Research doesn’t exist in a bubble but co-exists with a multitude of other tasks and commitments, yet there is more need for people to save time than ever before. Brilliantly attuned to the demands placed on researchers, this book considers how students, academics and professionals alike can save time and stress without compromising the quality of their research or its outcomes. This third edition: - is fully revised with new chapters on research and evaluation ethics, creative methods of collecting data and how research can make a positive difference; - includes illustrative case studies throughout the book, and each chapter concludes with exercises, discussion questions and a debate topic; - is accompanied by a fully updated companion website. This supportive book is designed for any student or practitioner who wants to know how to do research on top of their main job, and still have a life.
More and more people working in public services have to do research on top of their main jobs. This can include workplace research, such as evaluation, audit, training needs analysis or satisfaction surveys, or research for a professional development qualification such as diploma, master's degree or PhD. Unlike most how-to books that treat research as if it exists in isolation, this book will show you how to juggle research, work, family, and social life. Based on interviews with practitioners from health, education, social care, criminal justice, government and the third sector, as well as the author's extensive experience, it provides a wealth of practical information and tips to save you time, effort and stress. This book is for anyone in the public or third sector, an independent research organisation or academia, who wants to know how to do research on top of their main job and still have a life. The book is supported by a companion website, containing additional materials for both students and lecturers, which is available from the link above.
Creative research methods can help to answer complex contemporary questions which are hard to answer using conventional methods alone. Creative methods can also be more ethical, helping researchers to address social injustice. This bestselling book, now in its second edition, is the first to identify and examine the five areas of creative research methods: • arts-based research • embodied research • research using technology • multi-modal research • transformative research frameworks. Written in an accessible, practical and jargon-free style, with reflective questions, boxed text and a companion website to guide student learning, it offers numerous examples of creative methods in practice from around the world. This new edition includes a wealth of new material, with five extra chapters and over 200 new references. Spanning the gulf between academia and practice, this useful book will inform and inspire researchers by showing readers why, when, and how to use creative methods in their research. Creative Research Methods has been cited over 750 times.
Creative research methods can help to answer complex contemporary questions that traditional methods alone cannot; they can also be more ethical, helping researchers to address social injustice in new ways. This accessible book is the first to identify and examine the four pillars of creative research methods: arts-based research, research using technology, mixed-method research, and transformative research frameworks. Written in a practical and jargon-free style, it offers numerous examples from around the world of creative methods in practice in the social sciences, arts, and humanities. Spanning the gulf between ideas and practice, this useful book will inform and inspire researchers by demonstrating why, when, and how to use creative methods in their research.
This groundbreaking book brings creative writing to social research. Its innovative format includes creatively written contributions by researchers from a range of disciplines, modelling the techniques outlined by the authors. The book is user-friendly and shows readers: • how to write creatively as a social researcher; • how creative writing can help researchers to work with participants and generate data; • how researchers can use creative writing to analyse data and communicate findings. Inviting beginners and more experienced researchers to explore new ways of writing, this book introduces readers to creatively written research in a variety of formats including plays and poems, videos and comics. It not only gives social researchers permission to write creatively but also shows them how to do so.
Research ethics and integrity are growing in importance as academics face increasing pressure to win grants and publish, and universities promote themselves in the competitive HE market. Research Ethics in the Real World is the first book to highlight the links between research ethics and individual, social, professional, institutional, and political ethics. Drawing on Indigenous and Euro-Western research traditions, Helen Kara considers all stages of the research process, from the formulation of a research question to aftercare for participants, data and findings. She argues that knowledge of both ethical approaches is helpful for researchers working in either paradigm. Students, academics, and research ethics experts from around the world contribute real-world perspectives on navigating and managing ethics in practice. Research Ethics in the Real World provides guidance for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods researchers from all disciplines about how to act ethically throughout your research work. This book is invaluable in supporting teachers of research ethics to design and deliver effective courses.
Even as the pace of research increases, researchers do not exist in a bubble. Brilliantly attuned to the demands placed on today's researchers--people who want to stay on top of their job and still have a life--this book considers how students, academics, and professionals alike can save time and stress without compromising the quality of their work. Drawing on interviews with researchers as well as the author's extensive experience, this fully revised second edition of Helen Kara's Research and Evaluation for Busy Practitioners provides a wealth of practical advice on a range of topics like using social media and the diversity of available methodologies, including action research, arts-based methods, and digitally mediated research. Comprehensive, global in its scope, and supportive, this second edition is also accompanied by a fully revised and updated companion website, http: //policypress.co.uk/resources/kara-research.
