Synopsis
The three-volume handbook features descriptions of many techniques that psychologists and others have developed to help them pursue a shared understanding of why humans think, feel, and behave the way they do.
At the broadest level, when choosing a method, researchers make decisions about what data or measurement techniques will best capture the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that interest them; what research design best fits the question that they want to answer; and what strategies for data analysis best match the characteristics of their design and measurements. The simplest choice for organizing the presentation of material is the temporal sequence in which they will make these decisions.
The earliest chapters in the handbook address the broadest questions related to research designs. These involve both (a) which research designs are most appropriate for which question; and (b) how to think about the ethicality and feasibility of the designs that address the question and the measures available.
Next, handbook chapters describe the types of data that psychologists most often collect and how to determine whether the measurement techniques are the best ones for the research purpose.
Later, the chapters return to issues of research design and present a panoply of options, further divided along more nuanced distinctions in their objectives. Chapters on techniques for data analysis follow, again with special attention to the fit between design, measurement, and analysis.
Finally, issues and choices to be considered when writing up research to share with the community of psychologists are discussed in the handbook's concluding chapters.
About the Author
Harris Cooper, PhD, received his doctoral degree in social psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1976. From 1977 to 2003, he served on the faculty at the University of Missouri and currently serves as professor and chair in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Dr. Cooper's research interests follow two paths: The first concerns research synthesis and research methodology. His book, Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis: A Step-by-Step Approach (2010) is in its fourth edition. He is the coeditor of the Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis (2nd ed., 2009). In 2007, Dr. Cooper was the recipient of the Frederick Mosteller Award for Contributions to Research Synthesis Methodology given by the Campbell Collaboration. In 2008 he received the Ingram Olkin Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Research Synthesis from the Society for Research Synthesis Methodology.
In 2007–2008, Dr. Cooper chaired APA's committee that developed guidelines for information about research that should be included in manuscripts submitted to APA journals. He recently authored the book Reporting Research in Psychology: How to Meet Journal Article Reporting Standards (2011) published by APA. He is cocreator of the Study Design and Implementation Assessment Device, an instrument for assessing the correspondence between the design and conduct of social science research and its ability to draw inferences about causal relationships. In 2007, Dr. Cooper was appointed to membership on the National Academy of Sciences' Standing Committee on Social Science Evidence for Use: Improving the Quality and Utility of Social Science Research.
Dr. Cooper is also interested in the application of social and developmental psychology to education policy issues. In particular, he studies the relationship between time and learning. Whereas most people think of issues relating time to learning in terms of how time is spent in school (class time, instructional time, time-on task), Dr. Cooper's work zooms out from school time. He focuses on issues related to the school day and school calendar (extended school days and years, summer school, year-round calendars, summer learning loss) and academic-related contexts children find themselves in outside the school day (doing homework, afterschool programs, tutoring).
Dr. Cooper served as editor for the Psychological Bulletin from 2003 through mid-2009. He was chair of the APA Council of Editors in 2006 and was a member of the APA committee that revised the APA Publication Manual.1 Since 2009, he has served as the chief editorial advisor for APA's journal publishing program. In this role he assists the editors of APA's more than 30 journals and mediates disputes between editors and authors and between authors and authors.
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