The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project

Zina O’Leary is an internationally recognized leader in research methodologies and has a keen interest in the application of research to evidence-based decision-making. Zina is an Adjunct Professor at the Joseph R. Biden Jr, School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware as well as a Senior ­Fellow at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government where she coordinates research and project units for their Executive Masters and Executive Education Programmes. Zina also has an extensive history as a consultant to both government and the private sector and was the research coordinator for the Centre for Environmental Health Development at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. She is the author of Researching Real World Problems, The Social Science Jargon Buster, Workplace Research and three books in Sage’s Little Quick Fix Series: Research Questions; Research Proposals; and Presenting Your Research. Emma Tennent is a senior lecturer at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. She has experience teaching research methods and research paradigms to undergraduate and postgraduate students across a range of disciplines. She is the recipient of an Early Career Teaching Excellence Award and an accredited Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She works with Zina at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government as a research project advisor for the Executive Master of Public Administration. She has co-published with students and academic colleagues in the open-access book The Power of Partnership: Students, Staff, and Faculty Revolutionizing Higher Education.

Really useful text, accurate, brief and clear direction for students and staff. I do not manage research but supervise researchers and this is an excellent framework for creating excellence in this essential discipline.

• Chapter 1: Taking the Leap into the Research WorldChapter 2: Setting Up and Getting StartedChapter 3: Developing Your Research QuestionChapter 4: Undertaking Credible and Ethical ResearchChapter 5: Crafting a Research ProposalChapter 6: Reviewing LiteratureChapter 7: Designing a Research PlanChapter 8: Understanding Methodologies: Quantitative and Qualitative ApproachesChapter 9: Understanding Methodologies: Mixed ApproachesChapter 10: Understanding Methodologies: Evaluative, Action-Oriented and Emancipatory StrategiesChapter 11: Identifying and Selecting Samples, Informants and CasesChapter 12: Primary Data: Surveys, Interviews and ObservationChapter 13: Secondary DataChapter 14: Online Generated DataChapter 15: Analysing Quantitative DataChapter 16: Analysing Qualitative DataChapter 17: The Challenge of Writing UpChapter 18: Final Hurdles