Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach

by W. (William) Newton Suter

Overview

Engaging, informative, and nontechnical, Introduction to Educational Research: A Critical Thinking Approach, Second Edition was written and organized specifically for students intending to conduct future educational research. It enables students to think clearly and critically about the process of research and illustrates how easily research can be misinterpreted. The author empowers educators and makes research truly accessible by equipping readers with the reasoning and thinking skills needed to understand and critically evaluate empirical studies across all areas of education. Students are guided through the stages of the research process: thinking about research, formulating hypotheses, selecting appropriate research designs, collecting and analyzing statistical and qualitative data, and completing research analyses and critiques. As a result, students will better understand research as an integrated process, as well as show how and why researchers think like they do.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412995733
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	10/11/2011
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

W. Newton Suter received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 1983 from Stanford University. He is Professor in Educational Foundations in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he frequently teaches courses in research, statistics, measurement, and educational psychology. Dr. Suter’s research interests include healthcare education, health literacy, and home health education, and he has written several textbooks and various journal articles.

Table of Contents

Preface
Part I: Foundations
Chapter 1: Educators as Critical Thinkers
Chapter 2: Thinking About Research
Chapter 3: Diversity of Educational Research
Part II: Research as Process
Chapter 4: The Research Problem
Chapter 5: Research Language
Chapter 6: Theory and Practice
Part III: Data Collection
Chapter 7: Research Bias and Control
Chapter 8: Sampling in Research
Chapter 9: Measurement in Research
Part IV: Design and Analysis
Chapter 10: Common Experimental Research Designs
Chapter 11: Common Non-Intervention Research Designs
Chapter 12: Qualitative Data, Analysis, and Design
Chapter 13: Statistical Data Analysis
Part V: Consumer to Producer
Chapter 14: Research Analysis and Critique
Chapter 15: Writing Research Proposals
Glossary
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

The Suter text has a critical thinking approach that engages students and makes the topics meaningful and connected.

David K Pugalee

. . . the explanations of statistical procedures, examples of real research projects and their problems, and the chapter-end application exercises are so well done.

Pamela Murphy

I would very likely recommend this textbook to colleagues. I will also consider adopting this textbook for my course. I like the readability of the text as well as the examples given by the author to help the reader understand the topics.

Tracy Walker

". . . the explanations of statistical procedures, examples of real research projects and their problems, and the chapter-end application exercises are so well done."--Pamela Murphy

"I would very likely recommend this textbook to colleagues. I will also consider adopting this textbook for my course. I like the readability of the text as well as the examples given by the author to help the reader understand the topics."--Tracy Walker

"The Suter text has a critical thinking approach that engages students and makes the topics meaningful and connected."--David K Pugalee

From the Publisher

"The author has developed a text that provides the structure and the tools to help students develop a meaningful understanding of the processes and concepts of educational research. This approach will provide a foundation that includes knowledge of critical ideas and concepts as well as an understanding of the processes in conducting educational research. "

David Pugalee

I like that Suter didn’t talk down to you and made some encouraging and funny comments in the midst of explaining a concept that might be difficult. The book was easy to follow, had good diagrams, side comments and vocabulary definitions. This was nice for teachers who hadn’t had statistics, but need to learn this information.

Student - Unknown

"My overall assessment of this textbook is that it is an excellent teaching tool for all disciplines. It is a diversified textbook that is applicable to any profession to indulge in. This textbook is superior to others for many reasons:
1. The author provides the straight thinker alerts for each chapter, which involves the reader to using critical, and problem solving skills.
2. The author provides and uses examples that are applicable to the current trends in the field now.
3. The author provides application exercises and multiple-choice questions at the end of each chapter.
4. The text introduction to educational research is well written.
Again, the author does a good job of using studies conducted from the 1970s to the present, which provide students with a good overview of the field of educational research from a philosophical perspective to practical application for teaching and learning in the classroom. "

Stephen C. Enwefa

I like that Suter didn’t talk down to you and made some encouraging and funny comments in the midst of explaining a concept that might be difficult. The book was easy to follow, had good diagrams, side comments and vocabulary definitions. This was nice for teachers who hadn’t had statistics, but need to learn this information.

Student - Unknown