If you are planning to do research you need to use valid approaches and tools to set up your study, gather your data, and make sense of your findings.
This guide is intended to provide an introduction to research methods, with links to resources and some key texts that will assist you in conducting research for your particular discipline including: books, software, and tools for collecting, managing, and analyzing data.
Navigate the menu on the left to view information and resources for qualitative and quantitative research methods.
SAGE Research Methods is a comprehensive and easy to search database, which includes books (including the Little Blue Books and Little Green Books series), encyclopedias, videos, articles, podcasts and more on research design and methodology.
Use Sage Research Methods to also explore Datasets, including step-by-step guides and sample data, or explore Cases where you can learn about methods application and research design with stories from researchers in the field.
SAGE also hosts Methodspace, an online community with articles, methods workshops and more!
The following is a few select introductory texts in research methods. Use OneSearch to find more books, including print only books at our physical locations, as well as other resources.
Clinician's Guide to Research Methods in Family Therapy
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A research methods text with a unique focus on evidence-based practice with couples and families, this book bridges the divide between research and clinical work. The text offers comprehensive, user-friendly coverage of measurement and design issues and basic qualitative and quantitative methods. Illustrating research concepts with clinically relevant examples and sample studies, it teaches clear steps for evaluating different types of studies and identifying common threats to validity. Of special value to therapists, it provides a systematic framework for using research to guide the selection and evaluation of interventions that meet the needs of particular clients. Pedagogical features: *End-of-chapter "Applications" sections showing how to evaluate specific methods. *Appendices with quick-reference guides and recommended resources. *Instructive glossary. See also the authors' Essential Skills in Family Therapy, Third Edition: From the First Interview to Termination, which addresses all aspects of real-world clinical practice, and Essential Assessment Skills for Couple and Family Therapists, which shows how to weave assessment into all phases of therapy.
Research Methods: The Key Concepts
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This book provides an overview of ninety key concepts which often trouble those who are new to researching within the social sciences. It covers theories of knowledge, methodologies and methods. Each entry offers a definition of a concept, shows how researchers have used that concept in their research and discusses difficulties that the concept presents. The book supports those undertaking their own social research projects by providing detailed critical commentary on key concepts in a particularly accessible way. In exploring these concepts, a wide range of research reports across many different fields are described. These include not only classic accounts, but also a broad selection of recent studies, some written by new researchers. The book will be useful for higher-education students carrying out projects within social science faculties at the end of their first degree or during a master's programme, though it will also be helpful for those undertaking doctoral research, and some entries have been written with the production of a thesis in mind. This second edition of Research Methods: The Key Concepts provides a more comprehensive and up-to-date coverage, as old entries have been updated and 19 new entries added. It helps new researchers to navigate the changing landscape of social research by recognising a) the changes in the ways researchers are thinking about knowledge and acquiring knowledge, b) the increasing use of digital tools to collect data, and c) the desire many contemporary researchers feel to promote social justice through their research.
APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology
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The three-volume handbook features descriptions of many techniques that psychologists and others have developed to help them pursue a shared understanding of why humans think, feel, and behave the way they do. At the broadest level, when choosing a method, researchers make decisions about what data or measurement techniques will best capture the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that interest them; what research design best fits the question that they want to answer; and what strategies for data analysis best match the characteristics of their design and measurements. The simplest choice for organizing the presentation of material is the temporal sequence in which they will make these decisions. The earliest chapters in the handbook address the broadest questions related to research designs. These involve both (a) which research designs are most appropriate for which question; and (b) how to think about the ethicality and feasibility of the designs that address the question and the measures available. Next, handbook chapters describe the types of data that psychologists most often collect and how to determine whether the measurement techniques are the best ones for the research purpose. Later, the chapters return to issues of research design and present a panoply of options, further divided along more nuanced distinctions in their objectives. Chapters on techniques for data analysis follow, again with special attention to the fit between design, measurement, and analysis. Finally, issues and choices to be considered when writing up research to share with the community of psychologists are discussed in the handbook's concluding chapters.
