The books below are available either as ebooks or as print books in the Georgetown Law Library. The main campus libraries also provide access to the database Sage Research Methods, which includes numerous downloadable ebooks and other resources on research methodology.
Empirical Methods for Bioethics
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Through a thorough look at both quantitative and qualitative methods utilized in key research investigations in bioethics, the book examines the impact of such investigations on clinical and policy decision-making, scholarship and on the advancement of theory. The varied sociological and anthropological research examples that are presented allow readers to better understand the richness and breadth of such work as well as relevant practical and theoretical approaches.
Empirical Research and Writing: A Political Science Student's Practical Guide
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This book provides instructions for formulating hypotheses, doing pre-research, selecting appropriate research designs, selecting cases, collecting and managing both qualitative and quantitative data, preparing data for analysis, writing up research findings, practicing peer review, and delivering findings in posters and presentations, and preparing work for publication.
Investigating the Psychological World: Scientific Method in the Behavioral Sciences
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The author constructs a broad theory of scientific method, which speaks to the conduct of psychological research. This abductive theory of method (ATOM) portrays research as a bottom-up process comprising two broad phases: the detection of empirical phenomena, and the construction of explanatory theories in order to explain claims about the phenomena. ATOM functions as a broad framework theory within which a variety of more specific research methods can be located and employed. A coherent treatment of those methods is enhanced by placing them within the framework of ATOM.
Methods for Community Public Health Research
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This book presents a new approach to conducting, evaluating, and presenting community and public health research... This is a] valuable book for learning alternative ways of conducting and disseminating research."--Doody's Medical Reviews The Burke & Albert text is a "must-have" for all community researchers in public health. It contains innovative, community-engaged research methods that are described in an easily understandable manner. Challenging the notion of the quantitative-qualitative dichotomy, the contributors include integrated research methods including spatial analysis, concept mapping, network approaches, system dynamics, visual voice, and news media analysis. This is the first text to advance beyond traditional research methods for promoting community health by presenting a new paradigm that integrates qualitative and quantitative research methods. Written for graduate students of public health and practicing researchers, the book highlights new technologies and methodologies that are particularly suited to addressing complex health issues, translating research into action, and engaging the community and relevant stakeholders. Eschewing the rigid distinction between qualitative and quantitative methods, this new paradigm facilitates a more fluid use of integrated methods and interdisciplinary expertise. With a focus on inferring meaning, the book stresses the conjoint effects of place, time, voice, organization, and scale on health outcomes. Use of these new research methods will provide greater insight into how and why contextual and community factors impact health and aid in developing more effective intervention programs. The text focuses on new methods for inferring meaning from both the quantitative information that characterizes communities and the words community members use to describe their lives. It pays particular attention to data collection and analysis and clearly demonstrates the intricacies of using spatial, systems, and modeling analysis for community health. The first section on inferring meaning from numbers includes spatial analysis, agent-based models, community network analysis, and realist reviews. The second section, about inferring meaning from words, addresses system dynamics, concept mapping, visual voices, and media analysis. Chapters describe, step by step, how to apply new methodologies to pressing health issues and provide Web links to interactive mapping and videos of agent-based models. Additionally, the authors provide examples from their research to support methodological points. Key features: Introduces a new paradigm for community public health research that integrates qualitative and quantitative methods Provides in-depth guidance about applying these new methodologies to pressing community health issues Details applications of new methods such as agent-based simulations, visual voice methods, geospatial analysis, and concept mapping Bridges the disciplines of community health and epidemiology Written for and by multidisciplinary public health scholars
Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion
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The core methods in today's econometric toolkit are linear regression for statistical control, instrumental variables methods for the analysis of natural experiments, and differences-in-differences methods that exploit policy changes. In the modern experimentalist paradigm, these techniques address clear causal questions such as: Do smaller classes increase learning? Should wife batterers be arrested? How much does education raise wages? Mostly Harmless Econometrics shows how the basic tools of applied econometrics allow the data to speak. In addition to econometric essentials, Mostly Harmless Econometrics covers important new extensions--regression-discontinuity designs and quantile regression--as well as how to get standard errors right.
Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology
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Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology is a core text for criminology and criminal justice research methods courses. It strives to offer a general foundation of knowledge that transcends particular topics or subject areas, allowing students to apply research methods and concepts to a multitude of scenarios.