Summary
Summary Research Methods: The essential knowledge base
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Complete summary of the book: Trochim, W.M., Donnelly, J.P., & Arora, K. (2016). Research Methods: The essential knowledge base (2nd ed.).
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
Research methods, mock exam, chapter 1&2
-
Comprehensive Summary - Academic Project (6012S0010Y)
-
TEST BANK FOR RESEARCH METHODS THE ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE BASE 2ND EDITION BY WILLIAM TROCHIM (ISBN 978-1133954774)
Seller
Follow
amberdejong25
Content preview
1. Foundations of Research Method1.1 The Research Enterprise
1.1a What Is Research?
Research = a type of systematic (concentrated thinking, in a rational and careful manner) investigation that is
empirical (collecting data to use for decision-making) in nature and is designed to contribute to public
knowledge.
Research enterprise = the macro-level effort to accumulate knowledge across multiple empirical systematic
public research projects.
1.1b Translational Research
Translational research = the systematic effort to move research from initial discovery to practice and ultimately
to impacts on our lives.
Research-practice continuum = the process of moving from an initial research idea or discovery to practice,
and the potential for the idea to influence our lives or world.
Basic research = research that is designed to generate discoveries and to understand how the discoveries work.
Applied research = research where a discovery is tested under increasingly controlled conditions in real-world
contexts.
Implementation and dissemination research = Research that assesses how well an innovation or discovery can
be distributed in and carried out in a broad range of contexts that extend beyond the original controlled
studies.
Impact research = research that assesses the broader effects of a discovery or innovation on society.
Policy research = research that is designed to investigate existing policies or develop and test new ones.
1.1c Research Syntheses and Guidelines
Research synthesis = a systematic study of multiple prior research projects that address the same research
question or topic and that summarizes the results in a manner that can be used by practitioners.
Meta-analysis = a type of research synthesis that uses statistical methods to combine the results of
similar studies quantitatively in order to allow general conclusions to be made.
Systematic review = a type of research synthesis that focuses on a specific question or issue and uses
pre-planned methods to identify, select, assess, and summarize the findings of multiple research
studies (often involves a panel, discuss how well a discovery works to address a problem).
Meta-analyses and systematic reviews are sometimes not sufficient by themselves as guides for how they
might change what they implement as they are rather technical and scientific, and therefore cautious about
making recommendations for actions.
Guideline = a systematic process that leads to a specific set of research-based recommendations for practice
that usually includes some estimates of how strong the evidence is for each recommendation.
Translational research across the research-practice continuum with the addition of a system for research
synthesis and the development of practice guidelines interposed between basic and applied research and its
subsequent implementation and dissemination.
,1.1d Evidence-Based Practice
Evidence-based practice (EBP) = a movement designed to encourage or require practitioners to employ
practices that are based on research evidence as reflected in research syntheses or practice guidelines.
1.1e An Evolutionary Perspective on the Research Enterprise
Evolutionary epistemology = the branch of philosophy that holds that ideas evolve through the process of
natural selection.
Any discovery has survival value; it either survives or it doesn’t. Our research-based knowledge evolves, often
in unpredictable and surprising ways.
1.2 Conceptualizing Research
1.2a Where Research Topics Come From
Practical problems in the field.
Literature in your specific field.
Requests for proposals (RFPs) = a document issued by a government agency or other organization
that, typically, describes the problem that needs addressing, the contexts in which it operates, the
approach the agency would like you to take to investigate the problem, and the amount the agency
would be willing to pay for such research.
Think up a research topic.
1.2b The Literature Review
Literature review = a systematic compilation and written summary of all of the literature published in scientific
journals that is related to a research topic of interest. A literature review is typically included in the
introduction section of a research write-up.
Focus your efforts on the research literature (most credible research journals).
Do the review early in the research process (learn about the necessary trade-offs)
Peer review = a system for reviewing potential research publications where authors submit potential
articles to a journal editor who solicits several reviewers who agree to give a critical review of the
paper. The paper is sent to these reviewers with no identification of the author so that there will be no
personal bias (either for or against the author). Based on the reviewers’ recommendations, the editor
can accept the article, reject it, or recommend that the author revise and resubmit it.
Check their literature review to get a quick start
Prior research helps ensure that you include all of the major relevant constructs in your study.
Literature review will help you find and select appropriate measurement instruments (see what
instruments researchers used themselves in contexts similar to yours).
Helps you anticipate common problems in your research context.
1.2c Feasibility Issues
Trade-offs between rigor and practicality
How long the research will take to accomplish
Question whether any important ethical constraints require consideration
You must determine whether you can acquire the cooperation needed to take the project to its
successful conclusion
Must determine the degree to which the costs will be manageable
1.3 The Language of Research
1.3a Research Vocabulary
Theoretical = pertaining to theory. Social research is theoretical, meaning that much of it is concerned with
developing, exploring, or testing the theories or ideas that social researchers have about how the world
operates.
Empirical = based on direct observations and measurements of reality.
