The social sciences have seen a substantial increase in comparative and multi-sited ethnographic projects over the last three decades. Yet, at present, researchers seeking to design comparative field projects have few scholarly works detailing how comparison is conducted in divergent ethnographic approaches. In Beyond the Case, Corey M. Abramson and Neil Gong have gathered together several experts in field research to address these issues by showing how practitioners employing contemporary iterations of ethnographic traditions such as phenomenology, grounded theory, positivism, and interpretivism, use comparison in their works. The contributors connect the long history of comparative (and anti-comparative) ethnographic approaches to their contemporary uses. By honing in on how ethnographers render sites, groups, or cases analytically commensurable and comparable, Beyond the Case offers a new lens for examining the assumptions, payoffs, and potential drawbacks of different forms of comparative ethnography.

Exploring the relationships between qualitative research and social change, this book asks how social change is informed and influenced by research. Examples discussed are from research practice and experiences in the fields of sociology, social work, professional practice, education, criminal justice and anthropology.

Interrupted Time Series Analysis develops a comprehensive set of models and methods for drawing causal inferences from time series. It provides example analyses of social, behavioral, and biomedical time series to illustrate a general strategy for building AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) impact models. Additionally, the book supplements the classic Box-Jenkins-Tiao model-building strategy with recent auxiliary tests for transformation, differencing, and model selection. Not only does the text discuss new developments, including the prospects for widespread adoption of Bayesian hypothesis testing and synthetic control group designs, but it makes optimal use of graphical illustrations in its examples. With forty completed example analyses that demonstrate the implications of model properties, Interrupted Time Series Analysis will be a key inter-disciplinary text in classrooms, workshops, and short-courses for researchers familiar with time series data or cross-sectional regression analysis but limited background in the structure of time series processes and experiments.

A particularly important component of any research project is its ethical dimensions which can refer to varied categories of practice - from the protection of human subjects involved in medical and social research to the publication of results research. More recently, with the estimation of the possible consequences of the implementation of technology, it is important for today's researchers to address the standards of scientific practice and avoid unethical behavior. Ethics in Research Practice and Innovation is an essential reference source that discusses current and historical aspects of ethical values in scientific research and technologies, as well as emerging perspectives of conducting ethical research in a variety of fields. Featuring research on topics such as clinical trials, human subjects, and informed consent, this book is ideally designed for practitioners, medical professionals, nurses, researchers, scientists, scholars, academicians, policy makers, and students seeking coverage on the ethical risks and limitations of research practice.

Data visualization has emerged as a serious scholarly topic, and a wide range of tools have recently been developed at an accelerated pace to aid in this research area. Examining different ways of analyzing big data can result in increased efficiency for many corporations and organizations. Data Visualization and Statistical Literacy for Open and Big Data highlights methodological developments in the way that data analytics is both learned and taught. Featuring extensive coverage on emerging relevant topics such as data complexity, statistics education, and curriculum development, this publication is geared toward teachers, academicians, students, engineers, professionals, and researchers that are interested in expanding their knowledge of data examination and analysis.

A comprehensive introduction to social network analysis that hones in on basic centrality measures, social links, subgroup analysis, data sources, and more

Written by military, industry, and business professionals, this book introduces readers to social network analysis, the new and emerging topic that has recently become of significant use for industry, management, law enforcement, and military practitioners for identifying both vulnerabilities and opportunities in collaborative networked organizations.

Focusing on models and methods for the analysis of organizational risk, "Social Network Analysis with Applications" provides easily accessible, yet comprehensive coverage of network basics, centrality measures, social link theory, subgroup analysis, relational algebra, data sources, and more. Examples of mathematical calculations and formulas for social network measures are also included.

