Policy Press
Research and Evaluation for Busy Students and Practitioners (3rd edn, 2023)
Research doesn’t exist in a bubble but co-exists with a multitude of other tasks and commitments, yet there is more need for people to save time than ever before. Brilliantly attuned to the demands placed on researchers, this book considers how students, academics and professionals alike can save time and stress without compromising the quality of their research or its outcomes. This third edition is fully revised with new chapters on research and evaluation ethics, creative methods of collecting data and how research can make a positive difference; includes illustrative case studies throughout the book, and each chapter concludes with exercises, discussion questions and a debate topic; and is accompanied by a fully updated companion website. This supportive book is designed for any student or practitioner who wants to know how to do research on top of their main job, and still have a life.
Buy Research and Evaluation for Busy Students and Practitioners directly from Policy Press
Buy Research and Evaluation for Busy Students and Practitioners from Amazon
Qualitative and Digital Research in Times of Crisis (2021)
Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, disasters or violent conflict present numerous challenges for researchers. Faced with disruption, obstacles and even danger to their own lives, researchers in times of crisis must adapt or redesign existing research methods in order to continue their work effectively.
Including contributions on qualitative and digital research from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas, this volume explores the creative and thoughtful ways in which researchers have adapted methods and rethought relationships in response to challenges arising from crises. Their collective reflections, strategies and practices highlight the importance of responsive, ethical and creative research design and the need to develop methods for fostering mutual, reflexive and healthy relationships in times of crisis.
Buy Qualitative and Digital Research in Times of Crisis directly from Policy Press
Buy Qualitative and Digital Research in Times of Crisis from Amazon
Creative Research Methods in Education: Principles and Practices (2021)
Co-authored by an international team of experts across disciplines, this important book is one of the first to demonstrate the enormous benefit creative methods offer for education research.
You do not have to be an artist to be creative, and the book encourages students, researchers and practitioners to discover and consider new ways to explore the field of education. It illustrates how using creative methods, such as poetic inquiry, comics, theatre and animation, can support learning and illuminate participation and engagement. Bridging academia and practice, the book offers practical advice and tips on how to use creative methods in education research; numerous case studies from around the world providing real-life examples of creative research methods in education practice; and reflective discussion questions to support learning.
Buy Creative Research Methods in Education directly from Policy Press
Buy Creative Research Methods in Education from Amazon
Creative Writing for Social Research: A Practical Guide (2021)
This groundbreaking book brings creative writing to social research. Its innovative format includes creatively written contributions by researchers from a range of disciplines, modelling the techniques outlined by the authors. The book is user-friendly and shows readers: • how to write creatively as a social researcher; • how creative writing can help researchers to work with participants and generate data; • how researchers can use creative writing to analyse data and communicate findings.
Inviting beginners and more experienced researchers to explore new ways of writing, this book introduces readers to creatively written research in a variety of formats including plays and poems, videos and comics. It not only gives social researchers permission to write creatively but also shows them how to do so.
Buy Creative Writing for Social Research directly from Policy Press
Buy Creative Writing for Social Research from Amazon
Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide (2nd edn, 2020)
Creative research methods can help to answer complex contemporary questions which are hard to answer using conventional methods alone. Creative methods can also be more ethical, helping researchers to address social injustice. This bestselling book, now in its second edition, is the first to identify and examine the five areas of creative research methods: • arts-based research • embodied research • research using technology • multi-modal research • transformative research frameworks. Written in an accessible, practical and jargon-free style, with reflective questions, boxed text and a companion website to guide student learning, it offers numerous examples of creative methods in practice from around the world. This new edition includes a wealth of new material, with five extra chapters and over 200 new references. Spanning the gulf between academia and practice, this useful book will inform and inspire researchers by showing readers why, when, and how to use creative methods in their research.
Buy Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide directly from Policy Press
Buy Creative Research Methods: A Practical Guide from Amazon
Research Ethics in the Real World: Euro-Western and Indigenous Perspectives (2018)
Research ethics and integrity are growing in importance as academics face increasing pressure to win grants and publish, and universities promote themselves in the competitive HE market. Research Ethics in the Real World is the first book to highlight the links between research ethics and individual, social, professional, institutional, and political ethics. Drawing on Indigenous and Euro-Western research traditions, Helen Kara considers all stages of the research process, from the formulation of a research question to aftercare for participants, data and findings. She argues that knowledge of both ethical approaches is helpful for researchers working in either paradigm. Students, academics, and research ethics experts from around the world contribute real-world perspectives on navigating and managing ethics in practice. Research Ethics in the Real World provides guidance for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods researchers from all disciplines about how to act ethically throughout your research work. This book is invaluable in supporting teachers of research ethics to design and deliver effective courses.