,Probabilistic = based on probabilities.
Causal = pertaining to a cause-effect relationship, hypothesis, or relationship. Something is causal if it leads to
an outcome or makes an outcome happen.
Causal relationship = a cause-effect relationship. For example, when you evaluate whether your treatment or
program causes an outcome to occur, you are examining a causal relationship.
1.3b Types of Studies
1. Descriptive studies = a study that documents what is going on or what exists.
2. Relational studies = a study that investigates the connection between two or more variables.
3. Causal studies = a study that investigates a causal relationship between two variables.
1.3c Time in Research
Cross-sectional studies = a study that takes place at a single point in time.
Longitudinal = a study that takes place over time.
1. Repeated measures = two or more waves of measurement over time.
2. Time series = many waves of measurement over time; at least twenty waves. Less than twenty is
called repeated measures design.
1.3d Types of Relationships
A relationship refers to the correspondence between two variables; the nature or the pattern of the
relationship.
The nature of a relationship (2 types)
Correlational relationship = two things perform in a synchronized manner. The two variables are correlated;
but knowing that the two variables are correlated does not tell whether one causes the other.
Causal relationship = a synchronized relationship between two variables just as a correlational relationship is,
but in a causal relationship we say that one variable causes the other to occur.
Relationship = an association between two variables such that, in general, the level on one variable is related
to the level on the other. Technically, the term “correlational relationship” is redundant: a correlation by
definition always refers to a relationship. However, the term correlational relationship is used to distinguish it
from the specific type of association called a causal relationship.
Third variable or missing variable problem = an unobserved variable that accounts for a correlation between
two variables.
Patterns of relationships or no relationship at all.
Positive relationship = a relationship between variables in which high values for one variable are associated
with high values on another variable, and low values are associated with low values on the other variable.
Negative relationship = a relationship between variables in which high values for one variable are associated
with low values on another variable.
Curvilinear relationship = a relationship that changes over the range of both variables. 1.3e Hypotheses
Hypothesis: A specific statement of prediction.
Alternative hypothesis = a specific statement of prediction that usually states what you expect will happen in
your study. Ha or H1.
Null hypothesis = the hypothesis that describes the possible outcomes other than the alternative hypothesis.
Usually, the null hypothesis predicts there will be no effect of a program or treatment you are studying. Ho or
H0.
One-tailed hypothesis = a hypothesis that specifies a direction; for example, when your hypothesis predicts
that your program will increase the outcome. Meaning, the null hypothesis must account for the other two
possible conditions: no difference, or a decrease. One-tailed refers to the tail of the distribution on the
outcome variable.
Two-tailed hypothesis = a hypothesis that does not specify a direction. For example, if your hypothesis is that
your program will have an effect on an outcome, but you are unwilling to specify whether that effect will be
positive or negative, you are using a two-tailed hypothesis.
You first formulate your prediction, and then you formulate a second hypothesis that is mutually exclusive of
the first and incorporates all possible alternative outcomes for that case.
Two mutually exclusive hypothesis statements that, together, exhaust all possible outcomes, need to
be developed.
The hypotheses must be tested so that one is necessarily accepted and the other rejected.
, Hypothetico-deductive model = a model in which two mutually exclusive hypotheses that together
exhaust all possible outcomes are tested, such that if one hypothesis is accepted, the second must
therefore be rejected.
1.3f Variables
Variable = any entity that can take on different values.
Quantitative = the numerical representation of some object. A quantitative variable is any variable that is
measured by using numbers.
Attribute = a specific value of a variable (gender has two attributes, agreement might have five).
Independent variable = the variable that you manipulate, a cause. I.e.: A program or treatment is typically an
independent variable.
Dependent variable = the variable affected by the independent variable; for example, the outcome.
A variable should be:
Exhaustive = the property of a variable that occurs when you include all possible answerable
responses.
Mutually exclusive = the property of a variable that ensures that the respondent is not able to assign two
attributes simultaneously.
1.3g Types of Data
Qualitative data = data in which the variables are not in a numerical form, but are in the form of text,
photographs, sound bites, and so on.
Quantitative data = data that appear in numerical form.
1.3h The Unit of Analysis
Unit of analysis = the entity that you are analysing in your analysis; for example, individuals, groups, or social
interactions.
It is the analysis you do in your study that determines what the unit is.
Hierarchical modelling = a statistical model that allows for the inclusion of data at different levels, where the
unit of analysis at some levels is nested within the unit of analysis at others (e.g., student within class within
school within school district).
1.3i Deduction and Induction
Deductive = top-down reasoning that works from the more general to the more specific (theory > hypothesis >
observation > confirmation).
Inductive = bottom-up reasoning that begins with specific observations and measures and ends up as a general
conclusion or theory (observation > pattern > tentative hypothesis > theory).
Inductive is more exploratory, deductive is narrower in nature and concerned with testing or confirming
hypotheses.
1.4 The Structure of Research
The “hourglass” structure of research
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller amberdejong25. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $3.20. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
53068 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now