope of research paradigms, and the consequences of specific courses of action. Each of these valuable sections will help users determine the relevance of particular approaches to their own questions. The book presents academics who teach research and information professionals who carry out research with new resources and guidance on lesser-known research paradigms. Provides up-to-date knowledge of research methods and their applications Provides a coherent and precise account of current research themes and structures through chapters written by authors who are experts in their fields Helps students and researchers understand the range of quantitative and qualitative approaches available for research, as well as how to make practical use of them Provides many illustrations from projects in which authors have been involved, to enhance understanding Emphasises the nexus between formulation of research question and choice of research methodology Enables new researchers to understand the implications of their planning decisions




Research in the College Context


Book Description

Research in the College Context, 2nd Edition provides faculty, students, practitioners, and researchers in the college environment with a manual of diverse approaches and methods for researching higher education and college students. The text offers the reader a variety of qualitative and quantitative research tools including interviewing, surveys, mixed methods, focus groups, visual methods, participatory action research, policy analysis, document analysis and historical methods, secondary data analysis, and use of large national data sets. This revised edition provides readers with current and innovative methodological tools needed to research the complex issues facing higher education today. Each technique is thoroughly presented with accompanying examples, advice for designing research projects, and tips for data collection, analysis, and dissemination of results. Clearly organized and accessible, this volume is the essential guide for experienced and novice researchers.




Research Methods and Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administrators


Book Description

Research Methods and Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administrators: A Practical Guide is a comprehensive, easy-to-read, core text that thoroughly prepares readers to apply research methods and data analysis to the professional environments of public and non-profit administration. The authors expertly incorporate original case examples to demonstrate concepts using “real actors,” facing specific scenarios, in which research methods must be applied. This unique approach—presented in language accessible to both students new to research as well as current practitioners—guides the reader in fully understanding the research options detailed throughout the text.




Assessment in Student Affairs


Book Description

A practical, comprehensive manual for assessment design and implementation Assessment in Student Affairs, Second Edition offers a contemporary look at the foundational elements and practical application of assessment in student affairs. Higher education administration is increasingly called upon to demonstrate organizational effectiveness and engage in continuous improvement based on information generated through systematic inquiry. This book provides a thorough primer on all stages of the assessment process. From planning to reporting and beyond, you'll find valuable assessment strategies to help you produce meaningful information and improve your program. Combining and updating the thoroughness and practicality of Assessment in Student Affairs and Assessment Practice in Student Affairs, this new edition covers design of assessment projects, ethical practice, student learning outcomes, data collection and analysis methods, report writing, and strategies to implement change based on assessment results. Case studies demonstrate real-world application to help you clearly see how these ideas are used effectively every day, and end-of-chapter discussion questions stimulate deeper investigation and further thinking about the ideas discussed. The instructor resources will help you seamlessly integrate this new resource into existing graduate-level courses. Student affairs administrators understand the importance of assessment, but many can benefit from additional direction when it comes to designing and implementing evaluations that produce truly useful information. This book provides field-tested approaches to assessment, giving you a comprehensive how-to manual for demonstrating—and improving—the work you do every day. Build your own assessment to demonstrate organizational effectiveness Utilize quantitative and qualitative techniques and data Identify metrics and methods for measuring student learning Report and implement assessment findings effectively Accountability and effectiveness are the hallmarks of higher education administration today, and they are becoming the metrics by which programs and services are evaluated. Strong assessment skills have never been more important. Assessment in Student Affairs gives you the knowledge base and skill set you need to shine a spotlight on what you and your organization are able to achieve.




Organizational Research Methods


Book Description

`This text provides a timely and comprehensive introduction to major research methods in the Organizational sciences. It will be a boon to all students conducting their projects in this area, and may well become a standard reference for staff teaching research methods to undergraduate and postgraduate students of business studies or organizational behaviour′ - Professor Neil Anderson, Goldsmiths College, University of London ′This reasonably priced text would provide an invaluable starting point for those considering undertaking research in organisational settings′ - Paula Roberts, Nurse Researcher This book provides the reader with clear pointers for how to conduct organizational research appropriately, through planning and making informed and systematic research decisions, to understanding the ethical implications of applied organizational research, to implementing, reporting and presenting the findings to the highest possible standards. It provides an overview of a wide variety of research strategies, methods of data collection (both qualitative and quantitative) and analysis in a volume accessible to both an undergraduate, postgraduate and practitioner readership alike. Organizational Research Methods also represents a useful aid to the report writing task, indicating ways in which the project material can be most effectively organised for academic and feedback purposes, and by drawing upon real-life organizational contexts and examples to help the reader understand the core issues. Finally, the book offers a clear, manageable procedure for preparing a presentation to an academic or an organizational audience. Providing practical guidance on all elements of the research process, this book will be essential reading to all undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as researchers, in psychology, organizational studies and management disciplines.




Understanding Communication Research Methods


Book Description

Comprehensive, innovative, and focused on the undergraduate student, this textbook prepares students to read and conduct research. Using an engaging how-to approach that draws from scholarship, real-life, and popular culture, the book offers students practical reasons why they should care about research methods and a guide to actually conduct research themselves. Examining quantitative, qualitative, and critical research methods, the textbook helps undergraduate students better grasp the theoretical and practical uses of method by clearly illustrating practical applications. The book defines all the main research traditions, illustrates key methods used in communication research, and provides level-appropriate applications of the methods through theoretical and practical examples and exercises, including sample student papers that demonstrate research methods in action.




Research Methods and Society


Book Description

Provides a foundation for understanding research findings in social sciences. Designed to help students acquire basic skills in the methods of social science research, the second edition of Research Methods and Society contains numerous excerpts from professional journal articles, scholarly books, and popular press. The text uses a straightforward writing style to present essential information, without eliminating key concepts, tools, and their applications. Concrete, everyday examples and “hands-on” practice activities reinforce fundamental concepts that will be useful to students in their future careers and life. Topics are illustrated in ways that are student-centered, yet instructor-friendly. Features and updates to this 2nd edition include: Highlighted concepts and terms in each chapter -- In addition to a chapter-end list of key terms. These familiarize students with important content, and helps ensure they understand and retain it. Chapter summaries – Includes a section titled Your Review Sheet: Questions Discussed in This Chapter. Enables students to review the major themes presented in each chapter, and encourages them to reflect on the key points. Numerous “real-world” activities – Help students meet specific learning needs, such as evaluating excerpts from research articles, analyzing secondary data, and analyzing primary data from direct observation and other mini-projects Excerpts from professional journal articles and popular press readings – these are followed by questions, which guide learning on specific methods topics, and illustrates specific issues related to methodology typically employed by social scientists. Added and expanded discussion of Ethics, with special attention to chapters on direct methods of data collection, as well as new discussions about online research. New secondary data tables and their discussions/applications.




Case Study Research


Book Description

Case Study Research: Principles and Practices provides a general understanding of the case study method as well as specific tools for its successful implementation. These tools are applicable in a variety of fields including anthropology, business and management, communications, economics, education, medicine, political science, psychology, social work, and sociology. Topics include: a survey of case study approaches; a methodologically tractable definition of 'case study'; strategies for case selection, including random sampling and other algorithmic approaches; quantitative and qualitative modes of case study analysis; and problems of internal and external validity. The second edition of this core textbook is designed to be accessible to readers who are new to the subject and is thoroughly revised and updated, incorporating recent research, numerous up-to-date studies and comprehensive lecture slides.