Research Methods for Postgraduates

Methods for Postgraduates brings together guidance for postgraduate students on how to organise, plan and do research from an interdisciplinary perspective. In this new edition, the already wide-ranging coverage is enhanced by the addition of new chapters on social media, evaluating the research process, Kansei engineering and medical research reporting. The extensive updates also provide the latest guidance on issues relevant to postgraduates in all subject areas, from writing a proposal and securing research funds, to data analysis and the presentation of research, through to intellectual property protection and career opportunities.

 This thoroughly revised new edition provides:

• Clear and concise advice from distinguished international researchers on how to plan, organise and conduct research.
• New chapters explore social media in research, evaluate the research process, Kansei engineering and discuss the reporting of medical research.
• Check lists and diagrams throughout. 

Praise for the second edition:

“... the most useful book any new postgraduate could ever buy.” (New Scientist)

“The book certainly merits its acceptance as essential reading for postgraduates and will be valuable to anyone associated in any way with research or with presentation of technical or scientific information of any kind.”(Robotica)

 Like its predecessors, the third edition of Research Methods for Postgraduates is accessible and comprehensive, and is a must-read for any postgraduate student.

About the Author ix

List of Contributors xi

Preface to the Third Edition xiii

Preface to the Second Edition xix

Preface to the First Edition xxi

Part I FIRST STEPS 1

1 A View of Research 3
Tony Greenfield

2 The Research Journey: Four Steps to Success 7
Tom Bourner and Sue Greener

3 Managing Your Doctorate 13
Stan Taylor

4 Documenting Your Work 34
Vivien Martin

5 Ethics of Research 46
Tony Greenfield

6 Plagiarism 56
Tony Greenfield

7 Critically Reviewing Your Own Research 60
Tom Bourner and Juliet Millican

Part II SUPPORT 69

8 Research Proposals for Funding 71
Lowry McComb

9 Who Can Help? 81
Shirley Coleman

10 Information and Library Services 86
Claire Abson and Alastair Allan

11 Research Methods for Advanced Web Searching 94
Alastair Allan

12 Searching in Unfamiliar Fields 113
Tom Bourner and Sue Greener

13 Sources of Population Statistics 121
Keith Dugmore

14 An Introduction to Bibliometrics 130
Silvia Salini

15 Choosing and Using Software for Statistics 144
Felix Grant

16 Computer Support for Data Analysis 152
Clifford E. Lunneborg

Part III MEASUREMENT AND EXPERIMENTATION 157

17 Instrumentation in Experimentation 159
Anand D. Pandyan, Frederike van Wijck and Garth R. Johnson

18 Randomised Trials 171
Douglas G. Altman

19 Laboratory and Industrial Experiments 180
Tony Greenfield

20 Experiments in Biological Sciences 193
Roger Payne

21 Survey Research 202
David de Vaus

22 Theory and Practice of Qualitative Research 214
Irena Ograjenšek

23 Kansei Engineering 231
Lluis Marco-Almagro

24 Principles of Sampling 244
Peter Lynn

25 Sampling in Human Studies 255
Peter Lynn

26 Interviewing 264
Mark Hughes

27 Measurement Error 275
Roland Caulcutt

Part IV DATA ANALYSIS 287

28 Elementary Statistics 289
David J. Hand

29 Further Statistical Methods 299
David J. Hand

30 Spreadsheets: A Few Tips 307
Tony Greenfield and Andrea Benn

Part V SPECIAL TOOLS 323

31 The Value of Mathematical Models 325
Andrew Metcalfe

32 Deterministic Models 342
Andrew Metcalfe

33 Stochastic Models and Simulation 357
David Green and Andrew Metcalfe

34 Optimisation 372
Aiden Fisher and Andrew Metcalfe

Part VI PRESENTATION 387

35 Writing the Thesis 389
Tony Greenfield

36 The Logic of a Research Report 400
Tom Bourner and Linda Heath

37 Presenting Data 412
Sue Greener

38 Presenting and Sharing Your Research 419
Sue Greener

39 Reporting Research 429
Iveta Simera and Douglas G. Altman

40 Social Media – How to Make ItWork for You as a Post-Graduate 440
Suzanne Fraser-Martin and Catherine Fraser-Martin

Part VII NEXT STEPS 455

41 Protection and Exploitation of Intellectual Property 457
Patrick Andrews

42 Career Opportunities 470
Sara Shinton

Index 479

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

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