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This text teaches readers how to plan, conduct, and write a research project and select and interpret data through its integrated approach to quantitative research methods. Although not a statistics book, students learn to master which technique to use when and how to analyze and interpret results, making them better consumers of research. Organized around the steps of conducting a research project, this book is ideal for those who need to analyze journal articles. With teaching experience in various departments, the authors know how to address the research problems faced by behavioral and social sciences students. Independent sections and chapters can be read in any order allowing for flexibility in assigning topics.Adopters applaud the book's clarity and applied interdependent approach to research. The book emphasizes five research approaches: randomized experimental, quasi-experimental, comparative, associational, and descriptive. These five approaches lead to three kinds of research designs which lead to three groups of statistics with the same names. This consistent framework increases comprehension while avoiding confusion caused by inconsistent terminology. Numerous examples, diagrams, tables, key terms, key distinctions, summaries, applied problems, interpretation questions, and suggested readings further promote understanding. This extensively revised edition features: More examples from published research articles to help readers better understand the research process. New Research in the Real World boxes that highlight actual research projects from various disciplines. Defined key terms in the margins and interpretation questions that help readers review the material. More detailed explanations of key concepts including reliability, validity, estimation, ethical and bias concerns, data security and assumptions, power analysis, and multiple and logistic regression. New sections on mediation and moderation analysis to address the latest techniques. More coverage of quasi-experimental design and qualitative research to reflect changing practices. A new appendix on how to write about results using APA guidelines to help new researchers. Online resources available at www.routledge.com/9781138852976 that provide instructors with PowerPoints, test questions, critical thinking exercises, a conversion guide, and answers to all of the book's problems and questions. Students will find learning objectives, annotated links to further readings and key concepts, and key terms with links to definitions. Intended for graduate research methods or design or quantitative/experimental research methods courses in psychology, education, human development, family studies, and other behavioral, social, and health sciences, some exposure to statistics and research methods is recommended.

Never has the spirit of innovation been more highly valued than today. Around the world, people see the hard-to-teach skills of creativity as the lifeblood of cultural change and the engine of economic development. In The Lab, David Edwards presents a blueprint for revitalizing labs with'artscience'? creative thought that erases conventional boundaries between art and science?to produce innovations that otherwise might never see the light of day.At the heart of The Lab is'cultural incubation,'whereby ideas translate with free-wheeling public exchange through a kind of innovation funnel—from educational settings (as in The Lab at Harvard University), to cultural settings (as at Le Laboratoire in Paris and elsewhere), to realizations as innovative products or humanitarian initiatives (within LaboGroup and other translation labs around the globe). With examples ranging from breathable chocolate (Le Whif) to contemporary art installations that explore the neuroscience of fear, Edwards shows how a measured-risk, seed-investment, mentorship-focused network of labs can allow exotic, unexpected ideas to flourish without being killed off at the first hint of impracticality.Unique to the innovation funnel is how creator risk is encouraged but also managed by mentors and others in each lab, so that the most daring ideas—lighting African villages with microbiotic lamps, or cleaning the air with plant-based filters—can emerge within passionate and sometimes inexperienced creative bands.Lively and engaging, replete with anecdotes that bring Edwards's unique personal experience in developing artscience labs to life, The Lab approaches innovation from exciting new angles, finding invigorating ways to repurpose our most creative assets—in scientific exploration, artistic imagination, and business model-building. David Edwards teaches at Harvard University in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His creative work is described at www.davidideas.com.