Approaching qualitative research for the first time and unsure how to get started? This book captures what you need to know to jump into effective qualitative or mixed methods research. The book gets you up to speed on the specifics of qualitative research, while showing how it complements quantitative research and how to draw on and hone your existing skills to conduct impactful research. It covers the whole research process, from explaining what theories are for and planning your research design, through gathering and working with your data, to developing good practice in research reporting and dissemination. The book also: • Showcases the value of qualitative research, helping you understand its relevance, credibility and validity. • Grapples with how to decolonise your approach, do research in an ethical and inclusive way, and debias your thinking. • Challenges you to rethink how you conduct research and choose the most appropriate methods for your project. Giving you a fuller understanding of methods and methodologies to benefit your work regardless of the approach you choose, this book encourages you to discover the joy of qualitative research.
Writing is more difficult than it seems. Even experienced writers often find it hard to get started, and looming deadlines can cause paralysis. This e-book will get you started and keep you going. It demystifies the craft of writing, and offers lots of tips and ideas to make writing manageable.
When you've collected all your data, what do you do next? Whether it's qualitative or quantitative, this e-book explains how to prepare, code, and analyse your data. The book offers clear guidance to help you turn a morass of raw data into cogent findings.
Co-authored by an international team of experts across disciplines, this important book is one of the first to demonstrate the enormous benefit creative methods offer for education research. It illustrates how using creative methods, such as poetic inquiry, theatre and animation, can support learning and illuminate participation and engagement.
Data collection is often the first thing people think of in connection with research. Preparing a questionnaire, or doing some interviews, can seem straightforward – but there's much else to consider. This e-book outlines some of the key issues and offers lots of short-cuts to save you time and stress.
Interviews are the most common data collection instrument undergraduates turn to. No matter what discipline or level, someone in the course will be doing some interviews. They’re quick, cheap and students think they’re easy. The first two are true, but it’s more than just asking a list of questions. This Little Quick Fix lays out the basic how-to of choosing an interview as a method for a project or dissertation, and how to do it well enough so students aren’t docked marks for poor or irrelevant data. Practical and hands-on, readers will be shown everything they need to prepare, how to do it quickly, and all the pitfalls to avoid. Packed with checklists, this is the foolproof solution to getting interview data quickly and effectively. Perfect for undergraduates who need to do this in a week or two. Little Quick Fix titles provide quick but authoritative answers to the problems, hurdles, and assessment points students face in the research course, project proposal, or design - whatever their methods learning is. Lively, ultra-modern design; full-colour, each page a tailored design. An hour′s read. Easy to dip in and out of with clear navigation enables the reader to find what she needs - quick. Direct written style gets to the point with clear language. Nothing needs to be read twice. No fluff. Learning is reinforced through a 2-minute overview summary; 3-second summaries with super-quick Q&A DIY tasks create a work plan to accomplish a task, do a self-check quiz, solve a problem, get students to what they need to show their supervisor. Checkpoints in each section make sure students are nailing it as they go and support self-directed learning. How do I know I’m done? Each Little Quick Fix wraps up with a final checklist that allows the reader to self-assess they’ve got what they need to progress, submit, or ace the test or task.
How-to books often treat research as if it exists in isolation. But in reality, people need to fit research in with all their other commitments. This e-book is full of practical hints and tips to show you how to manage research alongside work, family, and social life.
Interviews are often seen as a quick, cheap, and seemingly low-stress data collection method, but once students obtain data, they can be overwhelmed at the amount of information they have to manage, sort, and analyse, even if they only have a few participant responses. There are plenty of books on data management, coding, and analysis, but no student has time to read and internalize this much detail if a deadline is looming. Use Your Interview Data takes students through the essentials of managing, coding, and interpreting interview data so they have the overview needed to negotiate their data systematically and ensure they are not marked down for haphazard or incomplete interpretation. This Little Quick Fix provides students with the understanding and skills they need to manage, sort and analyse their interview data. Helen Kara’s overview enables students to negotiate their data systematically and give a complete interpretation for their research method assignment, essay or project. Little Quick Fix titles provide quick but authoritative answers to the problems, hurdles, and assessment points students face in the research course, project proposal, or design—whatever their methods learning is. Lively, ultra-modern design; full-colour, each page a tailored design. An hour′s read. Easy to dip in and out of with clear navigation enables the reader to find what she needs—quick. Direct written style gets to the point with clear language. Nothing needs to be read twice. No fluff. Learning is reinforced through a 2-minute overview summary; 3-second summaries with super-quick Q&A DIY tasks create a work plan to accomplish a task, do a self-check quiz, solve a problem, get students to what they need to show their supervisor. Checkpoints in each section make sure students are nailing it as they go and support self-directed learning. How do I know I’m done? Each Little Quick Fix wraps up with a final checklist that allows the reader to self-assess they’ve got what they need to progress, submit, or ace the test or task.