Along with practice problems and exercises, this easily accessible book covers: The basic concepts of networks, nodes, links, adjacency matrices, and graphsMathematical calculations and exercises for centrality, the basic measures of degree, betweenness, closeness, and eigenvector centralitiesGraph-level measures, with a special focus on both the visual and numerical analysis of networksMatrix algebra, outlining basic concepts such as matrix addition, subtraction, multiplication, and transpose and inverse calculations in linear algebra that are useful for developing networks from relational dataMeta-networks and relational algebra, social links, diffusion through networks, subgroup analysis, and more

An excellent resource for practitioners in industry, management, law enforcement, and military intelligence who wish to learn and apply social network analysis to their respective fields, "Social Network Analysis with Applications" is also an ideal text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate level courses and workshops on the subject.

Generation Z (GenZ) is the young generation born between the mid-1990s and 2010s. They are now entering the market and starting their first jobs. Therefore, managers must shape the company workplace environment to encourage young employees to work efficiently and connect their future with the company. Only then both managers and employees will share mutual satisfaction from collaboration and aim at the common target, which should be the prosperity of the company. This book presents research results and techniques for analyzing the working expectations and needs of GenZ. The analyses were made in various countries in Europe: The Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland, and Portugal. The book contains chapters that present the analysis results and technical chapters that outline modern methods of analysis of management data, including tutorial chapters on Machine Learning, which currently make a strong appearance in research in various disciplines. This volume will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of management studies, research methods, and human resource management.

This study examines theological dissertations by international students accepted by major Austrian universities and shows that academic incompetence, plagiarism, and negligent supervision are seriously damaging theological institutions - in Europe and abroad. Some Catholic priests from developing countries receive theological doctorates in Austria by submitting substandard dissertations. Overwhelmed by culture shock and lacking proper academic guidance, these students resort to copying and manipulating data. Many go on to become church leaders at home. This study addresses the damage done by deficient dissertations.

This book begins with an introductory outline of the structure of the city politics of the United States. There is a study of the city in the federal system, including the politics of feudal aid. This is followed by four case studies: the political roles of mayor, manager, boss and adminstrator-entrepreneur in the city. Madgwick concludes with some comparative reflections indicating the significance of this study for British local government. This book was first published in 1970.

Traditional research discourses continue to present academic work as rational, detached, objective and free from emotion. This volume argues that the presentation of research as 'objective' conceals the subject positions of researchers, and the emotional imperatives that often drive research. The collection engages with the emotional experiences of researchers working in different traditions, contexts and sites, and demonstrates their centrality in data production, analysis, dissemination and ethical practice. This edited volume offers contributions from a range of well-established and early career scholars who argue for an emotional rebellion in the academic world. The authors reflect on their own experiences of research, generously sharing their approach to their craft, and the uncertainties, concerns, enjoyments, and questions it entails. The contributors are based in a range of disciplines across the humanities, social sciences and STEM, and in the museum sector. This provides a unique opportunity for reflection on differences between and similarities across disciplinary boundaries, shedding new light on common problems and opportunities stimulated by emotion in research. The collection demonstrates how emotion can be valuable and meaningful in the activities of research, reflection and dissemination: offering authenticity to the academic voice, bringing clarity to interpretive biases, producing engaging outputs which connect with diverse readerships, and potentially reshaping disciplinary foundations and relations. Emotion and the Researcher: Sites, Subjectivities and Relationships will be an invaluable companion for researchers, postgraduate students and other academics with an interest in the emotional elements of conflict, negotiation, relationality and reflexivity, within and beyond the research encounter.

Research designs can be distinguished along various dimensions, but all face the same set of core issues. What is a relevant research problem? How can the concepts and measurements be improved? Which and how many variables and cases should be selected? What theoretical conclusions can be drawn from the research? Which evidence would lead to a rejection and reformulation of the initial theory?
This volume was written to help advanced students of political science and neighbouring fields to think about these issues and develop practical solutions for their own research. The distinction between qualitative and quantitative research can often be inadequate. Some solutions to research design problems are common to both types of research; others cross-cut the traditional qualitative-quantitative divide. Including a chapter on choosing a research question, this book provides practical guidelines for both qualitative and quantitative designs, discussing the typical trade-offs involved in choosing them, and is rich in examples from real research.

