The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project

The ultimate companion to successfully completing your research project, the author guides you through a step-by-step approach to research and provides all of the skills and momentum you need to excel. Each stage of a project is clearly set out with best practice highlighted alongside pragmatic advice for tackling research in the real world.

The Third Edition uses multidisciplinary case studies, and examples from the author’s own experience, to answer your questions and support your progress as you move smoothly through each stage. With a new chapter on mixed methods approaches, more on disseminating research, more on the practical and legal implications of ethics and more international examples, the book is packed full of learning features and tools to support your journey, including:

• A fully-developed website with podcasts, videos, journal articles and examples of real projects
• Activities and worksheets to help you organize your time
• Learning objectives to sustain your momentum
• Top tips relating to key research skills
• Full glossary to test understanding and provide definitions
• Annotated further reading to help you move through the literature
• ‘Excuse me, I have a question!’ feature to answer common questions.

Warm, innovative and clever, this book is packed full of must-have information for anyone doing a research project.

Zina O’Leary is an internationally recognized leader in research methodologies and has a keen interest in the application of research to evidence-based decision-making. Zina is an Adjunct Professor at the Joseph R. Biden Jr, School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware as well as a Senior ­Fellow at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government where she coordinates research and project units for their Executive Masters and Executive Education Programmes. Zina also has an extensive history as a consultant to both government and the private sector and was the research coordinator for the Centre for Environmental Health Development at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. She is the author of Researching Real World Problems, The Social Science Jargon Buster, Workplace Research and three books in Sage’s Little Quick Fix Series: Research Questions; Research Proposals; and Presenting Your Research.