Summary
Contents
Subject index
This book offers a comprehensive and rounded view of research as a tool for logical problem-solving. It is built on the philosophical-pragmatic foundation that the value of knowledge and research methodologies lies in their usefulness in engaging with the real world.
Basic Research Methods: An Entry to Social Science Research synthesizes both positivist and non-positivist methodologies. It is for students who are undertaking their first social science research course or their first research project. The techniques are basic ones, but many masters and doctoral research studies use them. From an experiential base, students would be able to build a more advanced conceptual and theoretical understanding of research through further reading and practice.
The book covers both quantitative and qualitative methods. It discusses policy-applied-pure-action model of research, treatment of participatory research as an ethical rather than a methodological issue, inclusion of project evaluation as a type of case study, addition of binary measurement to the standard classification, practical use of Microsoft Excel for analysis of both words and numbers, a building block approach to writing, and the author's own thoughts on application of research.
Real-life examples from different subject areas in Asia are used in this concise textbook, which has been written in an engaging language, adopting the inductive approach.
Case Study Method
Case Study Method
The case study method takes a situation as given and tries to find out what it particularly means to the participants. Commonly, case studies are associated with qualitative research, but often they combine different research techniques. They can illuminate quantitative findings and can incorporate quantitative data.
The method usually involves the examination of one or, possibly, two or three particular cases in-depth and holistically. A case study can take months or even years to complete, which allows mature consideration of the findings, correction of misunderstandings, filling of gaps in the data, investigation of new ideas arising from the data and a longitudinal view. This last feature can be a considerable advantage over surveys and experiments, which typically are one-off methods.
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