Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Educational Research: An Introduction, Eighth Edition, is the most comprehensive and widely respected text for scholars and for the preparation of graduate-level students who need to understand educational research in depth and conduct original research for a dissertation or thesis. A comprehensive introduction to the major research methods and types of data analysis used today, this text provides in-depth coverage of all facets of research, from the epistemology of quantitative and qualitative scientific inquiry to the design, data collection, analysis, and reporting of a completed study.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. xxvii)
• About the Authors (p. xxxi)
• Part I Introduction (p. 1)
• 1 The Nature of Educational Research (p. 2)
• Contributions of Research to Knowledge about Education (p. 3)
• Application of Research to Educational Practice (p. 10)
• Epistemological Issues in Educational Research (p. 15)
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research (p. 31)
• A Definition of Research (p. 34)
• Learning How to Do Educational Research (p. 36)
• Self-Check Test (p. 37)
• Part II Planning a Research Study (p. 39)
• 2 The Research Process: From Proposal to Final Report (p. 40)
• Introduction (p. 41)
• Identifying a Research Problem (p. 41)
• Preparing a Research Proposal (p. 49)
• Conducting a Pilot Study (p. 56)
• Using the Proposal in Writing the Dissertation (p. 56)
• Preparing a Journal Article (p. 63)
• Preparing a Paper for a Professional Meeting (p. 65)
• Recommendations for Planning and Reporting Research (p. 66)
• Self-Check Test (p. 67)
• 3 Ethics and Site Relations in Educational Research (p. 68)
• The Importance of Ethics and Site Relations in Educational Research (p. 68)
• Typical Aspects of Educational Research That May Raise Ethical Concerns (p. 69)
• Formal Regulation of Research Ethics (p. 76)
• Institutional Review Boards' Role in Ensuring Research Ethics (p. 78)
• Site Relations in Educational Research (p. 87)
• Recommendations for Ensuring That a Research Study Is Ethical, Legal, and Harmonious (p. 92)
• Self-Check Test (p. 93)
• 4 Reviewing the Literature (p. 95)
• Purposes of a Literature Review (p. 96)
• Major Steps in a Literature Review (p. 98)
• Searching Preliminary Sources (p. 99)
• Using Secondary Sources (p. 107)
• Reading Primary Sources (p. 110)
• Synthesizing the Findings of Your Literature Review (p. 112)
• Recommendations for Reviewing Research Literature (p. 121)
• Self-Check Test (p. 121)
• Part III Research Methods (p. 123)
• 5 Statistical Techniques (p. 124)
• The Use of Statistics in Educational Research (p. 125)
• Types of Scores (p. 129)
• Descriptive Statistics (p. 132)
• Inferential Statistics (p. 137)
• Supplements to Significance Tests (p. 146)
• Psychometric Statistics (p. 150)
• Problems in Statistical Analysis (p. 151)
• Processing Statistical Data (p. 160)
• Recommendations for Doing Statistical Analyses (p. 163)
• Self-Check Test (p. 163)
• 6 Selecting a Sample (p. 165)
• Sampling Logic in Research (p. 166)
• Sampling in Quantitative Research (p. 166)
• Sampling in Qualitative Research (p. 177)
• Volunteers in Research Samples (p. 186)
• Recommendations for Selecting a Research Sample (p. 190)
• Self-Check Test (p. 190)
• 7 Collecting Research Data with Tests and Self-Report Measures (p. 192)
• Use of Tests and Self-Report Measures in Educational Research (p. 193)
• Characteristics of a Good Test in Research (p. 194)
• Approaches to Measurement (p. 208)
• Types of Tests and Self-Report Measures (p. 213)
• Using Tests or Self-Report Measures in a Research Project (p. 222)
• Recommendations for Using Tests and Self-Report Measures in Research (p. 225)
• Self-Check Test (p. 225)
• 8 Collecting Research Data with Questionnaires and Interviews (p. 227)
• Questionnaires and Interviews as Data-Collection Methods (p. 228)
• Steps in Constructing and Administering a Research Questionnaire (p. 230)
• Steps in Preparing and Conducting Research Interviews (p. 243)
• Recommendations for Using a Questionnaire or an Interview Guide to Collect Research Data (p. 259)
• Self-Check Test (p. 260)
• 9 Collecting Research Data through Observation and Content Analysis (p. 262)
• Forms of Observation and Content Analysis (p. 263)
• Reactive Observation in Quantitative Research (p. 264)
• Reactive Observation in Qualitative Research (p. 275)
• Nonreactive Observation in Quantitative Research (p. 284)
• Nonreactive Observation in Qualitative Research (p. 286)
