Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
1. Planning Research 1
Choosing a Research Topic 1
The textbook method 2
The television method 3
The pub chat or coffee bar method 4
The internet method 5
The lecturer method 5
Think again! 5
Self-interest 6
Replication versus Novelty 7
Pure versus Applied Research 8
Researching the Project: Finding Literature 9
Using internet search engines 10
Snowballing and searching via citations 10
Using electronic databases 12
Boolean operators 12
Narrowing searches 13
How many references? 15
Statistics on the internet 16
Choosing a Method 16
Single-case designs 17
Case studies 17
Choosing qualitative methods 18
Differences or relationships? 21
Primary or secondary data? 22
Observational methods 23
Protocol analysis 24
Multiple methods 25
Control Groups 25
Matching Methods to Analysis 26
Power Analysis 27
To Pilot or Not to Pilot 28
Developing Materials 29
Experimental stimuli 29
Questionnaires 31
Looking professional 35
Interviews 36
Cross-cultural studies and translation of materials 39
‘Borrowing’ Materials 40
The Internet as a Research Tool 40
Managing Time: Keeping on Track 42
Start early 42
Match the project to the time available 42
Overplanning 43
Plan B 43
Response rates 45
Your supervisor’s time 46
Project milestones 46
Tips on managing time 47
Writing a Proposal 51
Research Ethics 52
Informed consent 53
Undue pressure 55
Deception 55
Protection of participants from harm and ‘acceptable’ risk 55
Incentives 56
Withdrawal 56
Confidentiality 56
Debriefing 57
Personal safety 57
Obtaining Ethical Clearance 58
Getting Started 59
2. Doing Research: Collecting Data 61
Student–Supervisor Relations 62
Pilot Studies 65
Dealing with People 66
Being an ambassador 67
Working with participants 70
When participants don’t understand or make mistakes 75
Conducting Interviews: The Practicalities 76
Focus Groups 77
Observational Studies 78
Relying on Equipment 81
Making Back-ups 81
Adjusting Your Project Milestones 82
Taking Part Yourself 82
Revisiting Data 83
Transcribing Interviews 84
The Paper Trail 85
Knowing When to Stop 86
Data Preparation 86
Conducting Statistical Analyses 87
3. Writing Up Research 91
An Overview 92
Notes on Style 93
A Note on Plagiarism 94
Section by Section 96
Title 96
Abstract 99
Introduction 100
Method 103
Replicability 112
Results 113
Discussion 120
Generalising your findings 123
References 124
Appendices 128
Qualitative Reports 129
The first person 129
Introduction 130
Methods 130
Results/Analysis/Discussion 131
First, Second and Third Drafts 132
Common Mistakes 133
Affect and effect 134
Data 134
Experiment and study 134
Joining words together 134
Incorrect apostrophes 135
Incorrect sentences 136
Latin phrases and other borrowings 137
Non-significant 137
Number and amount 137
Prefixes 138
Presenting numbers 139
Proof 139
Reporting probabilities 140
Separating words 140
Significant diff erences 141
Spelling IV and DV 141
When It’s All Over 143
4. How To Lose Marks Instantly 145
List of Things NOT to do! 145
Go it alone and ignore your supervisor’s advice 145
Be precious about your work 146
Ignore the required format 146
Conduct research with no point to it 146
Bite off more than you can chew 147
Ignore relevant literature, or fail to look hard enough for it 147
Run out of time 147
Use the wrong reference format 148
Argue yourself out of a perfectly good result 148
Plagiarise 149
Conduct the wrong analysis 149
Collect data without ethical approval 149
Set out the entire project with a massive design flaw in it 150
The Moral of the Tale 150
References 151
Further Reading 153
Index 155
Mark Forshaw is Director of Endpoint Development and Outcomes Assessment at Adelphi Values, UK, having previously been a Principal Lecturer and Deputy Director of the Centre for Health Psychology at Staffordshire University. He is Chair of the BPS Membership Standards Board, and a Trustee of the BPS, and the winner of the BPS Division of Health Psychology Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Advancement of Health Psychology 2011. He is the author of many books, including Critical Thinking for Psychology: A Student Guide (Wiley, 2012).
"An essential, practical guide for students conducting a final year
study in psychology. This text provides guidance on many questions,
enabling the student to make full use of valuable yet limited time
with his or her supervisor. This text should be viewed as an
invaluable asset to the project student." "Paul Castle, Senior
Lecturer in Sport Psychology, University College Worcester "
"This book is practical, easily accessible, well written and
brimming with good advice. It offers guidelines to the psychology
student on the often daunting task of designing and writing a final
year dissertation. It begins by including helpful material on how
to find relevant information about the chosen topic and helps steer
the student through the entire research process, concluding the
journey with the presentation of the final report. This book should
not be too far away from any student's side." "Karen Monaghan, BSc
(Hons) Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian" "University, BPS Student
Members' Group - Chair 2004/5"
"Final year psychology students carrying out a substantial
empirical project should find this book very useful indeed. They
should keep it by them and consult each section thoroughly at the
start of each phase of their work: planning the project, gathering
data, analysing data and, most importantly of all, writing it up.
The text is crammed with the useful insight and experiences of an
author who has clearly witnessed the passage of very many project
students through their empirical trials; students should benefit
from this experience by avoiding many of the pitfalls and blind
alleys that lie in wait for the unwary and naive psychological
researcher. Despite its topic the book is not dry and the author's
own zest for research and generally humorous outlook on life shine
through from most pages. When possible, and when it is appropriate,
the author chooses highly entertaining examples to get across what
could otherwise be a dreary point to the young reader
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