Table of Contents

Chapters 2-7 end with Key Terms, Review Questions, Reflection Questions, and an Exercise.

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1: HOW TO READ AND CRITIQUE RESEARCH
Understanding Numbers
-- Deductive and Inductive Processes
-- Intrinsic Value
The Political Context of Research
-- Research Illustrations
-- Numerical Literacy
Key Terms
Reflection Questions
Exercise

CHAPTER 2: WHY DO RESEARCH? QUESTIONING THE RESEARCH CONTEXT
Who Produced the Research?
-- Researchers' Home Institutions
-- Funding Institutions
-- Permission Granting Institutions
What is the Purpose of the Research?
What are the Research Questions?
How is the Research Justified?
Why the Research Context Matters

CHAPTER 3: WHAT CAN WE KNOW? QUESTIONING THE RESEARCH DESIGN
What is the Research Design?
What are the Internal Validity Concerns?
-- Experimental Design
-- Quasi-Experimental Cross-Sectional Design
-- Quasi-Experimental Longitudinal Design
-- Case Study Design
Questioning Research Designs
Why Research Design Matters

CHAPTER 4: WHO IS THE RESEARCH ABOUT? QUESTIONING SELECTION STRATEGIES
Who or What is the Subject of the Research?
-- Vulnerable Populations
How are Subjects Selected?
-- Probability Sampling
-- Non-Probability Sampling
What are the Limitations of the Sample?
Why Selection Strategies Matter

CHAPTER 5: WHAT IS THE RESEARCH ABOUT? QUESTIONING KEY TERMS
How Are Key Concepts Defined?
How Are Variables Operationalized from Concepts?
What Do We Know About Key Variables?
-- Measurement
-- Assessment
Why Definitions Matter

CHAPTER 6: HOW WAS THE RESEARCH CONDUCTED? QUESTIONING RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION
How Are Data Gathered?
How Do Researchers Gain Access to Data?
-- Deception
-- Voluntary Participation
-- Informed Consent
-- Public Space
How Do Researchers Document their Observations?
-- Recording Observations
-- Confidentiality and Anonymity
Why Research Implementation Matters

CHAPTER 7: WHAT DO WE KNOW? QUESTIONING ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
What Do We Know about Patterns across Variables?
-- Significance
-- Strength
-- Causality
What Do We Still Need to Know?
Why Analysis and Interpretation Matter

CHAPTER 8: QUESTIONING RESEARCH
Guideline of Questions
Questioning the Research Context
Questioning the Research Design
Questioning the Selection Strategy
Questioning Key Terms
Questioning the Research Implementation
Questioning Analysis and Interpretation
Why the Political Context Matters

GLOSSARY
REFERENCES

About the Author

Karin Gwinn Wilkins is a Professor in the Department of Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas at Austin.

Reviews

"A handy-dandy methods supplement that really does a great job of helping students understand why scholars make the choices they do in research design and implementation."--David M. Rhea, Governors State University
"This book offers students a different lens to think about all scholarship, including questions about research design and power, who funds scholarship, who is privileged (and who is left out) of research, and who gets to approve and to deny the practice of scholarship. The book gives students the language necessary to ask fundamental questions about scholarly methods that are often assumed to be true or that are typically unquestioned. Students, like Americans
in general, have grown up with the notion that science is objective and provides a superior form of understanding the world, when in fact the scientific method does create an argument, often around
numbers, that should be examined with a critical eye."--Brant Short, Northern Arizona University
"The book does a good job of showing students how to read and critique research that uses numbers. After reading this book, students will understand how research context, selection, definition, implementation, analysis, and interpretation can impact data. And understanding this context is very useful to students."--Gonzalo R. Soruco, University of Miami
"A wonderful resource that will encourage students to critically examine the impact of numbers in their lives. Karin Gwinn Wilkins's examination of the social, political, and psychological ramifications of empirical conclusions will ensure that students never take research for granted again."--Andrea Lambert, Northern Kentucky University