Theory as Method in Research PDF Download

Author: Douglas Woodwell
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483334058
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Designing research can be daunting and disorienting for novices. After experiencing this first-hand, the author has written a book that shows how to mentally frame research in a way that is understandable and approachable while also discussing some of the more specific issues that will aid the reader in understanding the options available when pursuing their research. Stressing the link between research and theory-building, this concise book shows students how new knowledge is discovered through the process of research. The author presents a model that ties together research processes across the various traditions and shows how different types of research interrelate. The book is sophisticated in its presentation, but uses plain language to provide an explanation of higher-level concepts in an engaging manner. Throughout the book, the author treats research methodologies as a blueprint for answering a wide range of interesting questions, rather than simply a set of tools to be applied. The book is an excellent guide for students who will be consumers of research and who need to understand how theory and research interrelate. "The author did an excellent job on this text. This text is the missing link in explaining research methodologies. His comparison/contrasts are excellent. Moreover, the author provides interesting alternatives and discusses how each alternative might improve the validity of research." —James Anthos, South University, Columbia "...With only six chapters, the text can be covered in a short time allowing for students to spend the majority of their time investigating social issues and developing research. Students who read and understand this book will have the knowledge and resources to cover material they are unfamiliar with." —R. David Frantzreb II, University of North Carolina - Charlotte "I am looking for something just like this that is not overbearing for the student but will complement the supplementary material and resources that I am using with my students. I think the coverage is broad enough that I could use it with all of my groups." —Karen Larwin, Youngstown State University "...I think the author’s emphasis on demonstrating the relationship between theory and research is terribly important and understated in so many other texts. I also think that in the hands of competent professors, it can be supplemented with other sources to help students learn while not being encumbered financially with an expensive tome for which they may only use a fraction of it." —John R. Mitrano, Central Connecticut State University

Author: Akihiro Kanamori
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540888675
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 555

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Book Description
Over the years, this book has become a standard reference and guide in the set theory community. It provides a comprehensive account of the theory of large cardinals from its beginnings and some of the direct outgrowths leading to the frontiers of contemporary research, with open questions and speculations throughout.

Author: W. Newton Suter
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1412995736
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 529

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Book Description
W. Newton Suter argues that what is important in a changing education landscape is the ability to think clearly about research methods, reason through complex problems and evaluate published research. He explains how to evaluate data and establish its relevance.

Author: Jean Anyon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135854440
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
Throughout U.S. history, education policies, practices, and politics have been described and tested to yield empirical data, often with little attempt to place findings in a larger theoretical infrastructure that could provide them with increased explanatory, critical, or even liberatory power. This collection fills that void by taking the point of view that neither research nor theory alone is adequate to the task of social explanation. Instead, Jean Anyon and her collaborators argue that they imbricate and instantiate one another, forming and informing each other as the inquiry process unfolds.

Author: Mats Alvesson
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446259889
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
Empirical data is one of the cornerstones of knowledge in the social sciences, and yet the researcher often takes it for granted, reserving his or her imaginative faculties for finding a theory that ′fits the data′. This revealing account of the theory-data relationship calls this faith in data into question and establishes a reflexive framework and vocabulary to explore the creative, political and philosophical elements of data production. Rather than thinking about the theory-data ′fit′, Alvesson and Karreman will encourage you to consider the research process as one of theory-data interplay, asking if creative empirical material can challenge established theory and inspire new lines of development, and if breakdowns and mysteries encountered in research can be a constructive rather than destructive process. They will encourage you to think critically about empirical data in terms of construction rather than verification, and most importantly they will encourage you to develop theory that is interesting and novel, rather than naive or irrelevant, making this title essential reading for those who often find the traditional vocabulary and frameworks of social science research obvious or simplistic.

Author: Jacqueline Fawcett
Publisher: F A Davis Company
ISBN: 9780803604063
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
This Print on Demand title is available exclusively through Amazon.com. This text fills a major gap in the literature of most disciplines by presenting a detailed discussion of the reciprocal relationship of conceptual models and theories with research models. It also emphasizes information needed by both novice and accomplished scholars for the analysis and evaluation of research reports and proposals for new studies.

Author: Mark Murphy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317479459
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
While education researchers have drawn on the work of a wide diversity of theorists over the years, much contemporary theory building in these areas has revolved around the work of Pierre Bourdieu. Theory as Method in Research develops the capacity of students, researchers and teachers to successfully put Bourdieu’s ideas to work in their own research and prepare them effectively for conducting Masters and Doctoral scholarships. Structured around four core themes, this book provides a range of research case studies exploring educational identities, educational inequalities, school leadership and management, and research in teacher education. Issues as diverse as Chinese language learning and identity, school leadership in Australia and the school experience of Afro-Trinidadian boys, are covered, intertwined with a set of innovative approaches to theory application in education research. This collection brings together, in one comprehensive volume, a set of education researchers who place Pierre Bourdieu’s key concepts such as habitus, capital and field at the centre of their research methodologies. Full of insight and innovation, the book is an essential read for practitioners, student teachers, researchers and academics who want to harness the potential of Bourdieu’s core concepts in their own work, thereby helping to bridge the gap between theory and method in education research.

Author: Charles M. Reigeluth
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 0805828591
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 730

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Book Description
This second edition focuses on the new generations of instructional theories and models. The theme of this volume is diversity, it includes the role of values and different kinds of learning, and how they influence instructional theory and design.

Author: James Webster
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136282130
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
This 4th edition of Ratings Analysis describes and explains the current audience information system that supports economic exchange in both traditional and evolving electronic media markets. Responding to the major changes in electronic media distribution and audience research in recent years, Ratings Analysis provides a thoroughly updated presentation of the ratings industry and analysis processes. It serves as a practical guide for conducting audience research, offering readers the tools for becoming informed and discriminating consumers of audience information. This updated edition covers: International markets, reflecting the growth in audience research businesses with the expansion of advertising into new markets such as China. Emerging technologies, reflecting the ever increasing ways to deliver advertising electronically and through new channels (social media, Hulu) Illustrates applications of audience research in advertising, programming, financial analysis, and social policy; Describes audience research data and summarizes the history of audience measurement, the research methods most often used, and the kinds of ratings research products currently available; and Discusses the analysis of audience data by offering a framework within which to understand mass media audiences and by focusing specifically to the analysis of ratings data. Appropriate for all readers needing an in-depth understanding of audience research, including those working in advertising, electronic media, and related industries, Ratings Analysis also has much to offer academics and policy makers as well as students of mass media.

Author: Robin Usher
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136628282
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
The authors argue that the aim of research should be to improve practice through a process of critical reflection. Focusing clearly on the everyday concerns and problems of practitioners, they emphasize the importance of practical knowledge. Their definition of ‘practice’ is wide, and includes the generation of theory and the doing of research as well as front-line teaching. They show how notions of ‘adult learning’ and ‘the adult learner’ have been constituted mainly through theory and research in psychology and sociology, and examine action research as a mode of understanding. They conclude by looking at the curriculum implications for the teaching of adult education as reflective practice.