1st Edition

Scientific Research and Methodology An Introduction to Quantitative Research and Statistics

By Peter K. Dunn Copyright 2025
552 Pages 3 Color & 258 B/W Illustrations
by Chapman & Hall

552 Pages 3 Color & 258 B/W Illustrations
by Chapman & Hall

This textbook is designed for teaching quantitative research in the scientific, health and engineering disciplines at first-year undergraduate level, with an emphasis on statistics. It covers the research process, including asking research questions, research design, data collection, summarising data, analysis and communication. Many real journal articles are used throughout the text as examples... Read more

Preface   1. Research: an introduction   Part I. Asking research questions   2. Research questions   Part II. Research design   3. Overview of research design   4. Types of research studies   5. Ethics in research   6. External validity: sampling   7. Internal validity   8. Research design limitations   Part III. Collecting data   9. Collecting data   Part IV. Classifying and summarising data   10. Classifying data and variables   11. Summarising quantitative data   12. Summarising qualitative data   13. Comparing quantitative data within individuals   14. Comparing quantitative data between individuals   15. Comparing qualitative data between individuals   16. Correlations between quantitative variables   17. More details about tables and graphs   Part V. Tools for answering RQs   18. Probability   19. Sampling variation   20. Models and normal distributions   Part VI. Analysis   21. Introducing inference   22. Confidence intervals: one proportion   23. Confidence intervals: one mean   24. More details about CIs   25. Making decisions   26. Hypothesis tests: one proportion   27. Hypothesis tests: one mean   28. More details about hypothesis testing   29. CIs and tests: mean differences (paired data)   30. CIs and tests: comparing two means   31. CIs and tests: comparing two odds or proportions   32. Finding sample sizes for CIs   33. Correlation and regression   34. Selecting an analysis   Part VII. Reporting and reading research   35. Reporting and writing research   36. Reading and critiquing research   Appendix   A. Datasets   B. □□-score tables   C. Symbols, formulas, statistics and parameters   Glossary   Answers to odd-numbered exercises   Bibliography   Index

Biography

Peter K. Dunn is Associate Professor of Biostatistics in the School of Science, Technology and Engineering at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He has published in the areas of generalized linear models, Tweedie distributions and statistical education, and has authored numerous R packages. He is an award-winning statistical educator who has been teaching statistics for over 30 years.