The motivation for this volume in the History and Theory of Psychology series is to look across sub-disciplines within psychology and highlight instances where researchers transcended the tendency to think about methodology along traditional lines. Contributors have located examples of researchers who built upon existing ideas to create methods true to their interests and theoretical convictions. Emerging Methods in Psychology shows how a discipline creates new methods and carves out possibilities that not only generate data, but also advance knowledge of human psychological functioning. It concentrates on showcasing the possibilities that exist when the researcher focuses on the relationship between theory, method, and data. The question of what kind of expertise is required is a key issue. This is particularly the case in psychology where the tradition of standardizing methods over the last century has served to stabilize research questions. Knowledge creation is deeply affective and ambiguous rather than the secure accumulation of data by a socially legitimized procedure. This innovative volume moves beyond psychology as social engineering into new varieties of social knowledge.

The motivation for this volume in the History and Theory of Psychology series is to look across sub-disciplines within psychology and highlight instances where researchers transcended the tendency to think about methodology along traditional lines. Contributors have located examples of researchers who built upon existing ideas to create methods true to their interests and theoretical convictions. Emerging Methods in Psychology shows how a discipline creates new methods and carves out possibilities that not only generate data, but also advance knowledge of human psychological functioning. It concentrates on showcasing the possibilities that exist when the researcher focuses on the relationship between theory, method, and data. The question of what kind of expertise is required is a key issue. This is particularly the case in psychology where the tradition of standardizing methods over the last century has served to stabilize research questions. Knowledge creation is deeply affective and ambiguous rather than the secure accumulation of data by a socially legitimized procedure. This innovative volume moves beyond psychology as social engineering into new varieties of social knowledge.

Research Methods in Psychology has been substantially revised in its fourth edition. Continuing to offer enviable coverage of the research methods that psychology students at intermediate levels need to cover in their course, the textbook has now been broadened to cover the full suite of beginner level research methods too. The result is extensive coverage of psychological methods, both quantitative and qualitative, and a textbook that will serve students perfectly from day one in their course at university. Research Methods in Psychology in its fourth edition includes: • Extended statistical coverage, including new chapters on Descriptive Statistics, Inferential Statistics, ANOVA, Regression and Correlation, and Latent Variable Models • Further New Chapters on Content Analysis and Writing up your Research • New introductory sections placing each method in context and showing students how they relate to the bigger ′real world′ picture. • Intuitive structure and visual layout makes the book easy to navigate so you can quickly find the content you need. This textbook is ideal for beginner and intermediate level psychological research methods students worldwide. Visit the Research Methods in Psychology companion website www.sagepub.co.uk/breakwell4e to take advantage of additional resources for students and lecturers.

"Psychologists have long understood that laboratory settings only approximate genuine human environments. Yet, how can the influence of the real world, with all its complexity and variability, be measured? This edited volume deals with this question by providing theoretical models and testing methods for quantifying physical and social environments that serve as contexts of human development." "This volume represents the state of the art in environmental assessment procedures and will be a welcome resource for psychologists specializing in assessment, methodology, and development."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Bringing together leading authorities, this unique handbook reviews the breadth of current approaches for studying how people think, feel, and behave in everyday environments, rather than in the laboratory. The volume thoroughly describes experience sampling methods, diary methods, physiological measures, and other self-report and non-self-report tools that allow for repeated, real-time measurement in natural settings. Practical guidance is provided to help the reader design a high-quality study, select and implement appropriate methods, and analyze the resulting data using cutting-edge statistical techniques. Applications across a wide range of psychological subfields and research areas are discussed in detail.

This indispensible sourcebook covers conceptual and practical issues in research design in the field of social and personality psychology. Key experts address specific methods and areas of research, contributing to a comprehensive overview of contemporary practice. This updated and expanded second edition offers current commentary on social and personality psychology, reflecting the rapid development of this dynamic area of research over the past decade. With the help of this up-to-date text, both seasoned and beginning social psychologists will be able to explore the various tools and methods available to them in their research as they craft experiments and imagine new methodological possibilities.

Social researchers increasingly find themselves looking beyond conventional methods to address complex research questions. This is the first book to comprehensively examine emergent qualitative and quantitative theories and methods across the social and behavioral sciences. Providing scholars and students with a way to retool their research choices, the volume presents cutting-edge approaches to data collection, analysis, and representation. Leading researchers describe alternative uses of traditional quantitative and qualitative tools; innovative hybrid or mixed methods; and new techniques facilitated by technological advances. Consistently formatted chapters explore the strengths and limitations of each method for studying different types of research questions and offer practical, in-depth examples.

′Thanks to this new book, psychology students now have a trustworthy and practical guide that takes them through all stages of qualitative research with rich examples and different paradigmatic perspectives.′ Svend Brinkmann, Aalborg University, Denmark ′A well thought-out, accessible and engaging guide to conducting qualitative research projects. This is a must-read for any student beginning the qualitative journey.′ Abigail Locke, University of Huddersfield, UK This book is for students who are embarking on a qualitative research project in psychology or a related discipline. While focusing mainly on undergraduate dissertations, this book will also be useful for postgraduate students. It takes you through planning a qualitative project, stage by stage, addressing key issues and concerns along the way. The focus throughout is on how to make your project excellent! Packed full of examples from student projects to help you to put theory into practice, the book guides you through: • designing your research • ethical considerations • collecting your data • analysing your data • writing your report or dissertation. In addition, the book will help you with time management and working with your supervisor, as well as providing guidance on how you can use your project as the basis for publication or further study.

The family can be a model of loving support, a crucible of pathology, or some blend of the two. Across disciplines, it is also the basic unit for studying human relationships, patterns of behavior, and influence on individuals and society. As family structures evolve and challenge previous societal norms, new means are required for understanding their dynamics, and for improving family interventions and policies. Emerging Methods in Family Research details innovative approaches designed to keep researchers apace with the diversity and complexities of today's families. This versatile idea-book offers meaningful new ways to represent multiple forms of diversity in family structure and process, cutting-edge updates to family systems models and measurement methods, and guidance on the research process, from designing projects to analyzing findings. These chapters provide not only new frameworks for basic research on families, but also prime examples of their practical use in intervention and policy studies. Contributors also consider the similarities and differences between the study of individuals and the study of family relationships and systems. Included in the coverage: Use of nonlinear dynamic models to study families as coordinated symbiotic systems. Use of network models for understanding change and diversity in the formal structure of American families. Representing trends and moment-to-moment variability in dyadic and family processes using state-space modeling techniques. Why qualitative and ethnographic methods are essential for understanding family life. Methods in multi-site trials of family-based interventions. Implementing the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) to analyze the effects of family interventions. Researchers in human development, family studies, clinical and developmental psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology, and social welfare as well as public policy researchers will welcome Emerging Methods in Family Research as a resource to inspire novel approaches to studying families.

This book introduces the single use of four widely-used qualitative approaches and then introduces ways and applications of using the approaches in combination. Personal insight into qualitative research practice from each of the contributors covers health psychology, social psychology, criminal psychology, gender studies psychotherapy, counselling psychology and organizational psychology.