Reading and Understanding Research
- Lawrence F. Locke - University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
- Stephen J. Silverman - Teachers College, Columbia University, USA
- Waneen Wyrick Spirduso - The University of Texas at Austin, USA
This edition is completely reorganized to separate quantitative and qualitative research with four new distinct sections (research reports, quantitative research, qualitative research, and research reviews. The authors presume no special background in research, and begin by introducing and framing the notion of reading research within a wider social context. Next they offer insight on when to seek out research, locating and selecting the right reports, and how to help evaluate research for trustworthiness.
This is a useful and essential book for graduate students who want to have a solid understanding of research and dissemination of results. I use this book as a complementary textbook for my Educational research course.
The textbook meets the needs of our program, i.e., with a practical focus on research that is useful for clinicians in training.
This text will be used in my summer 2014 methods class. It really allows for students to understand research in a meaningful way.
very practical, clear writing style; accessible to undergraduate students; straight forward and thorough presentation of concepts.
This is a really useful text which I will be strongly recommending to my students. There is an excellent breadth of topics meaning that it is useful for all the students on our wide variety of courses.
easy to read and thorough coverage of material for upper level undergraduates
Very good introductory book for teaching students how to read research. I use it for an interdisciplinary class for first year master's students. They each enter the class with a range of academic experiences and backgrounds. This book is a good place to start.
Book is exactly the right level for our master's program that serves practitioners who need to understand research (but not necessarily conduct it).
We liked this book but are reflecting on which course it might be used in other than the DOL 720 Critical Inquiry course for which we were considering it. I would highly recommend the book it simply didn't work in the course for which we were reviewing it.
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 1 - The Research Report
Chapter 4 - The Use, Misuse, and Misunderstanding of Research