NCJ Number
46053
Date Published
1973
Length
761 pages
Annotation
THIS TEST BOOK IS DESIGNED TO HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLUTION THROUGH THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH.
Abstract
DESIGNED FOR GRADUATE-LEVEL STUDENTS OF STATISTICS, MEASUREMENT, AND PSYCHOLOGY, THIS TEXTBOOK MAY BE USED FOR A ONE-OR TWO-SEMESTER COURSE. THE BOOK HAS FOUR MAJOR INTENTIONS: (1) IT IS A TREATISE ON SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, LIMITED TO THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH; (2) IT WILL HELP STUDENTS GRASP INTIMATE AND SOMETIMES DIFFICULT RELATIONS BETWEEN THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND THE DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY OF ITS SOLUTION; (3) ITS CONTENT IS TIED TOGETHER WITH THE NOTIONS OF SETS, RELATIONS, AND VARIANCE; AND (4) IT ADDRESSES PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH PROBLEMS. THE LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE AND THE APPROACH TO SCIENCE ARE DISCUSSED, PRIMARILY FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTRODUCING THE BASIC TERMINOLOGY AND IDEAS. THIS LEADS INTO AN ANALYSIS OF CONCEPTUAL AND MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS. THE NEXT FEW SECTIONS ARE DEVOTED TO THE TECHNICAL APPROACHES OF PROBABILISTIC THINKING, SAMPLING, RANDOMNESS, VARIANCE, AND THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF STATISTICS AND STATISTICAL INFERENCE. THE AUTHOR THEN DELVES INTO THE DESIGNS OF RESEARCH, I.E., THE MAJOR DESIGNS OF EXPERIMENTAL AND NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH, AND THE TYPES OF RESEARCH, INCLUDING LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS, FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND SURVEY RESEARCH. THEORETICAL MEASUREMENT PROBLEMS ARE TREATED, ALONG WITH THE PRACTICAL AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS OF GATHERING THE DATA NECESSARY FOR SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM SOLUTION. THE AUTHOR CONCLUDES WITH A DISCUSSION OF MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS, MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS, AND FACTOR ANALYSIS. APPENDIXES ON REPORT WRITING, RESEARCH TYPES, AND RANDOM STATISTICS ARE INCLUDED. AUTHOR AND SUBJECT INDEXES ARE PROVIDED. (BAC)