First published Open Access under a Creative Commons license as What is Diary Method?, this title is now also available as part of the Bloomsbury Research Methods series. This book provides an up-to-date, concise, and engaging introduction to solicited diary method, aimed at researchers and students who want to employ this methodology in their projects. Its primary focus is on the use of solicited diary method in the context of social and health-related research, but it also offers useful guidance on the everyday practice of diary-keeping. The authors draw on published research that makes use of this method, including their own independent studies involving older adults and family carers. The book opens with an overview of the development of diary techniques and a discussion of the value of the method, and provides an overview of the different ways of collecting and using diary data and techniques for analysing it. Key ethical issues are sensitively discussed. The book engages with new and novel developments in solicited diary method by engaging with the use of technology including discussion of how digital devices, email exchanges, social media such as Facebook, weblogs and micro-blogging such as Twitter, have the potential to change the meaning and nature of diary-keeping. The book includes a variety of visuals to enhance understanding, including a tabulated summary of the main strengths and limitations of using diary method, and strategies for mitigating limitations.

An easy-to-use guide to American regional folklore with advice on conducting research, regional essays, and a selective annotated bibliography. American Regional Folklore begins with a chapter on library research, including how to locate a library suitable for folklore research, how to understand a library's resources, and how to construct a research strategy. Mood also gives excellent advice on researching beyond the library: locating and using community resources like historical societies, museums, fairs and festivals, storytelling groups, local colleges, newspapers and magazines, and individuals with knowledge of the field. The rest of the book is divided into eight sections, each one highlighting a separate region (the Northeast, the South and Southern Highlands, the Midwest, the Southwest, the West, the Northwest, Alaska, and Hawaii). Each regional section contains a useful overview essay, written by an expert on the folklore of that particular region, followed by a selective, annotated bibliography of books and a directory of related resources. Fully annotated bibliographies on the folklore of each of eight regions of the United States Engaging overview essays by folklore scholars introduce each of the U.S. regions covered A list of literary authors who incorporate folklore themes in their writings, together with a brief list of some of their major works A list of folklore-related museums, with addresses and phone numbers, a list of folklore journals, and, when possible, a list of websites

Since the pioneering discoveries of Hodgkin, Huxley, and Katz, it has been clear that specific ion conductance pathways underlie electrical act- ity. Over the ensuing 50 years, there has been ever increasing, and occasi- ally explosive, changes in the scope of efforts to understand ion channel behavior. The introduction of patch clamp technology by Erwin Neher and Bert Sakmann about 20 years ago led to the realization of the great variety of novel ion channel species, and the subsequent revolution in cl- ing has revealed an even greater diversity of the underlying molecular entities. Today, advances in the study of ion channel structure and function c- tinue at a high pace, from angstrom resolution imaging of crystallized ch- nels to their genetic manipulations in animals. In this regard, the field is a balanced one that inquires not only what ion channel entities are there, or how they operate, but also where are these molecular electronic switches? However, this balance is not particularly well presented to the general sci- tific audience or to specialists in the field. There are plenty of wonderful and useful books and monographs, as well as conferences and meetings on v- tually every aspect of ion channel structure and function. However, we are unaware that the channel localization theme has been considered in a u- fied forum.

This book is designed to introduce doctoral and other higher-degree research students to the process of scientific research in the fields of Information Systems as well as fields of Information Technology, Business Process Management and other related disciplines within the social sciences. It guides research students in their process of learning the life of a researcher. In doing so, it provides an understanding of the essential elements, concepts and challenges of the journey into research studies. It also provides a gateway for the student to inquire deeper about each element covered . Comprehensive and broad but also succinct and compact, the book is focusing on the key principles and challenges for a novice doctoral student.

