For many students, doing research is often a joyless struggle. This book provides practical advice on how to do research in a concise way. It uses classic examples to show how experts conduct their research in different fields, allowing this book to be used in different disciplines.
Research Methods: A Practical Guide for Students and Researchers provides a practical guide to students and researchers on how to do their research systematically and professionally. The book begins by distinguishing between causal and interpretive sciences. It then guides the reader on how to formulate the research question, review the literature, develop the hypothesis or theoretical framework, select a suitable research methodology, and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data.
The book emphasizes integration. It does not merely provide a smorgasbord of research designs, data collection methods, and ways to analyze data. Instead, it shows how one can integrate these elements into a coherent research strategy.
Sample Chapter(s)
Chapter 1: Introduction to Research (260 KB)
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Contents:
- Introduction to Research
- The Research Problem
- Framework or Hypothesis
- Research Design I: Case Study
- Research Design II: Survey
- Research Design III: Comparative Design
- Research Design IV: Experiment
- Research Design V: Regression
- Methods of Data Collection
- Collection and Processing of Data
- Qualitative Data Analysis
- Quantitative Data Analysis I: Survey Data
- Quantitative Data Analysis II: Experimental Data
- Quantitative Data Analysis III: Regression Data (Part I)
- Quantitative Data Analysis III: Regression Data (Part II)
- Concluding Your Study
- The Research Report
Readership: Undergraduate and graduate students across all research-based disciplines. Contents has been used by students from architecture, construction, engineering (all branches), information technology, and the service sector.
Dr Willie Tan is tenured Professor in the School of Design and Environment (SDE), National University of Singapore (NUS). He obtained B Land Surveying (First Class Honors and University Medal) degree under a Singapore Government Scholarship from the University of Newcastle, Australia, in 1984. He earned his MSc (Estate Management) research degree at NUS in 1989, followed by a PhD (Urban Planning) degree under an NUS Overseas Graduate Scholarship and University of Sydney Graduate Scholarship in 1992.
Professor Tan is currently Head of Department of Building. He held the First Chair of the International Project Management Educational Union and has chaired accreditation visit teams for Project Management Institute's Global Accreditation Center to universities in Asia. At SDE, he was formerly the Vice Dean (Academic), Director of the Center for Project Management and Construction Law, and Program Director of the MSc (Project Management) program. He is also Visiting Professor to Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Dr Tan is an editor of Journal of Spatial Science, and Editorial Board member of the International Journal of Project Management and Infrastructure Asset Management, among others. He has published in many international refereed journals and is the author of many books including Principles of project and infrastructure finance (Taylor and Francis, 2007), Project Finance (co-authored, Pearson, 2015, 2nd Ed.), Project finance (co-authored, in Chinese, Southeast University Press, 2014), and Principles of housing investment (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006). His research focuses on geodetic engineering networks and project finance.
Dr Tan has served as a consultant in the private and public sectors in real estate, project management, infrastructure finance, and urban planning in Japan, Qatar, Oman, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Singapore. He has also served as an expert witness in the High Court of Singapore, and as Chief Judge for the Built Environment Industry Asia Awards.
Dr Tan has won many teaching awards including the NUS Outstanding Educator Award (2013) and Honor Roll as a three-time winner of the NUS Annual Teaching Excellence Award. He is a Fellow of the NUS Teaching Academy.
