Part 1. Introduction to research methods : Knowledge and research methods -- Empirical research -- The role of theory in research -- Experimental and nonexperimental studies -- Causal-comparative studies -- Types of nonexperimental research -- Quantitative and qualitative research: Key differences -- Quantitative and qualitative research decisions -- Program evaluation -- The development of ethical research standards -- Ethical principles in research -- Part 2. Reviewing and citing the literature -- Why researchers review literature -- Locating literature in electronic databases -- Structuring the literature review -- Connecting the literature to your study -- Preparing to write a critical review -- Creating a synthesis -- Why academics use citation -- Introduction to style guides -- Part 3. Basic concepts in quantitative research -- Decisions in quantitative research design -- Variables in nonexperimental studies -- Variables in experimental studies -- Operational definitions of variables -- Research hypotheses, purposes, and questions -- Part 4. Sampling -- Biased and unbiased sampling -- Simple random and systematic sampling -- Stratified random sampling -- Cluster sampling -- Nonprobability sampling and qualitative research -- Sampling and demographics -- Sample composition and bias -- Sample size in quantitative studies -- Sample size and diversity in qualitative research -- Sampling in the modern world -- Part 5. Measurement : Introduction to validity -- Judgmental validity -- Empirical validity -- Judgmental-empirical validity -- Reliability and its relationship to validity -- Measures of reliability -- Internal consistency and reliability -- Norm- and criterion-referenced tests -- Measures of optimum performance -- Measures of typical performance -- Measurement in qualitative research -- Part 6. Qualitative research design : Interviews in qualitative research -- Other methods for collecting qualitative data -- Grounded theory and research design -- Consensual qualitative research design -- Designing case studies -- Mixed methods designs -- Part 7. Designing experimental research -- True experimental designs -- Threats to internal validity -- Threats to external validity -- Pre-experimental designs -- Quasi-experimental designs -- Confounding in experiments -- Part 8. Analyzing data: Understanding statistics -- Descriptive and inferential statistics -- Understanding probability in statistics -- Introduction to the null hypothesis -- Scales of measurement -- Descriptions of nominal data -- Shapes of distributions -- The mean, median, and mode -- The mean and standard deviation -- The median and interquartile range -- The Chi-Square test -- The bivariate Chi Square test and types of error -- The t Test -- The pearson correlation coefficient -- One-way analysis of variance -- Two-way analysis of variance -- Basic regression -- Practical significance of results -- Part 9. Effect size and meta-analysis -- Introduction to effect size (d ) -- Interpretation of effect size (d ) -- Effect size and correlation (r) -- Introduction to meta-analysis -- Meta-analysis and effect size -- Meta-analysis: Strengths and weaknesses -- Part 10. Preparing research reports -- The structure of a research report -- Writing abstracts -- Introduction and literature review -- Describing participants -- Describing measures -- Reporting research results -- Writing the discussion -- Preparing theses and dissertations appendices