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| Features | |
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| Preface | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Educational Research in an Age of Accountability | |
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| Evidence-Based Education | |
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| The Role of Research in Evidence-Based Education | |
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| Education Policy and Reform | |
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| Accountability | |
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| Effectiveness | |
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| What Is Research? | |
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| The Best Possible Answer to the Best Possible Question | |
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| Types of Research in Education | |
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| Quantitative Research | |
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| Qualitative Research | |
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| Other Types of Research | |
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| Research Design | |
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| The Logic of Research Design | |
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| Important Elements in Research | |
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| Hypotheses | |
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| The Gremlin | |
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| Disproving the Null Hypothesis | |
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| Theory | |
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| Statistical Significance | |
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| False Positive and False Negative Errors | |
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| Internal Validity | |
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| External Validity | |
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| Essentials of Research Design | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Quantitative Research Designs | |
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| Randomized Experimental Designs | |
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| Experimental Comparisons in an Age of Accountability | |
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| Random Assignment | |
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| Random Assignment of Individuals | |
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| Stratified Random Assignment | |
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| Randomized Experimental Comparisons | |
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| Control Groups | |
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| Intent to Treat | |
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| Pretesting | |
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| Experiments with More Than Two Treatments | |
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| Interactions in Factorial Experiments | |
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| Ordinal versus Disordinal Interactions | |
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| Factorial Designs with More Than Two Factors | |
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| Alternatives to Random Assignment of Individuals | |
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| Random Assignment of Classes, Schools, and Teachers | |
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| Delayed Treatment Control Group Designs | |
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| Within-Teacher Random Assignment | |
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| Example of an Experiment | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Quasi-Experiments | |
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| Conducting Quasi-Experiments | |
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| Minimizing Selection Bias in Quasi-Experiments | |
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| Making Comparisons | |
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| Pre-Post Comparisons | |
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| Successive-Year Comparisons | |
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| Artificial Control Groups | |
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| What If Pretests Are Not Equal in Different Treatment Groups? | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Time Series Designs | |
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| Single-Case Experiments | |
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| Reversal (ABA) Designs | |
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| Multiple-Baseline Designs | |
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| Groups as Single Cases | |
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| Statistics in Single-Case Designs | |
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| Limitations of Single-Case Designs | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Nonexperimental Quantitative Designs | |
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| Correlational Designs | |
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| Correlation Coefficients | |
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| Correlational Designs Using Categorical Variables | |
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| Advantages of Correlational Designs | |
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| Causal-Comparative Designs | |
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| Large Correlation Matrices | |
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| The Problem of Causation in Correlational Research | |
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| Mutual Causation | |
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| Self-Selection Bias | |
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| Spurious Correlations | |
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| The Role of Theory in Correlational Research | |
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| Control Variables | |
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| Multiple Regression | |
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| Limitations of Control Variables | |
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| Example of a Correlational Study | |
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| Descriptive Research | |
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| Survey Research | |
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| Assessment Research | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Survey Research | |
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| Types of Surveys | |
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| Face-to-Face Interviews | |
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| Telephone Interviews | |
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| Mail and E-Mail Surveys | |
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| Creating the Research Instrument | |
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| Constructing Questionnaires | |
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| Open versus Closed Form | |
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| Principles of Questionnaire Construction | |
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| Sociometric Questionnaires | |
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| Constructing Interviews | |
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| Creating an Interview Protocol | |
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| Piloting the Interview Protocol | |
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| Recording Interviews | |
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| Preventing Bias in Interviews | |
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| Coding Interview Responses | |
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| Sampling | |
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| Random Samples | |
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| Cluster Samples | |
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| Stratified Random Samples | |
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| Samples of Convenience | |
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| Missing Data | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Qualitative and Action Research Designs | |
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| Introduction to Qualitative Research | |
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| Characteristics of Qualitative Research | |
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| Qualitative research uses the natural setting as the direct source of data and the researcher as the key instrument | |
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| Qualitative research is descriptive | |
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| Qualitative research is concerned with process, rather than simply with outcomes or products | |
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| Qualitative research includes an inductive analysis of data | |
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| Meaning is subjective and of essential concern to the qualitative approach | |
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| Qualitative researchers are aware of their subjective perspective | |
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| Steps in Qualitative Research | |
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| Identify What Will Be Studied | |
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| Identify Who Will Be Studied | |
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| Collect Data | |
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| Analyze Data | |
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| Generate Hypotheses | |
