This book provides an extremely useful guide to the basics of research, such as the fundamental characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research and their associated research questions. It is written in an accessible style without the complicated use of terms and details that often shroud research methods books. It is orientated toward the beginner who may not be familiar with the language of quantitative and qualitative research and who may be an undergraduate in the social sciences.
This book was not a good fit for my course. I adopted Research Methods in Practice (Remler and Van Ryzin) instead.
This text is a good read for undergraduate students who have no prior experience of research methods. It is very easy to read and well structured.This is essential as many students with no prior knowledge struggle with the comlexities and language of research.
A great book which breaks it down into manageable chunks. Good ideas and boxes in text that simplifies research. From a lecturer point of view, it's a really good book that refreshes your knowledge.
This book entails all the basics of conducting a research in simple terms enabling even new researchers to pursue their research ideas in a formulated step by step manner. It encompasses both qualitative and quantitative methods in a language that can be easily comprehended at an undergraduate level.
An easy to read, easy to review text which will offer students support in their development of research knowledge and understanding. An interesting read, and a good 'go to' guide.
It was an uneven text. My students liked how the author broke down some of the more complex concepts. However, he was obviously quantitatively oriented and sometimes used confusing rubric to categorize information. More students than not told me they disliked the text, although those who did like it seemed quite fond of it.
Flick's practical overview of the application of research approaches is very insightful. Chapter 9 dealing with doing social research online is most valuable.
A good author and a clearly written text.
Introducing research methodology: a beginner’s guide to doing a research project includes thirteen chapters which are separated into four distinct parts. Part one consists of three chapters which introduce the reader to the idea of social research and covers searching academic literature, developing research questions, hypotheses and discusses the characteristics of qualitative and quantitative research. Part two consists of three chapters and is designed to inform the reader about what is involved in the various stages of planning and designing a social research project.
Good practical book. For some reason the South African students does not refer to this book. However I refer them to use the book as a source.
I loved this book and used it as a resource in my introductory social work research course although I did not select it as the required text. It was not generic enough and while I liked the focus on health research, this would have appealed to a small number of students.
Clear yet detailed introductory text
This book is an excellent introduction to research methodology. The layout is very user-friendly and the suggestion and example boxes throughout each chapter works well.
The Key Points summary at the end of each chapter is a good refresher and suggested further reading is helpful but not overwhelming.
This book is an excellent starting point for any research student dealing with issues of research methodology for the first time.
Useful as a revision for those students who had completed modules in research methods some time ago
An excellent book for Masters students. Very accessible in way it is laid out and written
Clear book logically laid out and essential reading for Unit 5 and completing first piece of reserach
Useful as an overview of and introduction to qualitative approaches for Masters students.
Concise and clearly explained and constitutes a sound basis for further exploration of specific methods in the qualitative field.
I like the material itself, but am very disappointed by the fact that no ancillary materials are included.
This book has now been placed on our recommended list for the third year U/G dissertation students