Ian Walker - Böcker

How do you design a research project? What is the difference in method between qualitative and quantitative research? How should psychologists go about considering the ethics of research methodology? For the ‘students who ask questions’, this concise text provides an informative introduction to the methods of psychological research, offering an overview of the primary stages in research. From learning how to construct the initial aims and criterion of a study to presenting the final resulting data into tables and graphs, this book aims to guide psychologists through the tools that make psychological research and the understanding of its resulting data possible. Written with enthusiasm and lucidity, Walker guides readers through the appropriate methods for undertaking research, explaining the discerning features of the core types of research, the primary measurements of statistics such as the chi-squared, t and Mann-Whitney U tests and brings an apt consideration of what makes a psychological study ethical. Whether desiring to learn about how to empirically record and measure the psychological experience of an individual or the behavioural factors of an entire population, Research Methods and Statistics is the introductory short-text for learning how to undertake successful research.This title stands as part of the Insights series edited by Nigel Holt and Rob Lewis, containing versatile, quick guides to the cornerstone theories, main topics and theoretical perspectives of their subjects and are useful for pre-undergraduate students looking to find incisive introductions to subjects that they may be considering for undergraduate study or those looking for helpful preparatory reading for undergraduate modules in the prospective subject. Also useful for undergraduate psychology-students who feel that they could benefit from some background reading in this often less-understood area of psychology.

Whether analyzing attitudes, measuring opinions or observing habits, researchers who investigate people's behaviour need a wide range of techniques at their disposal. Research with people provides a unique introduction to these methods that is both clear and accessible.Through a series of sample practicals, Holt and Walker guide you step-by-step through the process of designing and carrying out research. The authors, both experienced lecturers and researchers, use these practicals to explain theories of research design and teach you how to choose the right technique for your research topic every time. Research with People is full of handy and reassuring advice that makes it ideal as a class textbook or as a private study guide.People are complex, and as a result conducting good-quality human research can seem daunting. This introductory textbook not only shows you how good planning can make research easy and reliable, but also reminds you how exciting it can be.

This set comprises 40 volumes covering nineteenth and twentieth century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes.This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.

This set comprises 40 volumes covering nineteenth and twentieth century European and American authors. These volumes will be available as a complete set, mini boxed sets (by theme) or as individual volumes.This second set compliments the first 68 volume set of Critical Heritage published by Routledge in October 1995.

The measurement of household welfare is one of the most compelling yet demanding areas in economics. To place the analysis of inequality and poverty within an economic framework where individuals are making decisions about current and lifetime incomes and expenditures is a difficult task, made all the more challenging by the complexity of the decision-making process in which households are involved and the variety of constraints they face. This 1994 book examines the conceptual and practical difficulties of making inferences from observed behaviour. It addresses the problems of making comparisons across a range of very different households and discusses how data for such comparisons should be collected. The contributions, from experts from Europe, North America and Australia, have the unifying theme that there is a strong relationship between theoretical concepts from microeconomics and the appropriate use of micro data in evaluating household welfare.

The measurement of household welfare is one of the most compelling yet demanding areas in economics. To place the analysis of inequality and poverty within an economic framework where individuals are making decisions about current and lifetime incomes and expenditures is a difficult task, made all the more challenging by the complexity of the decision-making process in which households are involved and the variety of constraints they face. This 1994 book examines the conceptual and practical difficulties of making inferences from observed behaviour. It addresses the problems of making comparisons across a range of very different households and discusses how data for such comparisons should be collected. The contributions, from experts from Europe, North America and Australia, have the unifying theme that there is a strong relationship between theoretical concepts from microeconomics and the appropriate use of micro data in evaluating household welfare.

This handbook covers all the practices and procedures the quantity surveyor working in a contractor's office needs to know - from budgets and forecasts to cost-value comparisons and partnering. By giving a thorough account of the commercial aspects of the work of the contractor's QS, the book offers a useful insight into their day-to-day work, with plenty of sample documents, worked examples and extracts from the standard contracts. This is a practical manual but it also helps develop an understanding of the theory underpinning current practice. As the QS role becomes more complex, commercial managers wanting to maximise profitability will find the sound advice given here invaluable as it:? demonstrates tried-and-tested best practice through practical examples? provides a good grounding in financial management and cost analysis? describes the need for benchmarking, the benefits of setting targets and the use of key performance indicators (KPI's) as a means of increasing project and company performance? highlights the benefits of teamworking.

In his previous book City Gorged with Dreams (2002), Ian Walker challenged established ideas about Surrealist photography by emphasising the key role played by documentary photographs in Parisian Surrealism. Now Walker turns his attention to the arrival of Surrealism in England in 1936. Examining for the first time the surprising relationship between Surrealism and English documentary photography and film, the book shows that some of the most interesting work of the period was made in the ambiguous spaces between them. One of the key themes in this book is the relationship between the ‘homely’ and the ‘exotic’, in the innovative mix of poetry and ethnography in Mass-Observation for example, or the shadowed England constructed in the work of Bill Brandt. Based on extensive archival research, interviews and visits to sites where the photographs were made, this book is rich in detailed analysis yet written in an accessible and often witty style.

