Full 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.
Contents
Foreword by Kristen A. Renn and Larry D. Roper xi
About the Author xv
About This Book xvii
Acknowledgments xxiii
1 Studying Research 1
2 Reading Research 20
3 Framing Research 44
4 Considering Ethics 65
5 Learning Qualitative Research 75
6 Reviewing Documents 95
7 Observing People and Places 117
8 Interviewing Individuals and Groups 137
9 Learning Quantitative Research 161
10 Describing Trends 178
11 Testing Differences 200
12 Assessing Relationships 223
13 Making Predictions 245
14 Exploring Mixed Methods 269
Glossary 291
Index 303