Experts present proven methods and techniques for studying about or in Africa! Research, Reference Services, and Resources for the Study of Africa helps you steer clear of washouts, cave-ins, and dead ends on the road to successful research onor inAfrica. This one-of-a-kind research guide presents practical solutions to frequently occurring problems in the study of Africa, including Internet accessibility problems, errors that will affect a known item search, the imposition of colonial legacy, and dealing with gender and class bias. Unlike most references on Africa that concentrate on collection development, this unique book focuses on the study of Africa, making it a must-have for academic librarians, Africanist scholars, and Africana librarians. Specialists, generalist librarians, and end users all depend on tools designed to provide access to information in libraries and on the web including OPACs databases, and search engines. In this book, these tools, research methods, and the accessibility of information on Africa are examined, offering students and professionals a thorough guide to the most successful researching route. Research, Reference Services, and Resources for the Study of Africa provides assistance in the research process according to a variety of categories including: evaluating OPACs and similar databases for known-item searching using keywords, subject headings, bias, indexing, full-text searching, terminology, cataloguing, user-centered information services, and other search strategies to find what you are looking for using Internet resources to your advantage using the partnerships between the U.S. and African libraries and scholarly institutions to help improve information access using techniques for reference librarians to act as a force increasing women's roles in the study of Africa and much more! Research, Reference Services, and Resources for the Study of Africa offers all the information necessary to avoid research hang-ups that affect the study of Africa, and the necessary information to pass these skills on to students.

Agreement among raters is of great importance in many domains. For example, in medicine, diagnoses are often provided by more than one doctor to make sure the proposed treatment is optimal. In criminal trials, sentencing depends, among other things, on the complete agreement among the jurors. In observational studies, researchers increase reliability by examining discrepant ratings. This book is intended to help researchers statistically examine rater agreement by reviewing four different approaches to the technique. The first approach introduces readers to calculating coefficients that allow one to summarize agreements in a single score. The second approach involves estimating log-linear models that allow one to test specific hypotheses about the structure of a cross-classification of two or more raters' judgments. The third approach explores cross-classifications or raters' agreement for indicators of agreement or disagreement, and for indicators of such characteristics as trends. The fourth approach compares the correlation or covariation structures of variables that raters use to describe objects, behaviors, or individuals. These structures can be compared for two or more raters. All of these methods operate at the level of observed variables. This book is intended as a reference for researchers and practitioners who describe and evaluate objects and behavior in a number of fields, including the social and behavioral sciences, statistics, medicine, business, and education. It also serves as a useful text for graduate-level methods or assessment classes found in departments of psychology, education, epidemiology, biostatistics, public health, communication, advertising and marketing, and sociology. Exposure to regression analysis and log-linear modeling is helpful.

Qualitative research is a key form of research in education; the findings of such projects frequently play a central role in shaping policy and practice. First time qualitative researchers require clear and practical guidance from the outset. However, given the diversity of both subject matter and methodological approaches encompassed by qualitative research, such guidance is not always easily come by.

Qualitative Educational Research in Action: Doing and Reflecting is a collection of ten first-hand accounts by educational researchers of qualitative inquiries they carried out. The subjects are diverse, taking in school restructuring, policy analysis, critical literacy, phenomenology and the student teacher relationship. Each chapter outlines the research question investigated and provides an overview of the project's findings, before going on to describe how each researcher approached the challenges of their particular inquiry. The researchers reflect upon the unexpected turns qualitative research can take and the way such projects can move through different theoretical and methodological positions, often ending up significantly removed from the original premise, but all the more valuable for that.

Anyone conducting qualitative research in education will be heartened and inspired by this collection, and will also find in it invaluable guidance on dealing effectively with the idiosyncrasies and pitfalls of qualitative research- guidance that is all the more valuable for coming from those who have themselves navigated similar difficulties.

