Finding Good Materials For Research-Ebrary Book Search
Academic research or even scientific research basically entails the search for information from various secondary and primary sources. In today’s academic realms both the primary and secondary sources of information provide a wide base of knowledge upon which students and researchers can base their research activities and help build the base of their knowledge. The need for a literature reviews in any research activity makes the search of information related to one’s research topic an essential and basic thing. The use of online databases of research is an important way to conduct a research because it enables one to access modern research tools and material sources as well as traditional sources such as books via online library databases such as ebrary and Google books. This paper highlights an online database conducted on three topics: Qualitative research design, Quantitative research in education and mixed methods research. The search focused on book publications that highlighted these three topics, and the search was conducted on the ebrary database. Ebrary was selected because it offer an simpler form of search that can easily lead the researcher to the right sources because it offers a brief on any book that is so clear and concise, in manner that enables the researcher to easily identify a relevant source that contains the information that s/he may seek to find.
The first search on qualitative research design yielded various books and among them two most relevant books were selected. The first source found was a book authored by Blaxter Lorraine, Hughes Cristina and Malcolm Tight. The book is titled “How to Research” 2006 publication by the “Open University Press”. The ISBN number for this source was ISBN 9780335229536. The 303 paged books describe how various research designs can be made, and among them it highlights qualitative research design and its application the field of research. The second book found on ebrary in relation to the topic was titled “Introducing qualitative research in Psychology”, a publication by McGraw Hill education which is published in 2008. The book was authored by Carla Willig and its ISBN number is ISBN: 9780335236343. The book highlights the use of qualitative research within the context of Psychology related research.
The search on the second topic-Quantitative research in education-yielded various books and among them the two most relevant books with regard to the topic were chosen. The first identified source was a publication titled “Educational research in practice”. The 2004 publication by Continuum International Publishing was authored by Joanna Swann. In part two of this book the various approaches of research with regard to educational research are highlighted and these include a detail on how quantitative research can be applied in an education related research context. The book’s ISBN number was 9780826432742. The second identified source is titled “Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS. The book was authored by Daniel Muijs and published by the Sage publications incorporation in 2004. The book’s ISBN number is 9781412933018. The book specifically highlights how to conduct quantitative research in research that is related to the education field. It is the most relevant cited source because it narrows the research aspect and focuses it specifically on the educational context.
The third topic’s search on mixed methods research yielded several books and the two most relevant selected books were documented below. The first cited book “Becoming a researcher”, was authored by Paul Yates John and Pryor Mairead Dunne, in 2005 and published by the McGraw Hill education publishers. The 206 paged book highlights research in tow views, both as an intellectual engagement and as a practical activity. It also extensively highlights the design phase of research as well the combination of research methodologies in designing specific research cases. The second identified book was “Researcher’s tool kit” a publication by Routledge publishers that was authored by David Wilkinson. The 153 paged publications were published in 2000 and its ISBN number is 9780203185124. The book details various research methods and how they can be combined in some research situations.
The search on ebrary for books containing these topics made use of the topics’ words a key search words and the search process was restricted or limited by subjects such as mathematics, research, education or science in order to obtain narrowed results of books that were appropriately related to the topic under highlight. The search was restricted to title results so as to obtain results of books that contained information that was dedicated mostly to the topic of concern in the search. At times the search yielded some slightly related sources that were found to be actually distantly related, but appeared amongst the results probably because they contained one of the primary search key words. However, these are eliminated as one goes through the resulting books. A review of the table of contents provided on each ebrary book helps the researcher identify the existence of relevant topics within the book and this simplifies further the research process by making quick identification possible.
References
Blaxter. L, Hughes, C. and Malcolm T. (2006),. How to Research, Open University Press
Daniel, M. (2004),. Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS, Sage publications incorporation
Carla, W. (2008),. Qualitative research in Psychology, McGraw Hill education
David, W. (2000),. Researcher’s tool kit, Routledge publishers
Joanna, S. (2004),. Educational research in practice, Continuum International Publishing
Paul, Y.J. and Pryor, M. D. (2005),. Becoming a researcher, McGraw Hill education publishers
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