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| Preface | |
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| The Author | |
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| Introduction to Research | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Research | |
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| Overview of Book | |
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| Summary | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| The Research Process | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Purpose of Research | |
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| Development of Research Focus | |
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| Concepts and Variables | |
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| Unit of Analysis and Dimension of Time | |
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| Research Questions and Hypotheses | |
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| The Literature | |
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| Logic | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Variable Construction | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Characteristics of Measurements | |
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| Discrete or Continuous | |
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| Mutually Exclusive and Exhaustive | |
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| Levels of Measurement | |
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| The Development of Variables | |
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| Summated Scales and Indexes | |
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| Reliability | |
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| Validity | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Research Ethics | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Ethics in the Research Process | |
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| Protection of Human Subjects | |
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| Institutional Review Boards | |
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| The Belmont Report | |
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| Respect | |
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| Beneficence | |
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| Justice | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Research Designs | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Validity | |
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| Research Designs | |
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| Case Studies | |
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| One-Group Comparison Studies | |
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| Two-Group Comparison Studies | |
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| Recap | |
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| Threats to Validity | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Data Collection | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Primary Sources | |
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| Interviews | |
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| Self-Administered Surveys | |
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| Secondary Sources | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Sampling | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Some Definitions | |
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| Sample Selection | |
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| Probability Sampling | |
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| Nonprobability Sampling | |
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| Recap | |
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| Sample Size | |
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| Error | |
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| Reaching Respondents and Improving Response Rates | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Generating Random Numbers in Microsoft Excel: An Illustration | |
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| Sample Size for Small Populations (50,000 or Less) Using Proportionate Data and a 95% Confidence Level | |
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| Sample Size for Small Populations (50,000 or Less) Using Proportionate Data and a 99% Confidence Level | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Questionnaire Construction | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Question Wording | |
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| Simplicity | |
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| Clarity | |
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| Unbiased | |
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| Realistic Time Frames | |
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| Specificity without Assumption Making | |
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| Negatives without Nots and Double Nots | |
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| One Concept, One Question | |
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| Recap | |
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| Question Structure | |
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| Open-Ended Questions | |
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| Closed and Partially Closed Questions | |
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| Response Formats for Closed Questions | |
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| Measurement Levels | |
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| Ranking Responses | |
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| Don't Know or Undecided | |
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| No Opinion or Neutral | |
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| One versus All | |
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| Recap | |
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| Questionnaire Layout | |
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| Length and Appearance | |
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| Question Placement and Sequence | |
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| Response Order and Layout | |
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| Recap | |
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| Cover Letters | |
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| Final Stages | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Readings | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Coding and Managing Data | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Codebook | |
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| Coding | |
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| Database Management | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Descriptive Data Analysis | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Central Tendency: Finding the Most, Middle, or Average | |
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| Mode | |
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| Median | |
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| Mean | |
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| Measures of Dispersion | |
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| Minimum, Maximum, and Range | |
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| Quartiles and Percentiles | |
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| Frequency Distributions | |
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| Histograms | |
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| Standard Deviation | |
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| Graphics | |
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| Pie Charts | |
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| Bar Graphs | |
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| Line Graphs | |
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| Calculating Descriptive Statistics and Creating the Graphics | |
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| Descriptive Statistics | |
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| Creating Graphics in Excel | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Bivariate Statistics | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Testing for Relationships | |
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| Cross Tabulations | |
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| Difference of Means | |
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| Analysis of Variance | |
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| Correlation | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Communicating Research Results | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Components of a Research Paper | |
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| The Executive Summary | |
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| The Introduction | |
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| The Findings | |
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| The Conclusion | |
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| Other Components | |
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| Presenting Tables and Graphics | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Exercises | |
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| Recommended Reading | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Epilogue | |
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| Bibliography | |
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| Index | |