You are here

Book > Textbooks > Educational Research

PLEASE NOTE: Sage UK Distribution including UK Books Customer Services will be closed for a stocktake from 27th November to 29th November. This affects only book orders and queries from the UK. Any orders placed during this period; or queries emailed, will be dealt with as normal when service resumes on 2nd December. Thank you for your patience and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Disable VAT on Taiwan

Unfortunately, as of 1 January 2020 SAGE Ltd is no longer able to support sales of electronically supplied services to Taiwan customers that are not Taiwan VAT registered. We apologise for any inconvenience. For more information or to place a print-only order, please contact uk.customerservices@sagepub.co.uk.

Research Methods for Education
Share

Research Methods for Education

January 2018 | 800 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Download flyer
From award-winning author Gregory J. Privitera and Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell, Research Methods for Education covers the different quantitative and qualitative research methods specific to their use in educational research. This new text uses a problem-focused approach that fully integrates the decision tree—from choosing a research design to selecting an appropriate statistic for analysis. 

With a conversational, student-friendly writing style, and examples from a wide variety of education-related fields, the authors show how methods and statistics work together and enable the testing of hypotheses through use of the scientific method. Students will become informed consumers of research with the ability to understand a research article, judge its quality and apply the methods in action research to inform educational practice.

Give your students the SAGE edge!
SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning.

Available with Perusall—an eBook that makes it easier to prepare for class!
Perusall is an award-winning eBook platform featuring social annotation tools that allow students and instructors to collaboratively mark up and discuss their SAGE textbook. Backed by research and supported by technological innovations developed at Harvard University, this process of learning through collaborative annotation keeps your students engaged and makes teaching easier and more effective. Learn more.

 
About the Authors
 
Acknowledgments
 
Preface
 
SECTION I: SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
 
Chapter 1—Introduction to Scientific Thinking
1.1 Science as a Method of Knowing

 
1.2 The Scientific Method: Relevance in Educational Research

 
1.3 Other Methods of Knowing

 
1.4 The Goals of Science

 
1.5 Approaches in Acquiring Knowledge

 
1.6 Distinguishing Science From Pseudoscience

 
 
Chapter 2—Generating Testable Ideas
2.1 Generating Interesting and Novel Ideas

 
2.2 Converting Ideas to Hypotheses and Theories

 
2.3 Developing Your Idea: Deduction and Induction

 
2.4 Performing a Literature Review

 
2.5 Ethics in Focus: Giving Proper Credit

 
2.6 The “3 Cs” of an Effective Literature Review

 
2.7 Testing Your Idea: Confirmation and Disconfirmation

 
2.8 Ethics in Focus: Publication Bias

 
 
Chapter 3—Research Ethics
3.1 Ethics in Educational Research

 
3.2 The Need for Ethics Committees in Research: A Historical Synopsis

 
3.3 Ethics in Focus: Classic Examples From Psychology

 
3.4 Human Participant Research: IRBs and the AERA Code of Conduct

 
3.5 Ethics in Focus: Anonymity and Confidentiality

 
3.6 Additional Ethical Considerations: Scientific Integrity

 
 
SECTION II: DEFINING AND MEASURING VARIABLES, SELECTING SAMPLES, AND CHOOSING AN APPROPRIATE RESEARCH DESIGN
 
Chapter 4—Scientific Variables, Validity, and Reliability
4.1 Criteria for Defining and Measuring Variables

 
4.2 Constructs and Operational Definitions

 
4.3 Types of Variables

 
4.4 Scales of Measurement

 
4.5 Reliability of a Measurement

 
4.6 Validity of a Measurement

 
4.7 Intervention Fidelity

 
4.8 Selecting a Measurement Procedure

 
4.9 Ethics in Focus: Replication as a Gauge for Fraud?

 
 
Chapter 5—Instrumentation
5.1 Classifying Data Collection Instruments

 
5.2 Tests and Measures

 
5.3 Types of Questionnaire Items

 
5.4 Rules for Writing Survey Items

 
5.5 Administering Questionnaires

 
5.6 Interviewing

 
5.7 Ethics in Focus: Maintaining Confidentiality of Collected Data

 
 
Chapter 6—Sampling From Populations
6.1 Why Do Researchers Select Samples?

 
6.2 Subjects, Participants, and Sampling Methods

 
6.3 Methods of Sampling: Nonprobability Sampling

 
6.4 Methods of Sampling: Probability Sampling

 
6.5 Sampling Error and Standard Error of the Mean

 
6.6 Potential Biases in Sampling

 
6.7 Ethics in Focus: Research in Schools

 
 
Chapter 7—Choosing a Research Design
7.1 Designing a Study to Answer a Question

 
7.2 Categories of Research Design

 
7.3 Internal and External Validity

 
7.4 Demonstrating Cause in an Experiment

 
7.5 Ethics in Focus: Beneficence and Random Assignment

 
7.6 Threats to the Internal Validity of a Research Study

 
7.7 Threats to the External Validity of a Research Study

 
7.8 External Validity, Experimentation, and Realism

 
7.9 A Final Thought on Validity and Choosing a Research Design

 
 