• Content Analysis of Documents and Other Communication Media (p. 287)
• Recommendations for Using Observational and Content-Analysis Methods (p. 294)
• Self-Check Test (p. 295)
• Part IV Quantitative Research Design (p. 297)
• 10 Nonexperimental Research: Descriptive and Causal-Comparative Designs (p. 298)
• Introduction (p. 299)
• Descriptive Research Designs (p. 300)
• Causal-Comparative Research Designs (p. 306)
• Recommendations for Doing Descriptive and Causal-Comparative Research (p. 329)
• Self-Check Test (p. 329)
• 11 Nonexperimental Research: Correlational Designs (p. 331)
• The Nature of Correlation (p. 332)
• Planning a Causal Relationship Study (p. 337)
• Planning a Prediction Study (p. 341)
• Bivariate Correlational Statistics (p. 347)
• Multivariate Correlational Statistics (p. 352)
• Interpretation of Correlation Coefficients (p. 375)
• Recommendations for Doing Correlational Research (p. 377)
• Self-Check Test (p. 377)
• 12 Experimental Research: Designs, Part 1 (p. 379)
• Introduction (p. 379)
• Internal Validity of Experiments (p. 383)
• External Validity of Experiments (p. 388)
• Issues in Designing Experiments (p. 394)
• Single-Group Designs (p. 402)
• Control-Group Designs with Random Assignment (p. 404)
• Recommendations for Doing Experiments (p. 413)
• Self-Check Test (p. 413)
• 13 Experimental Research: Designs, Part 2 (p. 415)
• Quasi-Experimental Designs (p. 416)
• Factorial Designs (p. 418)
• Other Experimental Designs (p. 437)
• Measurement of Change (p. 438)
• Recommendations for Doing Experiments (p. 443)
• Self-Check Test (p. 443)
• Part V Approaches to Qualitative Research (p. 445)
• 14 Case Study Research (p. 446)
• Importance of Case Study in Qualitative Research (p. 447)
• Designing a Case Study (p. 453)
• Collecting Case Study Data (p. 460)
• Analyzing Case Study Data (p. 465)
• Ensuring the Quality and Rigor of Qualitative Research (p. 473)
• Determining the Applicability of Case Study Findings (p. 477)
• Reporting a Case Study (p. 478)
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Case Study Research (p. 484)
• Recommendations for Doing Case Studies (p. 485)
• Self-Check Test (p. 486)
• 15 Qualitative Research Traditions (p. 488)
• Qualitative Research Traditions in Educational Research (p. 489)
• Traditions Involving Investigation of Lived Experience (p. 492)
• Traditions Involving Investigation of Society and Culture (p. 500)
• Traditions Involving Investigation of Language and Communication (p. 519)
• Recommendations for Designing a Study Based on a Qualitative Research Tradition (p. 526)
• Self-Check Test (p. 526)
• 16 Historical Research (p. 528)
• Importance of Historical Research in Education (p. 529)
• Historiography and the Stages of Historical Research (p. 533)
• Defining a Problem for Historical Research (p. 534)
• Studying Historical Sources (p. 536)
• Recording Information from Historical Sources (p. 539)
• Evaluation of Historical Sources (p. 540)
• Interpretation in Historical Research (p. 543)
• Writing a Historical Research Report (p. 548)
• Examples of Historical Research in Education (p. 549)
• Recommendations for Doing Historical Research (p. 554)
• Self-Check Test (p. 554)
• Part VI Applications of Research (p. 557)
• 17 Evaluation Research (p. 558)
• The Role of Evaluation in Education (p. 559)
• Steps in Program Evaluation (p. 560)
• Criteria for Effective Evaluation Research (p. 569)
• Quantitative Approaches to Evaluation (p. 573)
• Qualitative Approaches to Evaluation (p. 580)
• Educational Research and Development (p. 589)
• Recommendations for Doing an Evaluation Research Study or an R&D Evaluation (p. 594)
• Self-Check Test (p. 595)
• 18 Action Research (p. 597)
• Characteristics of Action Research (p. 597)
• Cyclical Nature of Action Research (p. 600)
• Stages of Action Research (p. 606)
• Credibility and Trustworthiness of Action Research (p. 609)
• Reducing Discrepancies between Practitioners' Espoused Theories and Theories-in-Action (p. 612)
• Ethical Issues in Action Research (p. 613)
• Recommendations for Doing Action Research (p. 614)
• Self-Check Test (p. 614)
• Self-Check Test Answers (p. 616)
• Appendix A Questions for Evaluating Quantitative Research Reports (p. 618)
• Appendix B Questions for Evaluating Qualitative Research Reports (p. 622)
• Appendix C Preliminary and Secondary Sources: Tests and Self-Report Measures (p. 626)
• Appendix D Preliminary and Secondary Sources on the History of Education (p. 629)
• Glossary (p. 632)
• Author Index (p. 659)
• Subject Index (p. 666)