Research Methods in Psychology For Dummies

Your hands-on introduction to research methods in psychology.  
Looking for an easily accessible overview of research methods in psychology? This is the book for you! Whether you need to get ahead in class, you're pressed for time, or you just want a take on a topic that's not covered in your textbook, Research Methods in Psychology For Dummies has you covered. 
Written in plain English and packed with easy-to-follow instruction, this friendly guide takes the intimidation out of the subject and tackles the fundamentals of psychology research in a way that makes it approachable and comprehensible, no matter your background. Inside, you'll find expert coverage of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys, case studies, laboratory observations, tests and experiments—and much more. 
- Serves as an excellent supplement to course textbooks - Provides a clear introduction to the scientific method - Presents the methodologies and techniques used in psychology research- Written by the authors of Psychology Statistics For Dummies 
If you're a first or second year psychology student and want to supplement your doorstop-sized psychology textbook—and boost your chances of scoring higher at exam time—this hands-on guide breaks down the subject into easily digestible bits and propels you towards success.

Sairaanhoitajaksi kasvattaminen : Sairaanhoitajakoulutus ja siinä käytetyt oppikirjat Suomessa vuoteen 1967 asti

The historical development of Finnish nursing textbooks from the late 1880s to 1967: the training of nurses in the Foucauldian perspective. This study aims, first, to analyse the historical development of Finnish nursing textbooks in the training of nurses and in nursing education: what Foucauldian power processes operate in the writing and publishing processes? What picture of nursing did early nursing books portray and who were the decision makers? Second, this study also aims to analyse the processes of power in nurse training processes. The time frame extends from the early stages of nurse training in the late 1880s to 1967. This present study is a part of textbook research and of the history of professional education in Finland. This study seeks to explain how, who or what contributed the power processes involved in the writing of nursing textbooks and through textbooks. Did someone use these books as a tool to influence nursing education? The third aim of this study is to define and analyse the purpose of nurse training. Michel Foucault´s concept of power served as an explanatory framework for this study. A very central part of power is the assembling of data, the supplying of information and messages, and the creation of discourses. When applied to the training of nurses, power dictates what information is taught in the training and contained in the books. Thus, the textbook holds an influential position as a power user in these processes. Other processes in which such power is exercised include school discipline and all other normalizing processes. One of most powerful ways of adapting is the hall of residence, where nursing pupils were required to live. Trained nurses desired to separate themselves from their untrained predecessors and from those with less training by wearing different uniforms and living in separate housing units. The state supported the registration of trained nurses by legislation. With this decision the state made it illegal to work as a nurse without an authorised education, and use these regulations to limit and confirm the professional knowledge and power of nurses. Nurses, physicians and government authorities used textbooks in nursing education as tools to achieve their own purposes and principles. With these books all three groups attempted to confirm their own professional power and knowledge while at the same time limit the power and expertise of others. Public authorities sought to unify the training of nurses and the basis of knowledge in all nursing schools in Finland with similar and obligatory textbooks. This standardisation started 20 years before the government unified nursing training in 1930. The textbooks also served as data assemblers in unifying nursing practices in Finnish hospitals, because the Medical Board required all training hospitals to attach the textbooks to units with nursing pupils. For the nurses, and especially for the associations of Finnish nurses, making and publishing their own textbooks for the training of nurses was a part of their professional projects. With these textbooks, the nursing elite and the teachers tended to prepare nursing pupils’ identities for nursing’s very special mission. From the 1960s, nursing was no longer understood as a mission, but as a normal vocation. Nurses and doctors disputed this view throughout the period studied, which was the optimal relationship between theory and practice in nursing textbooks and in nurse education. The discussion of medical knowledge in nursing textbooks took place in the 1930s and 1940s. Nurses were very confused about their own professional knowledge and expertise, which explains why they could not create a new nursing textbook despite the urgency. A brand new nursing textbook was published in 1967, about 30 years after the predecessor. Keyword: nurse, nurse training, nursing education, power, textbook, Michel Foucault

A Shared European History? Perceptions of Imperialism and Islam in Matriculation Examination Essays and History Textbooks

