Understanding and evaluating research : a critical guide /
Sue L.T. McGregor.
- xxx, 568 pages ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
About the author -- Introduction -- Critical research literacy -- Philosophical and theoretical aspects of research -- Research methodologies -- Conceptual frameworks, theories, and models -- Orienting and supportive elements of research -- Orienting and supportive secondary elements of a journal article -- Peer reviewed journals -- Research justifications, augmentation, and rationales -- Introduction and research questions -- Literature review -- Research design and research methods -- Overview of research design and methods -- Reporting qualitative research methods -- Reporting quantitative and mixed methods research -- Results and findings -- Statistical literacy and conventions -- Descriptive and inferential statistics -- Results and findings -- Discussion, conclusions, and recommendations -- Discussion -- Conclusions -- Recommendations -- Argumentative essays and theoretical papers -- Argumentative essays: position, discussion, and think piece papers -- Conceptual and theoretical articles -- Appendix -- References -- Index.
"Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide shows students how to be critical consumers of research and to appreciate the power of methodology as it shapes the research question, the use of theory in the study, the methods used, and how the outcomes are reported. The book starts with what it means to be a critical and uncritical reader of research, followed by a detailed chapter on methodology, and then proceeds to a discussion of each component of a research article as it is informed by the methodology. The book encourages readers to select an article from their discipline, learning along the way how to assess each component of the article and come to a judgment as to its rigor or quality as a scholarly report." -- Publisher's description.