1st Edition

Practical Problems in Research Methods A Casebook with Questions for Discussion

By Estabrook Verdugo Copyright 1998

    • Each of the 53 cases presents a practical problem faced by a researcher and the solution he or she selected.

    •The questions encourage students to evaluate the researcher’s solution and consider alternatives.

    •All cases are drawn from the published literature. Your students will evaluate real problems faced by practicing researchers.

    •All major topics in research methods are covered. Here are samples from the seven major sections of the book: •Sampling: Sampling Hispanic Adults by Telephone
    •Measurement: Social Desirability
    •Operational Definitions: Defining “Physical Abuse” of Children
    •Procedures: Controlling the Distribution of a Questionnaire
    •Experimental and Causal-Comparative Design: Forming Comparison
    •Groups in Classroom Research on Reading
    •Ethical Considerations: Prescreening Adolescents for Stress
    •Interpretation of Results: Health Risk Behaviors of Adolescents

    •The extensive instructor’s guide provides discussion points as well as samples of students’ answers obtained in the field tests.

    •This supplementary book makes dry textbook principles come alive! Students learn that research is a dynamic process—that for many problems there are competing solutions, each with its own advantages and drawbacks.

    •The 35 short cases are ideal for classroom discussions. The 18 longer ones make great homework assignments.

    SECTION I: Short Cases

    Part A: Sampling

    Case 1: Sampling Hispanic Adults by Telephone

    Case 2: Using a Sample of Convenience

    Case 3: Using Quota Sampling

    Case 4: Using an Incentive to Increase Response Rate

    Case 5: Obtaining a Sample of Psychotherapy Clients

    Part B: Measurement

    Case 6: Measuring the Attractiveness of Participants

    Case 7: Measuring Social Desirability

    Case 8: Measuring Students’ Distant Memories

    Case 9: Evaluating an Acculturation Scale

    Case 10: Determining the Validity of Self-Reports

    Part C: Operational Definitions

    Case 11: Defining “Physical Abuse” of Children

    Case 12: Defining “Economic Well-Being”

    Case 13: Defining “Substance Abuse” Among Pregnant Women

    Case 14: Defining a “Social Interaction”

    Case 15: Defining “Sex” in a National Survey

    Part D: Procedures

    Case 16: Controlling the Distribution of a Questionnaire in a Nutrition Study

    Case 17: Identifying Duplicate Responses to an Anonymous Questionnaire

    Case 18: Using a Simulated Setting to Evaluate Disciplinary Fairness Training

    Case 19: Using Confederates in an Experiment

    Case 20: Working with Severely Angry Participants

    Part E: Experimental/Causal Comparative Designs

    Case 21: Selecting Participants for a Comparison of Asian and White Americans

    Case 22: Forming Experimental and Control Groups in a Study of Drug Prevention

    Case 23: Forming Comparison Groups in Classroom Research on Reading

    Case 24: Forming Comparison Groups for a Study of Postpartum Disorders

    Case 25: Identifying Comparison Groups for a Study of Childhood Abuse

    Part F: Protecting the Rights of Participants/Ethical Considerations

    Case 26: Using Deception in a Study of Social Interactions

    Case 27: Prescreening Adolescents for Stress

    Case 28: Estimating HIV Rates Among Young Men

    Case 29: Soliciting Professors for a Study of Their Intellect

    Case 30: Hiding the Purpose of a Study from Employees

    Part G: Interpretation of Results

    Case 31: Interpreting Cause-and-Effect: Health Risk Behaviors of Adolescents

    Case 32: Interpreting Results in Light of Social Desirability

    Case 33: Evaluating Attrition in a Study on Hypnosis

    Case 34: Interpreting Differences in Physical Victimization

    Case 35: Interpreting Reported Differences in Husbands’ Marital Aggression

    SECTION II: LONGER CASES

    Case 36: Using Interviews to Measure Mothers’ Use of Physical Discipline
    Descriptor: Measurement

    Case 37: Defining Group Therapy Used with Elementary School Children
    Descriptor: Operational Definition

    Case 38: Getting Informed Consent for Research During an Emergency
     Descriptor: Ethics

    Case 39: Interpreting Data on Cigarette Smoking by Seventh Graders
     Descriptor: Interpretation 

    Case 40: Encouraging Responses to a Mailed Survey
    Descriptors: Sampling, Interpretation

    Case 41: Interpreting Limitations in a Study of Childhood Cancer and Stress
    Descriptors: Sampling, Interpretation 

    Case 42: Studying the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages to Minors
    Descriptors: Sampling, Procedures, Ethics

    Case 43: Identifying Heroin Addicts Who Falsify Information
     Descriptors: Sampling, Measurement, Ethics

    Case 44: Observing Children’s Aggressiveness on the Playground
     Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics, Interpretation

    Case 45: Introducing Participants to a Study on Lie Telling
    Descriptors: Measurement, Operational Definitions, Procedures

    Case 46: Measuring Sex-Role Stereotyping Among Children
    Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics 

    Case 47: Studying Suicide Ideation and Acculturation Among Adolescents
    Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics 

    Case 48: Encouraging Truthfulness in Telephone Interviews
     Descriptors: Measurement, Interpretation 

    Case 49: Estimating the Credibility of Young Children’s Reports
     Descriptors: Measurement, Ethics, Interpretation 

    Case 50: Designing an Experiment on Cross-Cultural Training
    Descriptors: Measurement, Experimental Design, Ethics, Interpretation

    Case 51: Designing an Experiment on Worrying Among the Elderly
     Descriptors: Operational Definition, Experimental Design, Interpretation

    Case 52: Designing an Experiment on Reducing the Risk of Bulimia
    Descriptors: Operational Definition, Experimental Design

    Case 53: Interpreting a “Natural Experiment” on Anonymous Testing for HIV
     Descriptors: Causal Comparative Design, Interpretation

    Biography

    Estabrook Verdugo