In the revised and updated second edition of The Tone of Teaching, bestselling author Max van Manen defines sound pedagogy as the ability to distinguish effectively between what is appropriate, and what is less appropriate in our communications and dealings with children and young people as parents and educators. The author: -Shows how tactful educators develop a caring attentiveness to the unique; to the uniqueness of children, and to the uniqueness of their individual lives-Describes how this "tone" of teaching can be sustained by the cultivation of a certain kind of seeing, listening, and responding to each child in each particular situation-Offers practical insights for both educators and parents

Received an honorable mention by the Prose Award Committee in the Best Textbook in Physical Sciences/Mathematics 2017 category The PROSE Awards draw attention to pioneering works of research and for contributions to the conception, production, and design of landmark works in their fields. Featuring peer-reviewed contributions from noted experts in their fields of research, Reproducibility: Principles, Problems, Practices, and Prospects presents state-of-the-art approaches to reproducibility, the gold standard of sound science, from multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives. Including comprehensive coverage for implementing and reflecting the norm of reproducibility in various pertinent fields of research, the book focuses on how the reproducibility of results is applied, how it may be limited, and how such limitations can be understood or even controlled in the natural sciences, computational sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and studies of science and technology. The book presents many chapters devoted to a variety of methods and techniques, as well as their epistemic and ontological underpinnings, which have been developed to safeguard reproducible research and curtail deficits and failures. The book also investigates the political, historical, and social practices that underlie reproducible research in contemporary science studies, including the difficulties of good scientific practice and the ethos of reproducibility in modern innovation societies. Reproducibility: Principles, Problems, Practices, and Prospects is a guide for researchers who are interested in the general and overarching questions behind the concept of reproducibility; for active scientists who are confronted with practical reproducibility problems in their everyday work; and for economic stakeholders and political decision makers who need to better understand the challenges of reproducibility. In addition, the book is a useful in-depth primer for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in scientific methodology and basic issues in the philosophy and sociology of science from a modern perspective. A comprehensive, insightful treatment of the reproducibility challenges facing science today and of ways in which the scientific community can address them. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Elizabeth Ware Packard Professor of Communication, University of Pennsylvania How can we make sure that reproducible research remains a key imperative of scientific communication under increasing commercialization, media attention, and publication pressure? This handbook offers the first interdisciplinary and fundamental treatment of this important question. Torsten Hothorn, Professor of Biostatistics, University of Zurich Harald Atmanspacher, PhD, is Associate Fellow and staff member at Collegium Helveticum, ETH and University Zurich and is also President of the Society for Mind-Matter Research. He has pioneered advances in complex dynamical systems research and in a number of topics concerned with the relation between the mental and physical. Sabine Maasen, PhD, is Professor for Sociology of Science and Director of the Munich Center for Technology in Society (TU Munich) and Associate Fellow at Collegium Helveticum (ETH and University Zurich). Her research focuses on the interface of science, technology, and society, notably with respect to neuroscience and its applications.

This second edition has been substantially revised and expanded to form a truly comprehensive, practical guide to research methods and statistical analysis. The text retains the successful student-centred approach, assuming no background knowledge. Logically and intuitively organised, the book introduces key terms and concepts, progressing through the process of selecting a study and analysing results right through to the final point of preparing a report. This edition has been extensively revised to offer more detailed coverage - including more depth on topics such as power, meta-analysis, ethics, the literature review, questionnaire design, small sample research, and graphing techniques. Coverage of qualitative methods has been expanded to include more on software tools and IPA. The book offers a range of support focused on essential concepts, practicalities, and a new feature to highlight important research from the scientific literature. The examples have been increased and updated to help clarify concepts and further support the reader in developing both a conceptual and practical understanding of research and analysis. The book relates to the most recent version of PASW statistics (previously SPSS).

Short-term therapy doesn't have to be second-best This valuable book explores a variety of brief therapy approaches with young adults between 17 and 25. Each case discussion thoroughly covers the salient points of the client, the problem, and the treatment, as well as segments of the treatment transcripts that illustrate the critical aspects of the counseling. A post-hoc question-and-answer section explores alternative ways the therapist could have handled the client and allows in-depth examination of successful treatment approaches. Case Book of Brief Psychotherapy with College Students offers constructive suggestions for dealing with common presenting problems, including: depression individuation issues PTSD impulse control in mandated psychotherapy cult membership post-rape trauma bereavement issues With comprehensive references and a fascinating variety of presenting problems, Case Book of Brief Psychotherapy with College Students is a helpful resource for any psychologist, social worker, or therapist whose clients include young adults.