Introduction to Research Methods: 4th edition

This practical, down-to-earth guide is for researchers, students, community groups, charities or employees - in fact anyone who needs to put together research projects quickly and effectively. It contains everything from developing your idea into a proposal, through to analysing data and reporting results.

Whether you have to undertake a project as part of your coursework, or as part of your employment, or simply because you are fascinated by something you have observed and want to find out more, this book offers you advice on how to turn your ideas into a workable project.

Specifically it will show you how to:
- choose your research methods
- choose your participants
- prepare a research proposal
- construct questionnaires
- conduct interviews and focus groups
- analyse your data
- report your findings
- be an ethical researcher.

Contents: Preface; 1. How to Define Your Project; 2. How to Decide Upon a Methodology; 3. How to Choose Your Research Methods; 4. How to Conduct Background Research; 5. How to Choose Your Participants; 6. How to Prepare a Research Proposal; 7. How to Conduct Interviews; 8. How to Conduct Focus Groups; 9. How to Construct Questionnaires; 10. How to Carry Out Participant Observation; 11. How to Analyse Your Data; 12. How to Report Your Findings; 13. How to be an Ethical Researcher; Useful addresses; Index.

Dr Catherine Dawson has worked as a researcher since the mid-1980s and has taught on research methods courses at university. She has also written extensively for academic journals on a wide range of subjects including research methodology. In this book she explains complicated issues in a way that can be understood by anyone who is interested in their topic.