The European Union (EU) is faced with a continuous decrease in public support. There is a tension between the growing Euroscepticism and the concurrent academic discourse of a shared European identity. Informed and inspired by the current debates, this Master’s Thesis investigates the potential of a shared past to create shared identity. It also addresses the logic of cultural exclusion that is often connected to collective cultural identities. The source material is a combination of exam essays, written as answers to the history tests in the Finnish matriculation examinations of 2005-2008, and upper secondary school history textbooks. From the sources, current perceptions of Islam (as Europe’s Other) and the age of imperialism (as a debated period from Europe’s past) among the youth are studied. Through the analysis the thesis aims to indicate the level of consensus within the pupils’ identification with the past and with Europe. This objective is pursued through examining the pupils’ perceptions of Europe’s past and its relationship to non-European cultures and countries as they are manifested in the essays, and reflecting upon the level of influence that history textbooks as representatives of national hegemonic historical narratives might have on the contents, framings and emphases with and through which the pupils approach, imagine, and reproduce Europe’s past. The approach is based on previous research on the presence of history and the field of textbook research. The theoretical categories with which the sources are analyzed are derived primarily from literature on identity, European integration, history and memory, postcolonial criticism, and theorizations of European identity. Results of the research project suggest that the rhetoric of European superiority, despite its apparent demise, still resonates in contemporary understandings of Europeanness. Dominant perceptions of imperialism comprise of European agency and colonial submission, dominant perceptions of the Islamic world of fundamental difference. Identification with European history among the Finnish youth is rather shallow when examined through perceptions of imperialism; the Islamic world is perceived as Other and its representations are dominated by recent and contemporary international relations.

Geschichtsbilder sehen. Narrative Formen als Gegenstand des Lernens mit Geschichten

Im Zuge einer ikonischen Wende in den Geisteswissenschaften hat das Visuelle an Bedeutung für den kritischen Umgang mit Bildungsmedien wie Schulbücher und deren Inhalte gewonnen. Während frühe Arbeiten vor allem eine Kritik an der Vorstellung des Bildes als Anhängsel des Texts übten, erlaubte die Ausweitung des Bildbegriffs eine Annäherung verschiedener semiotischer Ansätze. Am Beispiel von Geschichtsschulbüchern stellt sich der Aufsatz die Frage inwieweit (Schulbuch)Narrative als Bilder verstanden werden können und wie ein solches Verständnis neue methodische Perspektiven auf das Lernen mit dem Bildungsmedium eröffnet. (DIPF/Orig.)

„Geschichtsbilder“ in österreichischen Lehrmaterialien 1978/79: Sagbarkeits- und Zeigbarkeitsregeln am Beispiel „Anschluss“

Dieser Beitrag untersucht geschichtspolitische Strategien der Darstellung des „Anschlusses“ in österreichischen Lehrbüchern und -materialien Ende der 1970er-Jahre. Dabei wird auf die Bedeutungsproduktion durch das Zusammenwirken der textlichen und visuellen Ebene fokussiert. Vor dem Hintergrund der allgemeinen geschichtspolitischen Entwicklungen in Bezug auf die Auseinandersetzung mit der NS-Zeit in Österreich soll der potenzielle Beitrag dieser Materialien zur Ausbildung des österreichischen Bildgedächtnisses diskutiert werden. (DIPF/Orig.)

Welchen Grad an visueller Aufmerksamkeit widmen Lernende den Abbildungen in Geographieschulbüchern?

Dieser Beitrag widmet sich der Erforschung des Grades visueller Aufmerksamkeit, mit dem Lernende Abbildungen auf Geographieschulbuchseiten betrachten. In einer explorativen Stichprobe wurden die Blickbewegungen von 20 Probanden/Probandinnen (Gymnasium 15-17 Jahre, Studierende 20-24 Jahre) mithilfe von Eye Tracking beim Betrachten verschiedener Geographieschulbuchseiten aufgezeichnet. Ein visueller Fokus auf Text und geringe visuelle Aufmerksamkeit für Fotos wurde festgestellt. Anhand der Eye-Tracking-Aufzeichnungen werden mögliche Herausforderungen im Lernprozess mit Abbildungen im Geographieschulbuch erläutert, die aus der Gestaltung der Abbildungen resultieren könnten. Hierfür werden Erkenntnisse aus pädagogischer Psychologie, Visueller Kommunikation und Schulbuchforschung herangezogen. (DIPF/Orig.)

Pre-packaged multimodal resources and second language teacher agency

In the present globalised and digitised world, availability of a plethora of pre-packaged classroom resources for English Language Teaching (ELT) seems Lo threaten ESL/EFL teachers' professional agency in the language classroom. Whilst it is difficult to envisage the viability of these materials presented for a global audience of learners (Liyanage & Bartlett, 2008), the practice also seriously limits ESL/EFL teachers' agency in the application of their pedagogic content knowledges. The selection and implementation of pre-packaged materials by language teachers arc due either to personal choice or to mandated regulations and established practices(Birch & Liyanage, 2004; Liyanage & Bartlett, 2008). This paper reports the reflections of thirty overseas ESL/ EFL teachers enrolled in postgraduate programmes on (i) their use of pre-packaged materials in language classrooms in contexts where such practice is mandated or is the nom1, and, (ii) the effect of this practice on their professional agency in the Jru1guage classroom.