SECTION III: NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS
 
Chapter 8—Naturalistic and Existing Data Research Designs
Naturalistic Designs

 
8.1 An Overview of Naturalistic Design

 
8.2 The Research Setting: Natural and Contrived Settings

 
8.3 Techniques for Making Unobtrusive Observations

 
8.4 Making Observations

 
8.5 Ethics in Focus: Influencing Participant Behavior

 
Existing Data Designs

 
8.6 An Overview of Existing Data Designs

 
8.7 Archival Research, Content Analysis, and Meta-Analysis

 
8.8 Ethics in Focus: Existing Data and Experimenter Bias

 
 
Chapter 9—Survey and Correlational Research Designs
Survey Designs

 
9.1 An Overview of Survey Designs

 
9.2 Surveys, Sampling, and Nonresponse Bias

 
9.3 Survey Methods

 
9.4 Ethics in Focus: Handling and Administering Surveys

 
Correlational Designs

 
9.5 The Structure of Correlational Designs

 
9.6 Describing the Relationship Between Variables

 
9.7 Limitations in Interpretation

 
9.8 Correlation, Regression, and Prediction

 
 
Chapter 10—Introduction to Qualitative Research
10.1 What Is Qualitative Research?

 
10.2 Foundations of Qualitative Research

 
10.3 Theoretical Perspectives in Qualitative Research

 
10.4 Steps in Qualitative Research

 
10.5 Role of the Researcher and Entry Into the Field

 
10.6 Sampling in Qualitative Research

 
10.7 Types of Qualitative Data

 
10.8 Ethics in Focus: Using the Internet in Qualitative Research

 
 
Chapter 11—Phenomenology, Ethnography, and Ground Theory Designs
11.1 An Overview of Phenomenology Designs

 
11.2 An Example of Phenomenology Research

 
11.3 Considerations for Participant Self-Descriptions

 
11.4 An Overview of Ethnography Designs

 
11.5 Making Observations in Group Settings

 
11.6 An Example of Ethnography Research

 
11.7 An Overview of Netnography and Autoethnography Research

 
11.8 An Overview of Grounded Theory Designs

 
11.9 An Example of Grounded Theory Designs

 
11.10 Ethics in Focus: Anonymity in Qualitative Research

 
 
Chapter 12—Narrative Inquiry, Case Study, and Critical Theory Designs
Narrative Research Designs

 
12.1 An Overview of Narrative Research

 
12.2 Considerations for Narrative Inquiry

 
12.3 An Example of Narrative Research

 
Case Study Designs

 
12.4 An Overview of Case Study Designs

 
12.5 Types of Case Study Designs

 
12.6 Combining Case Study Design With Quantitative Data

 
Critical Theory Designs

 
12.7 An Overview of Critical Theory Designs

 
12.8 Types of Critical Theory Designs

 
12.9 Ethics in Focus: Retelling Human

 
 
SECTION IV: QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL, EXPERIMENTAL, AND MIXED-METHODS RESEARCH DESIGNS
 
Chapter 13—Quasi-Experimental and Single-Case Experimental Designs
Quasi-Experimental Designs

 
13.1 An Overview of Quasi-Experimental Designs

 
13.2 One-Group Designs

 
13.3 Quasi-Experimental Design: Nonequivalent Control Group Designs

 
13.4 Quasi-Experimental Design: Time-Series Designs

 
Single-Case Experimental Designs

 
13.5 An Overview of Single-Case Designs

 
13.6 Single-Case Baseline-Phase Designs

 
13.7 Application of Single-Case Designs in an Applied School Setting

 
13.8 Single-Case Designs in the Identification of Effective

 
13.9 Validity, Stability, Magnitude, and Generality

 
13.10 Ethics in Focus: The Ethics of Innovation

 
 
Chapter 14—Experimental Designs: Between Subjects, Within Subjects, and Factorial
14.1 Conducting Experiments: Between-Subjects Design

 
14.2 Experimental Versus Control Group

 
14.3 Manipulation, Variability, and the Independent Variable

 
14.4 Ethics in Focus: The Accountability of Manipulation

 
14.5 Comparing Two or More Independent Samples

 
14.6 Conducting Experiments: Within-Subjects Design

 
14.7 Controlling Time-Related Factors

 
14.8 Comparing Two or More Related Samples

 
14.9 Comparing Between-Subjects and Within-Subjects Designs

 
14.10 Conducting Experiments: Factorial Experimental Designs

 
14.11 Types of Factorial Designs

 
14.12 Including Quasi-Independent Factors in an Experiment

 
14.13 Higher-Order Factorial Designs

 
 
Chapter 15—Mixed-Methods Research Designs
15.1 An Overview of Mixed-Methods Research Designs

 
15.2 When Use of Mixed-Methods Research Designs Is Appropriate

 
15.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a Mixed-Methods Research Design

 
15.4 Types of Mixed-Methods Research Designs

 
15.5 Conducting Mixed-Methods Research

 
15.6 Ethics in Focus: Minimizing Risk Associated With Qualitative and Quantitative Research

 
 
