Research Methods in Information, Second Edition - Softcover

Alison Jane Pickard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555709362 ISBN 13: 9781555709365

Publisher: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2013

Synopsis

Fully updated for today s research environments, the long-awaited second edition of Alison Jane Pickard's best-selling handbook includes brand new coverage of online research methods and techniques, mixed methodology and qualitative analysis. The first primer to focus entirely on the needs of the information and communications community, it guides would-be researchers through the variety of possibilities open to them under the heading research and provides students with the confidence to embark on their dissertations. While Pickard summarizes the philosophy and theory of research to provide context, she focuses squarely on a practical exploration of the research process, offering examples and exercises tried and tested over a whole teaching career. This book takes readers through each aspect of the research process, including

• The major research paradigms
• Reviewing the literature
• Defining the research
• The research proposal
• Sampling
• Research ethics
• Methods, including case studies, surveys, experimental research, ethnography, Delphi study, action research, historical research and grounded theory
• Research data management, examined in a new chapter contributed by Professor Julie McLeod, Sue Childs and Elizabeth Loma, which applies evidence from the recent JISC-funded DATUM project
• Collection techniques, including interviews, questionnaires, observation, diaries, focus groups, usability testing, qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• Software for analysis
• Virtual research
• Presenting the research

About this title

About the Author

Alison Jane Pickard is Head of Information and Communication Management and Director of Quality and Student Experience in the School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences at the University of Northumbria, UK, where she is also Program Leader for the new Professional Doctorate in Information Sciences. She teaches Research Methods in Information and Communication Management, Information Sciences, as well as other subject areas, and has project managed a number of JISC and AHRB research projects.

Edition details

• Publisher: ALA Neal-Schuman
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1555709362
• ISBN 13: 9781555709365
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 352