ABSTRACT

First Steps in Research and Statistics is a new, very accessible approach to learning about quantitative methods. No previous knowledge or experience is assumed and every stage of the research process is covered.
Key topics include:
* Formulating your research questions
* How to choose the right statistical test for your research design
* Important research issues, such as questionnaire design, ethics, sampling, reliability and validity
* Conducting simple statistics to explore relationships and differences in your data
* Using statistics to explore relationships and differences in your data
* Writing up your research report and presenting statistics
Simple and helpful worksheets and flow diagrams guide you through the research stages. Each chapter contains exercises with answers to check whether you've understood.

part 1|38 pages

The basics of research

chapter 1|7 pages

Asking research questions

chapter 2|8 pages

Common research methods

chapter 3|9 pages

Ethics in the conduct of research

chapter 4|13 pages

Measuring variables

part 2|47 pages

The statistical analysis of single variables and simple surveys

chapter 5|4 pages

Two types of data analysis

chapter 6|9 pages

Describing and summarising category data

chapter 7|20 pages

Describing and summarising score data

chapter 8|12 pages

Surveys and sampling

part 3|54 pages

Exploring correlational relationships in survey/non experimental studies

part 4|34 pages

Exploring differences between group means

part 5|56 pages

The essentials of designing experiments

part 6|11 pages

The report

chapter 21|10 pages

Writing a research report