Student Research and Report Writing

This is an invaluable, concise, all-in-one guide for carrying out student research and writing a paper, adaptable to course use and suitable for use by students independently, it successfully guides students along every step of the way.

Allows students to better manage their research projects
Exercises and worksheets break down the research process into small steps and walk students through each stage of the research project
Offers real-world and lively examples that are attractive and relevant to students
Based on twenty years of experience in teaching research techniques to students in a way that avoids the methodology 'overkill' from encyclopaedic and intimidating textbooks

GABE T. WANG is Professor of Sociology at William Paterson University. He has published four books including China's Population Problems, Thoughts and Policies (1999), China and the Taiwan Issue (2006) and American Sociology and the Socioeconomic Development of China (2013). His research focuses on population, socioeconomic development, and adolescent deviant behaviours. Professor Wang has given lectures in many universities and research institutes in China. He has over 20 years of experience in teaching research methods and student research.

KEUMJAE PARK is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Paterson University. Her research focuses on immigrant women, migration in comparative perspectives, identities, and social inequality. She is the author of Korean Immigrant Women and the Renegotiation of Identity: Class, Gender, and Politics of Identity (2009). She enjoys teaching and mentoring student research and postgraduate theses. She teaches research methods and data analysis courses on a regular basis.

Auteur

GABE T. WANG is Professor of Sociology at William Paterson University. He has published four books including China's Population Problems, Thoughts and Policies (1999), China and the Taiwan Issue (2006) and American Sociology and the Socioeconomic Development of China (2013). His research focuses on population, socioeconomic development, and adolescent deviant behaviours. Professor Wang has given lectures in many universities and research institutes in China. He has over 20 years of experience in teaching research methods and student research.

KEUMJAE PARK is Associate Professor of Sociology at William Paterson University. Her research focuses on immigrant women, migration in comparative perspectives, identities, and social inequality. She is the author of Korean Immigrant Women and the Renegotiation of Identity: Class, Gender, and Politics of Identity (2009). She enjoys teaching and mentoring student research and postgraduate theses. She teaches research methods and data analysis courses on a regular basis.

Texte du rabat

'Student Research and Report Writing is the most comprehensive and yet concise guide to student research that I have seen. Wang and Park get to the essence of what new researchers need to know and anticipate, without oversimplifying or cutting corners. I will definitely incorporate it into my teaching.'
Howard Lune, The City University of New York

'Wang and Park have taken their years of experience with fielding student questions about the research process and put them to excellent use in this book. Written from the inquiring minds perspective, the authors do a great job of posing and answering questions that every student researcher should ask and must ultimately answer when embarking on an independent research project. Students and professors alike will undoubtedly find this book most helpful.'
Janet Ruane, Montclair State University

Student Research and Report Writing is a user-friendly and practical research guidebook for students undergraduate and postgraduate - in any social sciences discipline who are carrying out research and/or writing a thesis. It provides the guidance and tools to build on earlier stages of work toward a completion of their papers, delivering a comprehensive, yet concise, all-in-one guide.

With students' challenges and questions in mind, this book focuses only on the knowledge and skills that are practically needed and helpful, with each chapter answering typical questions that students frequently ask. It starts with the challenges of student research topic selection; moves on to information search, literature review, and constructing hypotheses and/or research questions; helps with research design, and research proposal-writing; shows how to conduct quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis; and guides the reader through the process of writing their paper, effectively guiding students on each step of the journey.

Échantillon de lecture
Chapter 1
Introduction: Start Your Research Journey

If you have picked up this book, you are likely to be a student of the social sciences, business, or education. You may be thinking about original research for a major paper, for an undergraduate seminar class, or for a bachelor's or master's thesis. Or you may be in a practicum course in social science research and writing (often called "Senior Seminars" in many U.S. universities). You probably have already learned about different theories and have taken research methods courses in your discipline. Perhaps, you feel that you know a fair amount about research terminology, but you might not have had practice designing and carrying out original research of your own. Or you may be simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the work ahead and do not know exactly where to start. You know what you need to produce in the end but are anxious about how to get it done. If this is the case, this book is for you.

Conducting social science research is a journey that requires a step-by-step blueprint and a time-management plan. Most people today rely on a GPS (Global Positioning System) device or internet map services when they drive to unfamiliar locations. We hope this book works as your GPS research guide, a one-stop shop of practical help for you in each step of your research project, from coming up with a research topic to completing the report. Most chapters provide you with exercises corresponding to each research phase, which will help you complete the work effectively, and work out solutions to problems you may have.
What Is Research?

Before you get on the road, let's first talk about the definition of the term which we will use throughout the book. What is research? These days "research" has become a part of our everyday life. For example, when you ask someone in business about a new product or a new service, he/she may reply, "let me research that for you." As a consumer, you do research on a daily basis, whether it is the price of a car, which tablet device to purchase, or opportunities in the job market. In these cases, research refers to gathering available information so that you may make informed choices. The use of the internet has made this practice so common and routine that even children search for toys on the internet and compare various gadgets they can find before asking their parents to buy them.

On other occasions, you may be asked to do "formal" research that involves more systematic and conscious processes of gathering information, careful evaluation of evidence, and a methodical synthesis of the information gathered. Examples include doing research for term papers in undergraduate and postgraduate courses, writing a thesis to satisfy a requirement of a bachelor's or master's degree, or writing scholarly papers for publication or conference presentations. Or at work you may be asked for a market analysis or a needs assessment. The main difference between the casual everyday research you do as a consumer and the more formal research is the extent of the information to be considered and the methods to be employed in analyzing the information. For the everyday research, you may look up a…