SECTION V: APPLIED RESEARCH DESIGNS
 
Chapter 16—Action Research
16.1 The Fundamentals of Action Research

 
16.2 Types of Action Research

 
16.3 The Process of Conducting Action Research

 
16.4 Ethics in Focus: Ethical Considerations in Action Research

 
16.5 Evaluation of Action Research

 
 
Chapter 17—Program Evaluation
17.1 The Fundamentals of Program Evaluation

 
17.2 Difference Between Program Evaluation and Research

 
17.3 Program Evaluation Standards

 
17.4 Utility and Importance of Program Evaluation

 
17.5 Ethics in Focus: Considerations for Protecting the Welfare of Stakeholders

 
17.6 Models for Program Evaluation

 
17.7 Steps in Program Evaluation

 
 
SECTION VI: ANALYZING, INTERPRETING, AND COMMUNICATING RESEARCH DATA
 
Chapter 18—Analysis and Interpretation: Exposition of Data
18.1 Descriptive Statistics: Why Summarize Data?

 
18.2 Frequency Distributions: Tables and Gra

 
18.3 Measures of Central Tendency

 
18.4 Measures of Variability

 
18.5 Graphing Means and Correlations

 
18.6 Using Correlation to Describe Reliability

 
18.7 Standard Scores, z Scores, Percentile Ranks, and Age/Grade Equivalents

 
18.8 Ethics in Focus: Deception Due to the Distortion of Data

 
 
Chapter 19—Analysis and Interpretation: Making Inferences About Data
19.1 Inferential Statistics: What Are We Making Inferences About?

 
19.2 Types of Error and Power

 
19.3 Parametric Tests: Applying the Decision Tree

 
19.4 Main Effects and Interactions

 
19.5 Identifying Main Effects and Interactions in a Graph

 
19.6 Correlation and Regression

 
19.7 Nonparametric Tests: Applying the Decision Tree

 
19.8 Effect Size: How Big Is an Effect in the Population?

 
19.9 Estimation: What Are the Possible Values of a Parameter?

 
19.10 Confidence Intervals, Significance, and Effect Size

 
19.11 Issues for Interpretation: Precision and Certainty

 
19.12 Ethics in Focus: Full Disclosure of Data

 
 
Chapter 20—Analysis and Interpretation: Making Inferences About Qualitative Data
20.1 Qualitative Versus Quantitative Data Analysis

 
20.2 Decisions About How to Record Narrative Data

 
20.3 Decisions About Quantitative Data Analysis and Interpretation

 
20.4 General Process of Qualitative Data Analysis

 
20.5 Qualitative Coding Tools

 
20.6 Interpretations Made Using Different Qualitative Designs in the Data Analysis Process

 
20.7 Criteria of Trustworthiness

 
20.8 Ethics in Focus: Confidentiality

 
 
Chapter 21—Communicating Research: Preparing Manuscripts, Posters, and Talks
21.1 Elements of Communication

 
21.2 Writing a Manuscript: Writing Style and Language

 
21.3 Elements of an APA-Style Manuscript

 
21.4 Literature Reviews

 
21.5 Reporting Observations in Qualitative Research

 
21.6 Ethics in Focus: Credit and Authorship

 
21.7 Presenting a Poster

 
21.8 Giving a Professional Talk

 
 
Appendix A: APA-Style Writing, Sample Manuscript, and Posters
A.1 Essentials for Writing APA-Style Research Papers

 
A.2 Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling (GPS) Writing Guide

 
A.3 Sample APA-Style Manuscript

 
A.4 Poster Template and Sample Poster

 
 
Appendix B: Instructions for Randomizing and Counterbalancing
B.1 Random Numbers Table

 
B.2 Constructing a Latin Square

 
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Index

Supplements

Student Study Site

SAGE edge for Students provides a personalized approach to help students accomplish their coursework goals in an easy-to-use learning environment.

  • Mobile-friendly eFlashcards strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts.
  • Mobile-friendly practice quizzes allow for independent assessment by students of their mastery of course material.
  • Learning objectives reinforce the most important material.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter is included.
Instructor Teaching site

SAGE edge for Instructors, supports your teaching by making it easy to integrate quality content and create a rich learning environment for students.

  • Test banks provide a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity to edit any question and/or insert your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • Sample course syllabi for semester and quarter courses provide suggested models for structuring your courses.
  • Editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides offer complete flexibility for creating a multimedia presentation for your course.
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully selected to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter is included.
  • An Instructor's Manual provides chapter outlines, learning objectives, and lecture suggestions in support of the learning objectives to help you prepare to teach the course.
  • An Answer Key provides answers to all of the review questions in the textbook.

The go to guide for all students at level 6, 7 and 8. excellent support text.

Mr Julian Ayres
School of Education and Community, Wrexham Glyndwr University
June 29, 2021
Report this review

Good overview of the ways to use research in education.

Dr Scott Drabenstot
Psychology Dept, Southern Nazarene University
September 27, 2019
Report this review

Complete guide. Very harmonious integration of research methods and education.

Dr Gerónimo Maldonado-Martínez
Education, University Of Puerto Rico
February 3, 2020
Report this review
  •  

For instructors

Related Products

An Introduction to Educational Research
An Introduction to Educational Research