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| Make Interpretations and Conclusions | |
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| Data Collection and Qualitative Data | |
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| Collecting Data | |
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| Naturalistic Observation | |
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| Open-Ended Interviews | |
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| Types of Data | |
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| Field Notes | |
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| Documents and Photographs | |
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| Statistics | |
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| Triangulation | |
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| Qualitative versus Quantitative Research: The Wrong Question | |
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| How They Differ | |
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| Generalizability versus Depth | |
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| Hypothesis Testing versus Hypothesis Generation | |
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| When Are Qualitative Methods Useful? | |
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| Mixed Methods: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods | |
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| Qualitative-Quantitative Approach | |
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| Quantitative-Qualitative Approach | |
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| Combined Approach | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Qualitative Designs | |
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| Different Perspectives, Different Approaches | |
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| Traditional Approaches | |
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| Ethnography | |
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| Forms of Ethnographic Data | |
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| Steps in Ethnographic Research | |
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| When Is Ethnography Appropriate? | |
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| Limitations of Ethnography | |
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| Phenomenology | |
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| Forms of Phenomenological Data | |
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| Steps in Phenomenological Research | |
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| When Is Phenomenology Appropriate? | |
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| Limitations of Phenomenology | |
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| Case Studies | |
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| Forms of Case Study Data | |
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| Steps in Case Studies | |
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| Example of a Qualitative Study | |
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| When Are Case Studies Appropriate? | |
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| Limitations of Case Studies | |
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| Historical Research | |
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| Forms of Historical Data | |
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| Steps in Historical Research | |
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| When Is Historical Research Appropriate? | |
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| Limitations of Historical Research | |
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| Content Analysis | |
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| Forms of Content Analysis Data | |
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| Steps in Content Analysis | |
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| When Is Content Analysis Appropriate? | |
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| Limitations of Content Analysis | |
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| Postmodern Research Designs | |
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| Critical Theory | |
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| Feminist Approach | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Action Research | |
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| Understanding Action Research | |
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| Action Research versus Traditional Research | |
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| Types of Action Research | |
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| Practical Action Research | |
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| Participatory Action Research | |
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| Political Action Research | |
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| Conducting Action Research | |
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| Steps in Action Research | |
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| When Is Action Research Appropriate? | |
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| Limitations of Action Research | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Planning and Implementing Research | |
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| Measurement | |
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| Measures: Reliability and Validity | |
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| Reliability | |
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| The Importance of Reliability | |
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| Forming Scales | |
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| Computing Reliability Coefficients | |
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| When Is Scale Reliability Adequate? | |
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| Validity | |
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| Face Validity | |
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| Content Validity | |
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| Predictive Validity | |
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| Concurrent Validity | |
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| Construct Validity | |
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| Types of Measures | |
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| Achievement and Aptitude Tests | |
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| Standardized Tests | |
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| Criterion-Referenced Tests | |
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| Authentic Tests | |
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| Researcher-Made, Content-Specific Tests | |
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| Questionnaire Scales | |
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| Behavioral Observation | |
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| Constructing a Behavioral Observation System | |
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| Reliability and Bias in Behavioral Observation | |
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| When Is Reliability Adequate? | |
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| Increasing Reliability of Behavioral Observations | |
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| Writing the Observation Manual | |
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| Reliability for Rating Scales | |
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| Determining Sample Size | |
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| When Is Sample Size Adequate? | |
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| Statistical Significance versus Practical and Theoretical Importance | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Threats to Internal and External Validity | |
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| Threats to Internal Validity | |
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| History | |
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| Maturation (Passage of Time) | |
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| Testing Effects | |
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| Instrumentation Effects | |
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| Selection Bias | |
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| Statistical Regression | |
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| Mortality (Attrition) | |
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| Confounding Variables | |
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| Threats to External Validity | |
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| Lack of Internal Validity | |
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| Nonrepresentativeness | |
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| Artificiality | |
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| Reactivity | |
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| Hawthorne Effects | |
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| John Henry Effects | |
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| Mistaken Causal Models | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Planning and Implementing the Study | |
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| Planning Your Own Study | |
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| Choosing a Problem | |
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| Criteria for a Good Research Topic | |
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| Other Considerations in Choosing a Topic | |
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| Reviewing the Literature | |
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| Gathering Preliminary Information | |
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| Widely Focused Literature Search | |