Buy Research Ethics in the Real World directly from Policy Press
Buy Research Ethics in the Real World from Amazon
Routledge
Publishing From Your Doctoral Research: Create and Use a Publication Strategy (2019)
I wrote this book with Dr Janet Salmons from the US. It explains how to identify your existing assets – thesis or dissertation, conference abstracts and papers, field notes, journal articles, blog posts and so on; whatever you have. Then it shows you how to use these assets to create a publication strategy that will support your career, whether inside or outside academia – or even in both. There are lots of practical examples and worksheets are available online to help you create your own strategy.
Buy Publishing From Your Doctoral Research directly from Routledge
Buy Publishing From Your Doctoral Research from Amazon
SAGE Publications
Qualitative Research for Quantitative Researchers (2022)
Approaching qualitative research for the first time and unsure how to get started? Whether you have years of quantitative experience or have previously only taken a quantitative-focused course, this book captures what you need to know and how to leverage your existing research skillset to jump into effective qualitative or mixed-methods research.
Getting you up to speed on the specifics of qualitative research, the book shows how it complements quantitative research and how to draw on and hone your existing skills to conduct impactful research. It covers the whole research process, from explaining what theories are for and planning your research design through collecting and working with your data to developing good practice in research reporting and dissemination.
Buy Qualitative Research for Quantitative Researchers directly from SAGE Publications
Buy Qualitative Research for Quantitative Researchers from Amazon
Little Quick Fix: Do Your Interviews (2019)
Interviews are the most common data collection instrument undergraduates turn to. No matter what discipline or level, someone in the course will be doing some interviews. They’re quick, cheap and students think they’re easy. The first two are true, but it’s more than just asking a list of questions.
This Little Quick Fix lays out the basic how-to of choosing an interview as a method for a project or dissertation, and how to do it well enough so students aren’t docked marks for poor or irrelevant data. Practical and hands-on, readers will be shown everything they need to prepare, how to do it quickly, and all the pitfalls to avoid. Packed with checklists, this is the foolproof solution to getting interview data quickly and effectively. Perfect for undergraduates who need to do this in a week or two.
Buy Little Quick Fix: Do Your Interviews from Amazon
Little Quick Fix: Write a Questionnaire (2019)
After interviews, the most common data collection instrument undergraduates turn to is a short survey. This requires them to write a questionnaire. Sounds easy – it’s not!
This Little Quick Fix teaches the art of open and closed questions, how to prompt higher response rates, when and how to use basic Likert scales, and everything else you need to know to get the most out of your questionnaire. A good questionnaire makes all the difference to getting data you can work with and poor research skill here lowers grades.
Buy Little Quick Fix: Write a Questionnaire from Amazon
Little Quick Fix: Use Your Interview Data (2019)
There are plenty of books on data management, coding, and analysis, but no student has time to read and internalise this much detail if a deadline is looming. Use Your Interview Data takes you through the essentials of managing, coding, and interpreting interview data so you have the overview needed to negotiate your data systematically and ensure you are not marked down for haphazard or incomplete interpretation.
This Little Quick Fix provides you with the understanding and skills you need to manage, sort and analyse their interview data. Helen Kara’s overview enables you to negotiate their data systematically and give a complete interpretation for your research method assignment, essay or project.
Buy Little Quick Fix: Use Your Interview Data from Amazon
Little Quick Fix: Use Your Questionnaire Data (2019)
Working with data from a questionnaire may seem easy since the data is limited to set questions and responses, but it is not.
Even if you have designed an effective questionnaire and/or used all closed questions, you still have to collate a lot of data, develop a system that evaluates responses, and compare/group responses to determine overall results. This Little Quick Fix makes this type of data more accessible and teaches how to manage, code, and interpret it effectively.
Buy Little Quick Fix: Use Your Questionnaire Data from Amazon
Helen Kara 