I was motivated to write the first edition of Principles of Research in Behavioral Science because I could not find an appropriate research methods textbook for masterŐs-level students in psychology and related fields. My motivation for preparing this second edition was threefold: new developments in research (such as the growing importance of the Internet), the need for a book such as this as shown by its use at a large number of universities, and the suggestions for improvement sent to me by colleagues who have used the book.
As I did with the first edition, I have tried to produce a book that students will use both as a textbook in their research methods course and as a reference for use later in their careers. The book is, perhaps, still more comprehensive than most research methods books, so most instructors may not want to use all the chapters or all the topics within a chapter. I have tried to support this kind of selectivity by making chapters and sections within chapters as independent as possible, although I do refer back to material in earlier chapters when it is relevant.
With a few minor changes noted later, the sequence of the chapters remains unchanged, generally paralleling the steps of of the research process. Part One describes the role of theory in the research process and surveys the major research strategies to provide a context for the following chapters. Part Two discusses issues common to all forms of research: the ethical treatment of research participants, formulating research questions, measurement, and internal validity. Part Three devotes a chapter to each of the major research strategies Ń experimental, correlational, and single-case Ń one to research in natural settings, and one to survey research. Part Four covers process issues in data collection to supplement the design issues discussed in Part Three, the interpretation of research results, and the problem of external validity. Finally, Part Five covers supplemental topics: evaluation research, the literature review as a form of research, communicating the results of research, and the social responsibility aspects of research ethics.
Each chapter begins with an outline to provide students with a cognitive map of its contents and ends with a summary to provide closure. Within each chapter, key terms are shown in boldface; the index entry for each term also shows the page on which it is defined in boldface. I chose this approach to defining terms over the traditional glossary because it puts the meaning of a term in the context of how it is used rather than providing only a brief definition. A set of questions and exercises concludes each chapter. Each set includes both factual review questions designed to integrate the topics within the chapter and more philosophical discussion questions designed to highlight controversies and to help students become aware of their own epistemological and scientific values. The exercises are designed to help the students put into practice some of the theory covered in the chapter.
Because this book is written for first-year graduate students, it assumes that they will have had undergraduate statistics and research methods courses. However, I have tried to keep the book as nonstatistical as possible so that it can be used in courses that precede, are concurrent with, or follow a graduate statistics course. Writing for a first-year graduate student audience has also led to what experienced researchers might find to be a curious mix of basic and advanced topics. However, because many studentsŐ undergraduate research methods courses will have been two or three years in the past, I felt that some review of basic principles was required before more advanced topics were introduced.
Despite the help of colleagues with backgrounds in other areas of behavioral science, my training in social social and personality psychology, with additional experience organizational behavior, still strongly influences two aspects of this book. First, the book focuses on research with human participants; although animal research is crucial to the advancement of behavioral science, I have no experience in that area and so I thought it best to leave that form of research outside the scope of this book. Second, my background influenced the studies that I have used as examples: I drew on what I knew best, which tipped the scale in the direction of examples from social, personality, and industrial-organizational research.
Changes to the Second Edition
The second edition incorporates three changes to the organization of the book. First, the chapter on the ethical treatment of research participants has been moved forward to emphasize its importance. Second, the material from the first editionŐs Chapter 5 on scaling and coding has been distributed across several chapters of the current edition. Finally, a chapter on survey research has been created, primarily from material previously contained in other chapters.
Information throughout the book has been updated, and a few major content changes have also been made. Qualitative research in now addressed in several relevant chapters, including Chapters 2 (Research Strategies: An Overview) and 10 (Research in Natural Settings). The section in Chapter 4 (Formulating a Research Question) on literature reviewing has been substantially rewritten to include the use and evaluation of on-line resources. The material from the first editionŐs Chapter 5 on evaluating measures is now part on this editionsŐs Chapter 5 (Developing a Measurement Strategy). Chapter 10 (Research in Natural Settings) has been reorganized to add a section on interviewing (expanding on material from the first editionŐs Chapter 12), coding open-ended data (from the first editionŐs Chapter 5), and additional material on archival data. Finally, Chapter 12 (Data Collection) has a new section on using the Internet to collect data.
Because the book was already rather lengthy, I tried to balance additions of material with cuts. As a results, material from the first edition on the nature of naturalism in research (which would have appeared in the current Chapter 10), alpha, beta, and gamma change (Chapter 15), and media reports of research (Chapter 18) has been dropped from this edition.
PART I -- INTRODUCTION
1. Behavioral Science: Theory, Research, and Application
2. Research Strategies: An Overview
PART II -- FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH
3. The Ethical Treatment of Research Participants
4. Formulating a Research Question
5. Developing a Measurement Strategy
6. The Internal Validity of Research
PART III -- RESEARCH STRATEGIES
7. The Experimental Research Strategy
8. The Correlational (Passive) Research Strategy
9. The Single Case Research Strategy
10. Research in Natural Settings
11. Survey Research
PART IV -- COLLECTING AND INTERPRETING DATA
12. Data Collection
13. Interpreting Research Results
14. The External Validity of Research
PART V -- SPECIAL TOPICS
15. Evaluation Research
16. Integrative Literature Reviewing
17. Writing Research Reports
18. The Professional and Social Responsibilities of Scientists
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Last Modified: 02 July 2001