Small-Scale Research: Pragmatic Inquiry in Social Science and the Caring Professions

Peter T Knight

nov 2001 · SAGE

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The author takes the student through the whole of the research process including anticipating common mistakes and `times of trouble′ and offering advice on how to make things easier on yourself. The methods work is sound and the methodology is put across very well and nicely integrated with the `thinking out′ of the research ... Rigorous, accessible, upbeat - I would expect this to become a widely used resource for students and lone researchers at all levels′ - Roger Sapsford, School of Social Sciences, University of Teeside

Timely, assured and written with the needs of students uppermost, Small-Scale Research is a direct, comprehensive guide for students doing theses, dissertations, papers and projects. It systematically works through the central methods of inquiry and demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The advice on when and how to use small-scale methods is pragmatic, recognizing that small-scale researchers are usually short on time and resources. Yet behind this pragmatism is the principle that research is, above all, about thinking. Whatever needs to be done in a research project has to be for the purpose of providing research audiences with the best possible answers, in the circumstances, to the research questions. The book argues that it is not enough to apply research methods. Sense-making and claims-making are central to good research practice.

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Dr. Peter T. Knight has worked. in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University, UK, since 1990. He was previously the Head of the Department of History at St. Martin′s College of Higher Education, Lancaster, UK.