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| Primary Resources for Information Gathering in Education | |
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| Choosing Search Terms | |
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| Summarizing Studies | |
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| Inclusion Criteria | |
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| Germaneness | |
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| Methodology | |
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| Other Features | |
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| Writing the Review | |
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| Synthesis | |
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| Methodology | |
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| Significance | |
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| Writing Style | |
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| Meta-Analysis | |
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| Writing a Proposal | |
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| Elements of a Research Proposal | |
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| Statement of the Problem | |
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| Hypotheses | |
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| Brief Literature Review | |
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| Procedures | |
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| Schedule | |
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| Roughing Out and Discussing the Proposal | |
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| Evaluating the Proposal | |
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| Planning Study Procedures | |
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| Teacher's Manual | |
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| Observer's Manual and Interviewer's Manual | |
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| Testing Instructions | |
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| Research Ethics: Consent, Confidentiality, and Human Subjects Review | |
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| Human Subjects Review and Informed Consent | |
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| Confidentiality | |
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| Gaining Access to Schools and Implementing the Project | |
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| Implementing the Project | |
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| Maintaining the Integrity of the Research | |
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| Report Back Your Findings | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Data Analysis | |
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| Basic Statistics | |
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| Descriptive Statistics | |
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| Computing Statistics | |
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| Data Analysis with SPSS | |
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| Scales of Measurement | |
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| Nominal Scale | |
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| Ordinal Scale | |
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| Interval Scale | |
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| Ratio Scale | |
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| Measures of Central Tendency | |
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| Mean | |
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| Median | |
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| Mode | |
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| Measures of Dispersion | |
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| Range | |
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| Standard Deviation and Variance | |
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| The Normal Curve | |
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| z-Scores | |
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| Percentile Scores | |
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| Normal Curve Equivalent | |
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| Skewed Distributions | |
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| Kurtosis | |
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| Standard Error of the Mean | |
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| Inferential Statistics | |
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| The Null Hypothesis (H[subscript 0]) | |
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| Criteria for Rejecting the Null Hypothesis | |
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| Type I and Type II Errors | |
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| Rejecting the Null Hypothesis | |
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| One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests of Significance | |
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| t-Test for Comparisons of Two Independent Group Means | |
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| Computing t | |
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| Homogeneity of Variances | |
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| t-Test for Comparisons of Two Means from Matched Groups | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Intermediate Statistics | |
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| Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) | |
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| Comparison of Three Groups: 3 x 1 ANOVA | |
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| Two-Factor ANOVA | |
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| Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) | |
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| Analysis of Variance versus Analysis of Covariance | |
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| Individual Comparisons | |
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| Effect Size | |
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| Correlation | |
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| Correlations with Categorical Variables | |
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| Partial Correlation | |
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| Linear and Nonlinear Relationships | |
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| Nonparametric Statistics | |
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| Chi-Square (x[superscript 2]) | |
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| Statistics for Reliability | |
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| KR 20 | |
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| Coefficient Alpha | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Activity | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Reading and Reporting Research | |
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| Writing Up the Study | |
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| Writing a Thesis or Dissertation | |
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| Format and Style | |
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| Parts of Your Thesis | |
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| Title Page | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Table of Contents and Lists of Tables and Figures | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Review of the Literature | |
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| Methods | |
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| Results | |
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| Discussion | |
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| References | |
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| Appendixes | |
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| Writing a Journal Article or Conference Paper | |
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| Format and Style of Journal Articles and Conference Papers | |
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| Abstract | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Methods | |
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| Results | |
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| Discussion | |
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| References | |
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| Tables and Figures | |
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| Choosing a Journal | |
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| Conference Papers | |
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| Tips on Getting an Article Published | |
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| Research Navigator | |
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| Activity | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Appendixes | |
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| Percentage of Area Lying between the Mean and Successive Standard Deviation Units under the Normal Curve | |
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| Critical Values of t | |
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| Values of F at the 5% and 1% Significance Levels | |
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| Abridged Table of Critical Values for Chi-Square | |
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| Table of Random Numbers | |
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| Answers to Exercises | |
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| Example of an Experimental Article | |
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| Example of a Correlational Article | |
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| Example of a Qualitative Article | |
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| Glossary | |
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| References | |
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| Index | |