Research Literacy A Primer for Understanding and Using Research [Hardcover]

Preparing students to become informed, critical consumers of research, this accessible text builds essential skills for understanding research reports, evaluating the implications for evidence-based practice, and communicating findings to different audiences. It demystifies qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods designs and provides step-by-step procedures for judging the strengths and limitations of any study. Excerpts from real research reports are used as opportunities to develop methodological knowledge and practice analytic skills. Based on sound pedagogic principles, the text is structured for diverse learning styles: visual learners (concept maps, icons), active learners (building-block exercises and templates for writing), and story learners (examples, reading guides, and reflections).

Pedagogical Features
*Rubrics, checklists of steps to take, and reading guides that walk students through analyzing different types of research articles.
*Journal abstracts with questions that home in on key aspects of a study.
*Exemplars of each type of study, with descriptions of methodological and design choices.
*End-of-chapter skills-building exercises that lead up to writing a research review essay.
*Chapter appendices featuring sample responses to the exercises.

"At last, we have a clearly written and extremely accessible book on research--both qualitative and quantitative--for students and others reading (and doing) research! Readers learn all the conventions of research that people usually have to discover on their own, such as how to cite people, use APA style, and even how to list references. The book explains when and how a researcher would use both qualitative and quantitative methods, including ways to use them together. The chapter on ethnography provides one of the best descriptions of this method and its complexities that I have seen."--Ann Lieberman, EdD, Senior Scholar, Stanford Center for OplÐ