After interviews, the most common data collection instrument undergraduates turn to is a short survey. This requires them to write a questionnaire. Sounds easy – it’s not! This LQF teaches the art of open and closed questions, how to prompt higher response rates, when and how to use basic Likert scales, and everything else you need to know to get the most out of your questionnaire. A good questionnaire makes all the difference to getting data you can work with and poor research skill here lowers grades.
Working with data from a questionnaire may seem easy to students since the data is limited to set questions and responses, but it is not. Even if students have designed an effective questionnaire and/or used all closed questions, they still have to collate a lot of data, develop a system that evaluates responses, and compare/group responses to determine overall results. This Little Quick Fix makes this type of data more accessible and teaches students how to manage, code, and interpret it effectively. Little Quick Fix titles provide quick but authoritative answers to the problems, hurdles, and assessment points students face in the research course, project proposal, or design—whatever their methods learning is. Lively, ultra-modern design; full-colour, each page a tailored design. An hour′s read. Easy to dip in and out of with clear navigation enables the reader to find what she needs—quick. Direct written style gets to the point with clear language. Nothing needs to be read twice. No fluff. Learning is reinforced through a 2-minute overview summary; 3-second summaries with super-quick Q&A DIY tasks create a work plan to accomplish a task, do a self-check quiz, solve a problem, get students to what they need to show their supervisor. Checkpoints in each section make sure students are nailing it as they go and support self-directed learning. How do I know I’m done? Each Little Quick Fix wraps up with a final checklist that allows the reader to self-assess they’ve got what they need to progress, submit, or ace the test or task.
Today’s researchers have many opportunities for disseminating their work, including traditional and digital publications, written articles, podcasts, and other media such as zines and graphic books. But how do they decide which output is right for them, and where to start? Publishing from your Doctoral Research provides methods and tools to help assess, identify, and adapt academic work for publication to support career aspirations. Discussing what publication can achieve in career terms, this book: Explains how to audit doctoral research, and any associated materials, to assess which elements are best suited for publication Provides advice on how to determine what kind of publication is best suited to different types of research Discusses journal articles, books, self-publishing, online and social media options, and alternative methods of publishing Considers each type of publication in light of career aspirations Each chapter includes practical examples, tailored to researchers interested in working in academia, industry or business, a clinical or practical career, or self-employment. Providing key strategies and insights to secure knowledge and success, Publishing from your Doctoral Research is the ideal guide for anyone looking to develop their career through publication within or outside academia. The ‘Insider Guides to Success in Academia’ offers support and practical advice to doctoral students and early-career researchers. Covering the topics that really matter, but which often get overlooked, this indispensable series provides practical and realistic guidance to address many of the needs and challenges of trying to operate, and remain, in academia. These neat pocket guides fill specific and significant gaps in current literature. Each book offers insider perspectives on the often implicit rules of the game – the things you need to know but usually aren’t told by institutional postgraduate support, researcher development units, or supervisors – and will address a practical topic that is key to career progression. They are essential reading for doctoral students, early-career researchers, supervisors, mentors, or anyone looking to launch or maintain their career in academia.
After encountering the mysterious Superwoman during the "New Krypton" stroyline, Supergirl is left with two burning questions: who is Superwoman, and what gives her the right to wear the symbol of the House of El? The answers lead Supergirl into the darkest depths of New Krypton and drastically alter the Superman family forever!
Inviting beginners and more experienced researchers to explore new ways of writing, this book introduces readers to creatively written research in a variety of formats including plays and poems, videos and comics. It not only gives social researchers permission, but also shows them how, to write creatively.
Despite being stricken blind and deaf, Hellen Keller would go on to be an excellent writer; this autobiography and selected works will uplift and inspire.
