Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications, 12th edition

For introduction to research methods/educational research courses.

A comprehensive, accessible introduction to educational research

Educational Research introduces students to the information and skills required to successfully conduct and evaluate research. Long known for clear and at times humorous writing, the authors are accessible and thoughtful guides to a field that many students might initially find intimidating.

The 12th Edition includes a new, separate chapter on ethics, expands its coverage of single-subject research, covers the latest digital strategies and tools for doing research and introduces students to the open-source statistics software R.

Hallmark features of this title

• Opportunities to read and evaluate published research. Full-length articles are included at the ends of all chapters presenting research designs. Annotations scaffold students as they learn to read, understand and evaluate quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research.
• Step-by-step guidance on developing a research proposal. End-of-chapter tasks guide readers through the process of selecting a topic, deciding on how to research that topic, gathering and analyzing data and writing up their results.
• Support for writing. Write Like a Researcher features encourage new researchers to start writing early in the research process and provide practical guidance to help them write effectively.

New and updated features of this title

• NEW: A new chapter dedicated to ethics in educational research (Chapter 2) provides ethics guidelines for conducting research in a variety of settings, including classrooms and schools.
• NEW: Chapters 18 and 19 on descriptive and inferential statistics have been updated and include a new user-friendly introduction to the open-source statistical software, R.
• UPDATED: Includes the latest technology-based strategies and online tools. For example, Chapter 4 offers new coverage of using technology to do literature reviews, including an expanded Digital Research Tools feature that covers annotation, brainstorming, citation management, organization and writing management.
• UPDATED: A significantly revised discussion of selecting measuring instruments in Chapter 7 provides up-to-date information on choosing measuring instruments, especially as it relates to the use of personality and affective tests in schools.
• UPDATED: The chapter on single-subject research has been thoroughly revised and expanded. Changes include new examples and guidelines that make the coverage more concrete and practical.