E-Book Overview
Students and beginning researchers often discover that their introductory statistics and methods courses have not fully equipped them to plan and execute their own behavioral research studies. This indispensable book bridges the gap between coursework and conducting independent research. With clarity and wit, the author helps the reader build needed skills to formulate a precise, meaningful research question; understand the pros and cons of widely used research designs and analysis options; correctly interpret the outcomes of statistical tests; make informed measurement choices for a particular study; manage the practical aspects of data screening and preparation; and craft effective journal articles, oral presentations, and posters. Including annotated examples and recommended readings, most chapters feature theoretical and computer-based exercises; an answer appendix at the back of the book allows readers to check their work.
E-Book Content
Becoming a Behavioral Science Researcher
Becoming a Behavioral Science Researcher A Guide to Producing Research That Matters
Rex B. Kline
THE GUILFORD PRESS New York London
© 2009 The Guilford Press A Division of Guilford Publications, Inc. 72 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012 www.guilford.com All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America This book is printed on acid-free paper. Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kline, Rex B. Becoming a behavioral science researcher : a guide to producing research that matters / Rex B. Kline. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN 978-1-59385-837-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-59385-838-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Psychology—Research. I. Title. BF76.5.K54 2009 150.72—dc22 2008019946
For Julia and Luke, my junior scientists
Preface and Acknowledgments
The idea for this book originated during a conversation in December 2006 with C. Deborah Laughton, Publisher, Methodology and Statistics, at The Guilford Press, about the challenges of teaching research seminars or other courses in which students conduct a thesis project. These students could be senior undergraduates in advanced programs, such as honors or specialization, or first-year graduate students. Although such students have typically taken at least two introductory courses in research methods and statistics, they are nevertheless “unfinished” in some critical ways, and thus not ready to carry out a thesis research project. For example, students’ familiarity with basic concepts about design and analysis is often rather poor, despite their previous coursework. This coursework may not have introduced them to some important contemporary issues, such as statistics reform. Students’ knowledge of measurement issues may be even worse still, often because they’ve never taken a psychometrics course. Students also need help with learning how to write cogently about their research or make formal presentations about their work. As an instructor or supervisor of thesis students, it can be difficult to specify readings that address all these needs. This is because it is often necessary to pull together works from a variety of sources, including chapters from methods or statistics books that review critical concepts, shorter or paperback books that specifically help students learn how to write better or make effective presentations, and journal articles that deal with topics just mentioned or related critical issues about how to improve behavioral science research.