Jeanne Ellis Ormrod holds a B.A. degree in psychology from Brown University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from The
Pennsylvania State University. For more than twenty years she was a faculty member at the University of Northern
Colorado, where she taught courses in learning and cognition, educational psychology, measurement, and research
methods; she is currently Professor Emerita of Psychological Sciences at UNC. Dr. Ormrod has published numerous
research articles but is probably best known for this textbook and several other Pearson books: Human Learning
(6th ed., 2012); Educational Psychology: Developing Learners (7th ed., 2011); Essentials of Educational Psychology
(3rd ed., 2012); Our Minds, Our Memories: Enhancing Thinking and Learning at All Ages (2011); and Child Development
and Education (with Teresa McDevitt; 5th ed. in press).
Summary
Practical Research is a comprehensive and practical guide to research methodology. Suited for self-instruction,
this easy-to-read manual guides the beginning researcher, step by step, through the entire research process with
practical suggestions. This "do-it-yourself, understand-it-yourself" approach is designed to help research
students understand the fundamental structure of quality research in any discipline including:
Accounting-Agriculture-Anthropology-Architecture-Art Education-Behavioral Research-Biology-Business Administration-Business
Communication-Business Education-Business Law-Chemistry-Child and Family Studies-Civil/Construction Technology-Clothing
and Textiles-Communications-Computer Information Systems-Counseling-Criminal Justice-Criminology-Decision Science-Economics-Education-Electronic
Technology-English-Environmental Technology-Foods and Nutrition-Foreign Languages-Geography-Geology/Oceanography-Government-Health
Sciences-History-Hospitality Careers-Insurance-Journalism-Library Science-Literature-Management-Marketing-Mathematics-Mechanical/Industrial
Technology-Minority Studies-Music/Musicology-Nursing-Nutrition-Philosophy-Physical Education-Physics/Astronomy-Political
Science-Psychology-Real Estate-Religion-Sociology-Social Work -Speech/Speech Therapy-Taxation-Technical Trades-Theater-Theology-Urban
Studies
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Ch. 1 What is Research? 3
Ch. 2 Tools of Research 14
Ch. 3 The Problem: The Heart of the Research Process 49
Ch. 4 The Review of the Related Literature 70
Ch. 5 Planning Your Research Design 91
Ch. 6 Writing the Research Proposal 122
Ch. 7 Qualitative Research 147
Ch. 8 Historical Research 172
Ch. 9 Descriptive Research 187
Ch. 10 Experimental and Causal-Comparative Designs 229
Ch. 11 Statistical Techniques for Analyzing Quantitative Data 252
Ch. 12 Technical Details: Style, Format, and Organization of the Research Report 285
References 307
Index 311
