| Research: a way of thinking |
| Research: an integral part of your practice |
| Research: a way to gather evidence for your practice |
| Applications of research |
| Research: what does it mean? |
| The Research Process: characteristics and requirements |
| Types of research |
| Paradigms of research |
| Summary |
| The research process: a quick glance |
| The research process: an eight-Step model |
| Phase I: deciding what to research |
| Phase II : planning a research study |
| Phase III: conducting a research study |
| Step I : Formulating a Research Problem / Part 1： |
| Reviewing the literature |
| The place of the literature review in research |
| How to review the literature |
| Writing about the literature reviewed |
| Formulating a research problem |
| The research problem |
| The importance of formulating a research problem |
| Sources of research problems |
| Considerations in selecting a research problem |
| Steps in formulating a research problem |
| The formulation of research objectives |
| The study population |
| Establishing operational definitions |
| Formulating a research problem in qualitative research |
| Identifying variables |
| What is a variable? |
| The difference between a concept and a variable |
| Converting concepts into variables |
| Types of variable |
| Types of measurement scale |
| Constructing hypotheses |
| The definition of a hypothesis |
| The functions of a hypothesis |
| The testing of a hypothesis |
| The characteristics of a hypothesis |
| Types of hypothesis |
| Errors in testing a hypothesis |
| Hypotheses in qualitative research |
| Step II: Conceptualising A Research Design / Part 2： |
| The research design |
| What is a research design? |
| The functions of a research design |
| The theory of causality and the research design |
| Selecting a study design |
| Differences between quantitative and qualitative study designs |
| Study designs in quantitative research |
| Study designs based on the number of contacts |
| Study designs based on the reference period |
| Study designs based on the nature of the investigation |
| Other designs commonly used in quantitative research |
| Study designs in qualitative research |
| Other commonly used philosophy-guided designs |
| Step III: Constructing an Instrument for Data Collection / Part 3： |
| Selecting a method of data collection |
| Differences in the methods of data collection in quantitative and qualitative research |
| Major approaches to information gathering |
| Collecting data using primary sources |
| Methods of data collection in qualitative research |
| Collecting data using secondary sources |
| Collecting data using attitudinal scales |
| Measurement of attitudes in quantitative and qualitative research |
| Attitudinal scales in quantitative research |
| Functions of attitudinal scales |
| Difficulties in developing an attitudinal scale |
| Types of attitudinal scale |
| Attitudinal scales and measurement scales |
| Attitudes and qualitative research |
| Establishing the validity and reliability of a research instrument |
| The concept of validity |
| Types of validity in quantitative research |
| The concept of reliability |
| Factors affecting the reliability of a research instrument |
| Methods of determining the reliability of an instrument in quantitative research |
| Validity and reliability in qualitative research |
| Step IV: Selecting a Sample / Part 4： |
| Selecting a sample |
| The differences between sampling in quantitative and qualitative research |
| Sampling in quantitative research |
| Sampling in qualitative research |
| Step V: Writing a Research Proposal / Part 5： |
| Writing a research proposal |
| The research proposal in quantitative and qualitative research |
| Contents of a research proposal |
| Work schedule |
| Step VI: Collecting Data / Part 6： |
| Considering ethical issues in data collection |
| Ethics: the concept |
| Stakeholders in research |
| Ethical issues to consider concerning research participants |
| Ethical issues to consider relating to the researcher |
| Ethical issues regarding the sponsoring organisation |
| Step VII: Processing and Displaying Data / Part 7： |
| Processing data |
| Data processing in quantitative studies |
| Data processing in qualitative studies |
| The role of statistics in research |
| Displaying data |
| Methods of communicating and displaying analysed data |
| Step VIII: Writing a Research Report / Part 8： |
| Writing a research report |
| Developing an outline |
| Writing about a variable |
| Referencing |
| Writing a bibliography |
| Research methodology and practice evaluation |
| What is evaluation? |
| Why evaluation? |
| Intervention-development-evaluation process |
| Perspectives in the classification of evaluation studies |
| Types of evaluation from a focus perspective |
| Types of evaluation from a philosophical perspective |
| Undertaking an evaluation: the process |
| Involving stakeholders in evaluation |
| Ethics in evaluation |
| Appendix: Developing a research project: a set of exercises for beginners |
| Glossary |
| Bibliography |
| Index |
| Step II: Conceptualising a Research Design |
| Research: a way of thinking |
| Research: an integral part of your practice |
| Research: a way to gather evidence for your practice |
| Applications of research |
| Research: what does it mean? |
| The Research Process: characteristics and requirements |