This study highlights the interaction between social protection programs and labour markets in the Latin America region. It presents new evidence on the limited coverage of existing programmes and emphasizes the challenges caused by high informality for achieving universal social protection for old age income, for health, for unemployment risks and for anti poverty safety nets. It identifies interaction effects between SP programs and the behavioural responses of workers, firms and social protection providers, which can further undermine efforts to expand coverage, summarising evidence from recent work across the region. It argues for a re-design of financing to eliminate cross subsidies between members of contributory programmes and subsidies that effectively tax income from formal employment. Instead, it advocates well-targeted, tax-funded tapered subsidies to provide incentives to the savings efforts of low income workers, coupled with an effective safety net for the extreme poor who have no capacity to contribute to financing their own social protection arrangements.It also argues for the consolidation of programmes and harmonisation of benefits packages across different insurers. The book develops an overall conceptual framework and presents in-depth analysis of the main SP sectors of pensions, health, unemployment insurance and safety net transfers.

Inequality and entrenched poverty has been decreasing in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, due in significant part to expansion of social protection programs within the region. Innovations such as well-targeted conditional cash transfer programs and noncontributory pensions or health insurance systems have been adopted by several countries. Yet several challenges remain. The majority of informal sector workers lack access to social protection; programs tend to be fragmented and operate with little or no coordination; and redistributive arrangements are non-transparent and can distort labor markets by inducing informality, lowering labor participation, or producing longer unemployment spells.From Right to Reality: Incentives, Labor Markets, and the Challenge of Universal Social Protection in Latin America and the Caribbean addresses these challenges in a thorough yet accessible manner. Building on careful, detailed analysis of a wealth of data, this book takes stock of current social protection systems in the Latin America and the Caribbean region, highlighting their interaction with labor markets. The book presents an in-depth assessment of the main social protection programs including pensions, health, unemployment insurance, active labor market interventions, and safety net transfers. A central theme is that a well-functioning social protection system must take into account both the realities of labor markets, including high levels of informal sector employment where governments are unable to impose compulsory social insurance, and the effects of policies on the behavior of their beneficiaries, employers, and of service providers. Of interest to policy makers, academics, and practitioners, From Right to Reality presents practical recommendations to expand the coverage of social protection programs, improve their design, and create the conditions for the creation of more and better jobs.

"This report contributes to the debate about the quality of education and returns to education investment in Latin America and the Caribbean (LCR). It aims to improve our understanding of the links from investment in education and training to labor market outcomes and to provide a basis for policy choices that will strengthen future outcomes. The report is organized in four main chapters. Chapter 2 documents the recent downturn in education earnings premia using standard 'mincerian' regressions based on household survey data. Chapter 3 explores the underlying supply-side and demand-side drivers of the trends in premia. It documents the recent expansion of education coverage in LCR, benchmarks it against other regions, and presents an in-depth analysis of the relative importance of shifts in the supply and demand for skills in generating declining earnings premia. Using a methodological approach first developed by Katz and Murphy, it concludes that demand-side changes appear to be the critical factor. It also analyzes the role of institutional factors, finding that minimum wages also have likely played an important role in the compression of labor earnings.

This pioneering book offers fresh insights into the photographic work of the American artist Frederick Sommer, whose long career spanned the 20th century. With detailed analyses of individual photographs, Frederick Sommer: A World of Bonds unpacks the ways in which the artist generates ‘other ways of seeing’ while simultaneously facilitating an examination of photography’s modernity and modernism.The authors show how Sommer’s work allows for a deeper exploration of the potential of photography as a medium and, at the same time, demonstrate that it cannot be understood solely in the photographic terms established by his contemporaries. The chapters explore a wide range of themes including violence and death, metamorphosis, landscape, the relationship between alchemy and the creative process, the materiality of photographs, and embodied vision. Though usually discussed in relation to surrealism, Sommer took inspiration from a multitude of sources in art history as well as philosophy, literature, and science among others. Thinking about Sommer’s photographs within a broader framework in this way therefore offers a new understanding of his work as a dialogue with aesthetic ideas that aim to make sense of the world.Engaging with themes of cosmopolitanism, assemblage and visuality, the book will be of interest to scholars of art history, photography, and visual studies with interests in post-war art and modernism.

Education and Earnings in Europe is based on a two year pan-European research programme and presents an in-depth analysis of the returns to education in Europe.The book begins with a critical review of the literature which compares and contrasts the issues involved in the estimation of these returns. A central message of this review, based on the extensive use of cross country comparisons, is that the estimated return to education can vary depending on the precise methodology and data specification used. This review is followed by 15 country specific chapters which present the structure of the educational system, estimates of the returns to education and extensions to the basic model of each country. The chapters follow a consistent format and style to allow for ease of comparison between the countries discussed.