Research

'Research: New and Practical Approaches' has been written primarily as a guide for Education, Psychology and Social Science students who "have to complete a research project or thesis" in order to graduate but we also believe that those who are already carrying out research will find this text a useful companion. Research procedures have four main parts - how to collect your data, how to analyse it, how to interpret the results of your analysis, and how to write it. This text offers guidelines on how to choose a project or research topic that fits your circumstances and then how to choose the most suitable research design for it. The text is an amalgam of information that is usually found in a variety of different texts - an introduction to research, statistical analyses, and research writing. We believe that this text will remove some of the mystery that surrounds the research process and thesis writing. We think that you, as the researcher and thesis writer, do not have to reinvent the wheel. There are standard procedures for basic research and you should not have to do a lot of extra research to find out how to carry out these procedures and then do even more research to be able to write them up for your final paper. In a way, this text can be considered a "cook book" approach to the research process! We provide the essential ingredients and give you some basic recipes - show you what is available and offer advice as to what is required when you have made your choice.