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| List of Tables and Figures | |
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| Preface | |
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| Getting Started | |
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| The Scientific Method and Criminal Justice and Criminology Social Sciences | |
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| Learning to Become a Researcher | |
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| Circumscribing Criminal Justice and Criminology | |
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| Circumscribing the Other Social and Behavioral Sciences | |
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| The Near Social Sciences | |
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| Other Disciplines that Utilize Social Science Research Methods | |
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| Features of the Scientific Methods | |
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| The Scientific Spirit | |
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| Types of Questions Addressed by Social Scientists | |
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| Varied Adherence to the Scientific Method | |
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| Summary | |
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| Formulating Scientific Questions and Locating Background Research | |
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| The Nature of Scientific Variables | |
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| Conceptual Versus Operational Definitions of Variables | |
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| Levels of Measurement | |
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| Formulating and Refining Scientific Questions | |
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| Locating Information on Topics of Interest | |
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| How to Get Copies of Articles of Interest | |
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| Distinctiveness of Scientific Communication | |
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| How Scientific Research Gets Reviewed and Sometimes Published | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| The Importance of Statistics | |
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| Univariate Statistics and the Concept of Statistical Significance | |
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| The Nature of Univariate Statistical Concepts | |
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| Averages | |
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| Dispersion | |
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| Illustrating the Concepts of Averages and Dispersions | |
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| Building the Concept of Statistical Significance | |
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| Hypothesis Testing and the Concept of the Null Hypothesis | |
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| Inferential Statistics | |
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| Closing Remarks about Statistical Significance and Inferential Statistics | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Bivariate and Multivariate Statistics: The Concept of Correlation | |
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| Background | |
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| Constructing Scattergrams | |
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| Curvilenear Versus Linear Correlations | |
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| Interpreting Statements about the Strength of Correlations | |
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| Variability and Correlations | |
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| The Statistical Significance of Correlation Coefficients | |
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| Interpreting Two Studies Based on Correlation | |
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| Correlation Does Not Equal Causation: Words of Caution | |
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| Reflections on the Importance of Statistics in the Research Process | |
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| Multivariate Statistics: When Bivariate Statistics Are Not Enough | |
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| Closing Comments on Multivariate Statistics | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Documentation and Measurement | |
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| Research Report Structure and Styles for Citing and Referencing | |
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| The Basic Format for a Research Report | |
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| Identifying the Parts of a Research Report | |
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| Citation and Referencing Styles | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Reliability, Validity, and Precision in Measurement | |
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| Handedness as an Example of Problems in Measurement | |
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| Three Aspects of Accurate Measurement | |
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| Reliability | |
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| Validity | |
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| Precision | |
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| Factors Analysis for Refining Measurement Accuracy | |
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| Some Closing Remarks about Reliability, Validity, and Precision | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Selecting and Retaining Those to Be Studied | |
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| Surveying and Sampling | |
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| The Nature of Scientific Surveys | |
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| Basic Terminology | |
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| Representative Versus Nonrepresentative Samples | |
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| Probability Versus Non-Probability Sampling Methods | |
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| Sample Size | |
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| Surveying Over Time | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| The Human Side of Sampling and the Reliability of Self-Reports | |
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| People's Willingness to Serve as Research Subjects | |
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| Assessing the Extent and Causes of Sample Attrition | |
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| New Computer-Assisted "Interviewing" | |
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| Limiting Sample Attrition | |
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| Inaccuracies in Self-Reports | |
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| Techniques for Minimizing and Detecting Subject Dishonesty | |
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| Interviews as Social Activity | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Types of Social Science Data | |
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| Data Based on Self-Reports: Guidelines for Constructing Questionnaires | |
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| Basic Terminology | |
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| Advantages and Disadvantages of Data Based on Self-Reports | |
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| Response Options for Questions | |
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| Deciding Which Response Option to Use | |
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| Types of Self-Reported Items | |
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| Guidelines for Item Construction | |
