INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH provides the reader with a foundation from which to critique and understand research designs and their applications to healthcare and human service settings. It is divided into four parts: Introduction, Thinking Processes, Design Approaches, and Action Processes. The text reflects a new school of thought that recognizes and values multiple research strategies. This perspective proposes that naturalistic and experimental-type research strategies have equal value and contribute in complementary and distinct ways to a science of practice. Knowledge of these different research traditions presents new opportunities for addressing the complex health-related research questions that are emerging in today's health and human service environments.

NEW! Contemporary, practice examples give you a highly relevant understanding of today’s changing health and human service environments. NEW! In-depth analysis of big data and data analytics expands your understanding of how to apply these numbers to health and human service research. NEW! More emphasis on technology in research and research informed practice ensures you understand the latest methods available to you. NEW! Expanded discussion of naturalistic methods improve your ability to understand and integrate varying methods. NEW! Updated research methods, strategies, and references provide you with the latest information on research in diverse areas of health and human services.

There are a myriad of research methods in psychology textbooks available...

A step-by-step guide to conducting research in medicine, public health, and other health sciences, this clear, practical, and straightforward text demystifies the research process and empowers students (and other new investigators) to conduct their own original research projects.

A classic in the field, INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH METHODS IN EDUCATION, 9E, International Edition helps students master the basic competencies necessary to understand and evaluate the research of others, and shows them how to plan and conduct original research. The text’s strengths include a clear writing style, comprehensive topic coverage, well-chosen and effective examples that clarify complex concepts, and strong end-of-chapter exercises that expose students to intriguing research problems. This edition builds on the text’s strengths of teaching students to become more competent consumers and producers of research, with expanded coverage of action research and a new feature focusing on research issues in the public realm.

Like the previous versions, the fifth edition of An Introduction to Research in the Health Sciences has two overall aims. 1) To introduce the fundamental principles of research methodology and explain how these principles are applied for conducting research in the health sciences. 2) To demonstrate how evidence produced through research is applied to solving problems in everday health care. This book is written in an accessible style. It maintains the traditions of the previous editions, with examples, questions, feedback sections, and an extensive glossary. Uses simple language and demystifies the jargon Provides built-in feedback for readers to assess their own progress Gives examples relating directly to the health sciences Provides an extensive glossary for better understanding of the language of research Addresses qualitative as well as quantitative research issues Includes a chapter focussing on the use of qualitative methods in health research Includes a chapter for discussing systematic reviews and meta-analyses Contains more revision questions Increased emphasis throughout on evidence based concepts More and updated discussion of qualitative research methods New section on basic epidemiological concepts as a research approach More discussion of analysis and use of administrative and secondary data sets as research resources Complete rewrite of the chapter on causal research Stronger links between the sections on different stages of research

Bridge the gap between research and practice with Introduction to Research: Understanding and Applying Multiple Strategies, 5th Edition. This easy-to-read edition covers all the major research design strategies: qualitative, quantitative, naturalistic, experimental-type, and mixed method. And with the text’s up-to-date research information and references, you will have a solid foundation from which to critique and understand research designs and their applications to healthcare and human service settings. Case examples provide real-life snapshots of what it is like to participate in different types of research processes, identify research dilemmas relevant to chapter subjects, and alert you to problems you might encounter. Authors make the topics more accessible, so research becomes more relevant - and topics come to life. Covers experimental-type, naturalistic, and mixed method design strategies to improve your ability to compare, contrast, and integrate different methods. Presents complex information clearly in a highly readable, and easy-to-understand, manner. Includes detailed discussions of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, a unique and balanced focus that makes this text more comprehensive than others in its field. NEW! Up-to-date research methods, strategies, and references, like digital sources, visual methods, and geographical analysis, give you the latest information on research in diverse areas of health and human services.