Includes index.

Knowledge and research methods -- Empirical research -- The role of theory in research -- Experimental and nonexperimental studies -- Causal-comparative studies -- Types of nonexperimental research -- Quantitative and qualitative research : key differences -- Quantitative and qualitative research decisions -- Program evaluation -- The development of ethical research standards -- Ethical principles in research -- Why researchers review literature -- Locating literature in electronic databases -- Structuring the literature review -- Connecting the literature to your study -- Preparing to write a critical review -- Creating a synthesis -- Why academics use citation -- Introduction to style guides -- Decisions in quantitative research design -- Variables in nonexperimental studies -- Variables in experimental studies -- Operational definitions of variables -- Research hypotheses, purposes, and questions -- Biased and unbiased sampling -- Simple random and systematic sampling -- Stratified random sampling -- Cluster sampling -- Nonprobability sampling and qualitative research -- Sampling and demographics -- Sample composition and bias -- Sample size in quantitative studies -- Sample size and diversity in qualitative research -- Sampling in the modern world -- Introduction to validity -- Judgmental validity -- Empirical validity -- Judgmental-empirical validity -- Reliability and its relationship to validity -- Measures of reliability -- Internal consistency and reliability -- Norm-and criterion-referenced tests -- Measures of optimum performance -- Measures of typical performance -- Measurement in qualitative research -- Interviews in qualitative research -- Other methods for collecting qualitative data --Grounded theory and research design -- Consensual qualitative research design -- Designing case study research -- Mixed methods designs -- True experimental designs -- Threats to internal validity -- Threats to external validity -- Pre-experimental designs -- Quasi-experimental designs -- Confounding in experiments -- Descriptive and inferential statistics -- Scales of measurement and statistical tests -- Descriptions of nominal data -- Shapes of distributions -- The mean, median, and mode -- The mean and standard deviation -- The median and interquartile range -- Understanding probability in inferential statistics -- Introduction to the Null Hypothesis -- The Pearson Correlation Coefficient (r) -- The t-Test -- One-way analysis of variance (F) -- Two-way analysis of variance -- .Introduction to the Chi-Square Test -- The Bivariate Chi-Square Test and types of error --Regression Basics -- Practical significance of results -- Introduction to effect size (d) -- Interpretation of effect size (d) -- Effect size and correlation (r) -- Introduction to meta-analysis -- Meta-analysis and effect size -- Meta-analysis : strengths and weaknesses -- The structure of a research report -- Writing abstracts -- Introduction and literature review -- Describing participants -- Describing measures -- Reporting research results -- Writing the discussion -- Preparing theses and dissertations.

Designed for students who are getting lost in the details of research methods and not getting the big picture, this short book provides an overview of the essential concepts traditionally covered in a research methods class.