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| Clustering Items with Similar Formats | |
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| Types of Questions to Avoid | |
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| Examples of Poorly Phrased Questions | |
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| Combining Two or More Items to Improve Reliability | |
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| Time Diaries: A Special Type of Questionnaire | |
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| Computerized Questionnaires and Use of the Internet | |
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| Final Comments on Questionnaire Data | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Direct Observations: Qualitative and Quantitative Data | |
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| Qualitative Direct Observations | |
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| Participant Observations | |
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| Ethnographic Observations | |
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| Case Studies | |
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| Focus Group Research | |
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| Archaeological Data | |
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| Procedures in Ethnographic and Participant Observation Data Collection | |
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| Quantitative Direct Observations | |
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| Laboratory and Clinical Observations | |
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| Field Research | |
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| Direct Observations among Nonhuman Animals | |
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| Content Analysis | |
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| Closing Comments on Direct Observations | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Archival Data Analysis and Meta-Analysis | |
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| Units of Analysis | |
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| Archival Data | |
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| Analyzing Cross-Cultural Atlases | |
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| Review Articles and Meta-Analyses | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Measuring Crime and Criminality | |
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| Categorizing and Measuring Crime | |
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| The Uniform Crime Reports: Counting Crime Officially | |
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| Crime Victimization Survey Data | |
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| Self-Reported Crime Surveys | |
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| What Can We Conclude about the Three Main Measures of Crime in America? | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Probing for Causal Explanations | |
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| Theories, Models, Hypotheses, and Empirical Reality | |
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| The Concept of Causation | |
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| The Nature of Scientific Theorizing | |
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| Criteria for Assessing the Elegance of a Scientific Theory | |
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| How Theories Fit into the Research Process | |
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| Scientific Models | |
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| Scientific Laws | |
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| Scientific Paradigms | |
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| Hypothesis Testing and Attempts to Generalize | |
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| Closing Remarks Regarding Scientific Theorizing | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Controlled Experimentation | |
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| Basic Experimental Terminology | |
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| Main Types of Experimental Designs | |
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| Pitfalls with Human Experimentation | |
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| Shortcomings of Experimental Research | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Quasi-Experimentation | |
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| Quasi-Experiments Compared with Controlled Experiments | |
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| Quasi-Experimental Designs in the Narrower Sense | |
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| Quasi-Experimental Designs in the Broader Sense | |
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| Quasi-Experimental Designs for Addressing Nature-Nurture Issues | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Avoiding Harm and Doing Good | |
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| Ethical Issues in Social and Behavioral Science Research | |
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| Responsibilities to Research Subjects | |
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| Responsibilities to Fellow Social and Behavioral Scientists | |
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| Responsibilities to Humanity | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Evaluation and Other Applied Research | |
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| Conceptualizing Evaluation Research | |
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| Terminology Surrounding Evaluation Research | |
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| History of Evaluation Research | |
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| Types of Programs Evaluated | |
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| Locating Reports of Evaluation Research | |
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| Program Evaluation: Doing It Right | |
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| Program Evaluation: A Source of Tension | |
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| Closing Thoughts about Evaluation Research | |
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| Summary | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Epilogue | |
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| The American Psychological Association Referencing Style | |
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| APA Referencing Format for Articles | |
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| APA Referencing Format for Books | |
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| APA Referencing Format for Chapters in Edited Books | |
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| Guidelines and Recommendations for Preparing Research Reports | |
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| Overall Format and Style of a Research Manuscript | |
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| The Basic Format for the Initial Pages | |
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| The Body of the Manuscript | |
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| What Follows the Body of a Research Manuscript? | |
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| Tailoring a Research Manuscript for a Specific Journal | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Guidelines for Professional Writing in the Social and Behavioral Sciences | |
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| Special Comments on Citing and Typing | |
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| Suggested Readings | |
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| Notes | |
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| References | |
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| Index | |
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| About the Authors | |