Today’s researchers have many opportunities for disseminating their work, including traditional and digital publications, written articles, podcasts, and other media such as zines and graphic books. But how do they decide which output is right for them, and where to start? Publishing from your Doctoral Research provides methods and tools to help assess, identify, and adapt academic work for publication to support career aspirations. Discussing what publication can achieve in career terms, this book: Explains how to audit doctoral research, and any associated materials, to assess which elements are best suited for publication Provides advice on how to determine what kind of publication is best suited to different types of research Discusses journal articles, books, self-publishing, online and social media options, and alternative methods of publishing Considers each type of publication in light of career aspirations Each chapter includes practical examples, tailored to researchers interested in working in academia, industry or business, a clinical or practical career, or self-employment. Providing key strategies and insights to secure knowledge and success, Publishing from your Doctoral Research is the ideal guide for anyone looking to develop their career through publication within or outside academia. The ‘Insider Guides to Success in Academia’ offers support and practical advice to doctoral students and early-career researchers. Covering the topics that really matter, but which often get overlooked, this indispensable series provides practical and realistic guidance to address many of the needs and challenges of trying to operate, and remain, in academia. These neat pocket guides fill specific and significant gaps in current literature. Each book offers insider perspectives on the often implicit rules of the game – the things you need to know but usually aren’t told by institutional postgraduate support, researcher development units, or supervisors – and will address a practical topic that is key to career progression. They are essential reading for doctoral students, early-career researchers, supervisors, mentors, or anyone looking to launch or maintain their career in academia.
`This is an important publication, which I urge colleagues to read and to consider carefully all the implications′ - Early Years `... This provocative analysis with its clear examples is worth reading for its fresh look at where we could be headed come the 21st century′- Nursery Equipment Early childhood services in the UK have been badly neglected. The consequences are serious: chronic underfunding and increasing fragmentation; most staff poorly paid and trained; access often a matter of potluck and money; low aspirations and even lower expectations. Increasingly, young children are seen as important for what they may become rather than for what they are, and the case for early childhood services is made out in terms of later performance in school and adult life rather than the needs and rights of young children themselves. No current political vision redresses this undervaluing of early childhood or addresses the parlous state our early childhood services are in. Drawing on the rich early childhood tradition in the UK, going back to Robert Owen, and giving examples from current practice, Transforming Nursery Education offers a critique of the status quo, a vision of early childhood services and practical strategies for achieving it.The book covers a wide range of day care and education services and critical issues such as staffing, funding, curriculum, models of provision and the age at which children start compulsory schooling. Within this broad approach, the book focuses in particular on the history and current practice of nursery education. It argues that the present narrow approach to nursery education is neither appropriate to the needs of today nor inevitable. It answers a critical question: how can nursery education be transformed to play a leading role in the comprehensive, integrated and coherent early childhood service that today′s families really need?
In this international bestseller investigating the murder of the Russian Imperial Family, Helen Rappaport embarks on a quest to uncover the various plots and plans to save them, why they failed, and who was responsible. The murder of the Romanov family in July 1918 horrified the world, and its aftershocks still reverberate today. In Putin's autocratic Russia, the Revolution itself is considered a crime, and its anniversary was largely ignored. In stark contrast, the centenary of the massacre of the Imperial Family was commemorated in 2018 by a huge ceremony attended by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. While the murders themselves have received major attention, what has never been investigated in detail are the various plots and plans behind the scenes to save the family—on the part of their royal relatives, other governments, and Russian monarchists loyal to the Tsar. Rappaport refutes the claim that the fault lies entirely with King George V, as has been the traditional view for the last century. The responsibility for failing the Romanovs must be equally shared. The question of asylum for the Tsar and his family was an extremely complicated issue that presented enormous political, logistical and geographical challenges at a time when Europe was still at war. Like a modern day detective, Helen Rappaport draws on new and never-before-seen sources from archives in the US, Russia, Spain and the UK, creating a powerful account of near misses and close calls with a heartbreaking conclusion. With its up-to-the-minute research, The Race to Save the Romanovs is sure to replace outdated classics as the final word on the fate of the Romanovs.
Creative research methods can help to answer complex contemporary questions which are hard to answer using conventional methods alone. Creative methods can also be more ethical, helping researchers to address social injustice. This bestselling book, now in its second edition, is the first to identify and examine the five areas of creative research methods: • arts-based research • embodied research • research using technology • multi-modal research • transformative research frameworks. Written in an accessible, practical and jargon-free style, with reflective questions, boxed text and a companion website to guide student learning, it offers numerous examples of creative methods in practice from around the world. This new edition includes a wealth of new material, with five extra chapters and over 200 new references. Spanning the gulf between academia and practice, this useful book will inform and inspire researchers by showing readers why, when, and how to use creative methods in their research. Creative Research Methods has been cited over 500 times.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.