Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach

"Suter establishes schema for what is to come, thereby garnering a much more thorough "buy-in" of the subject. Not only does Suter use a "friendlier" and less formal writing style than my current book, but the excellent real world examples make the topics come to life for students. The level at which material is presented in this textbook is appropriate for the students in my masters level classes."

―Steven A. Harris, Tarleton State University

Engaging, informative, and easy to follow, Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach enables students to think clearly and critically about the scientific process of research. W. Newton Suter′s makes research accessible to teachers and equips them with the skills and understanding that enable the evaluation of published research including quantitative, qualitative, and action research. Suter emphasizes that the ability to think clearly about research methods, reason through complex problems, and evaluate published research are important in today′s changing educational landscape.  Students using this book will understand how and why researchers think like they do.

Key Features

• Guides students through the stages of the scientific process:  thinking about research, formulating hypotheses, selecting experimental research designs, collecting and analyzing data, and completing research analyses and critiques
• Includes a chapter that focuses on the practical aspects of writing a research proposal
• Enhances students′ ability to think like researchers with features such as Critical Thinker Alerts, Highlight and Learning Checks, Key Terms, Critical Perspectives, and Application Exercises
• Includes instructor′s resources on CD-ROM and a Web-based student study site
  • Instructor Resource CD- contains keyed answers and discussion points for Critical Thinker Alerts, keyed answers to Highlight and Learning Checks, keyed answers to Application Exercises, and a test bank of multiple choice questions
  • Web-based Student Study Site www.sagepub.com/eic - provides access to many full-text research reports in SAGE journals carefully linked to concepts and questions in each chapter of the text; includes More Examples of guided tours of published research to illustrate concepts in the text

Targeting consumers of research, Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach is perfect for introductory courses to research methods in education at the advanced undergraduate level, but also for graduate courses where students need a refresher of research methods. This book will also benefit students in course such as Education Foundations, Teacher Education, Educational Psychology, Special Education, and Counseling Education.  

W. Newton Suter received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 1983 from Stanford University. He is Professor in Educational Foundations in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he frequently teaches courses in research, statistics, measurement, and educational psychology. Dr. Suter’s research interests include healthcare education, health literacy, and home health education, and he has written several textbooks and various journal articles.