Myth creation in textbook writing : the case of randomised controlled trials in medical research

Textbooks, across all disciplines, are prone to contain errors; grammatical, editorial, factual, or judgemental. The following is an account of one of the possible effects of such errors; how an error becomes entrenched and even exaggerated as later textbooks fail to correct the original error. The example considered here concerns the origins of one of the most basic and important tools of to­ day's medical research, the randomised controlled trial. It is the result of a systematic study of 26 British, French and German history of medicine textbooks since 1996.

Enhancing Physics Education in the National Defence University : A design based research approach in the production of learning material

This research is connected with an education development project for the four-year-long officer education program at the National Defence University. In this curriculum physics was studied in two alternative course plans namely scientific and general. Observations connected to the later one e.g. student feedback and learning outcome gave indications that action was needed to support the course. The reform work was focused on the production of aligned course related instructional material. The learning material project produced a customized textbook set for the students of the general basic physics course. The research adapts phases that are typical in Design Based Research (DBR). The research analyses the feature requirements for physics textbook aimed at a specific sector and frames supporting instructional material development, and summarizes the experiences gained in the learning material project when the selected frames have been applied. The quality of instructional material is an essential part of qualified teaching. The goal of instructional material customization is to increase the product's customer centric nature and to enhance its function as a support media for the learning process. Textbooks are still one of the core elements in physics teaching. The idea of a textbook will remain but the form and appearance may change according to the prevailing technology. The work deals with substance connected frames (demands of a physics textbook according to the PER-viewpoint, quality thinking in educational material development), frames of university pedagogy and instructional material production processes. A wide knowledge and understanding of different frames are useful in development work, if they are to be utilized to aid inspiration without limiting new reasoning and new kinds of models. Applying customization even in the frame utilization supports creative and situation aware design and diminishes the gap between theory and practice. Generally, physics teachers produce their own supplementary instructional material. Even though customization thinking is not unknown the threshold to produce an entire textbook might be high. Even though the observations here are from the general physics course at the NDU, the research gives tools also for development in other discipline related educational contexts. This research is an example of an instructional material development work together the questions it uncovers, and presents thoughts when textbook customization is rewarding. At the same time, the research aims to further creative customization thinking in instruction and development. Key words: Physics textbook, PER (Physics Education Research), Instructional quality, Customization, Creativity

Textbook (non-) adoption motives, legitimizing strategies and academic field configuration

Textbooks are an integral part of structured syllabus coverage in higher education. The argument advanced in this article is that textbooks are not simply products of inscription and embodied scholarly labour for pedagogical purposes, but embedded institutional artefacts that configure entire academic subject fields. Empirically, this article shows the various ways that motives of the (non-) adoption of textbooks have field institutional configuration effects. The research contribution of our study is threefold. First, we re-theorise the textbook as an artefact that is part of the institutional work and epistemic culture of academia. Second, we empirically show that the vocabularies of motive of textbook (non-) adoption and rhetorical strategies form the basis for social action and configuration across micro, meso and macro field levels. Our final contribution is a conceptualization of the ways that textbook (non-) adoption motives ascribe meaning to the legitimating processes in the configuration of whole subject fields.

Marketing research : an applied orientation

The content of this 3rd edition marketing research textbook is practical and up to date and is based on an applied and managerially focused approach. Australian an New Zealand research and examples have been thoroughly intergrated into every chapter.

Analysis of Bibliographic References by Textbook Authors in Nigerian Polytechnics

The study analyzed references listed by textbook authors from Nigerian polytechnics. The educational qualifications, subject background, and institutional affiliations of authors and publishers of textbooks were examined. Documentary research design was adopted for this study. A total of 102 books were examined using the availability sampling technique. Data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that a significant majority of the textbooks were filled with citation errors. Findings revealed that a majority of the textbooks used the American Psychological association (APA) format of referencing. Further analysis revealed that a significant number of textbooks had no references at all. It was discovered that books by authors with lower qualifications are the most involved in the different types of citation errors. The study also revealed that few textbooks cited electronic information. The paper recommends that serious attention be given to bibliographical references by organizing workshops and seminars for authors.

Doing business research:a guide to theory and practice

For anyone involved in developing a research project, this textbook provides an integrated, accessible and humorous account that explains why research methods are the way they are and how they do what they do. Unrivalled in its nature Doing Business Research addresses the research project as a whole and provides: - essential detail of philosophical and theoretical matters that are crucial to conceptualising the nature of methodology - a pragmatic guide to why things are important and how they are important - a huge range of things to consider that the reader can use to develop their research project further - a resource book, providing extensive suggested reading to help the researcher do their research.