Scholarly Book Review, Essay Example

Section 1

Analysis of Key Words

Use of Limiters or alternate terms

None really.  Some combination of words to refine search criteria e.g. Creswell Research Methods

What Databases were used ?

Academic References databases included JSTOR, QUESTIA and SAGE

ISBN Numbers of the Books

An introduction to qualitative research  Uwe Flick 2nd Edition

ISBN 10-1-4129-1145-1

Qualitative research design: an interactive approach  Joseph Alex Maxwell

ISBN 0-7619-2608-9

Quantitative research methods for professionals

ISBN  0205359132, 9780205359134

Research Design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approach  Creswell, J.R.

ISBN 978-1-4129-6557-6

Different concept for new search

Possible use of Google Books to home in on key books

APA Format of Books

Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approach. London: Sage Publications.

Flick, U. (2006). An introduction to qualitative research, 2nd Edition. London: Sage.

Mazwell, J. (2005). Qualitative Research Design : an interactive approach. London: Sage Publications.

Vogt, P. (2007). Quantitative research methods for professionals. Michigan: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.

Section 2 – Selected Text Review

Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approach. London: Sage Publications.  ISBN 978-1-4129-6557-6

Synopsis

The objective of this book is to provide the reader with a basic foundation and overview of the method approach to research design. The book covers aspects of qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research design. It is an excellent starting point for postgraduate students requiring further instructional guidelines on the approach to conducting research. The book is structured into two main parts: Part 1- Preliminary Consideration – covering research design, literature review, use of theory, the writing of strategies and ethical considerations. Part 2 – Designing Research focuses upon the design and method approach in qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approach and procedures. The book is extremely well grounded in the explanation of theory and provides ample case study illustrations.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strengths of the book relate to the simplicity of the structure and the ease of navigation in order to provide precise coverage of specific areas.  The book has certainly been designed with the reference book concept in mind and as such this makes it an excellent book for first time postgraduate students who want to learn the methods, theory, process and the procedures for carrying out research for a thesis or dissertation.  The book provides a practical yet innovative approach towards helping the reader grasp the essentials.  This is achieved in a number of distinct ways: (i) the excellent use of clear illustrations in order to describe the more complex theoretical components.  (ii) The use of tables for analysis and comparative analysis purposes (iii) the use of bold underlining in order to bring out key words or areas of specific emphasis.  (iv) Use of bullet points to aid revision purpose and facilitate book marking.  This book would be very easy to convert to e-book format and the publishers may have taken this into consideration when designing the construct and layout of the book.

The illustration in Table 1.3 shows the clarity of the Table construction and the ease in determining the interpretation of the different method formats.  The book also adds valuable writing exercises throughout the book and provides links to additional reading materials. Once again the ability and ease to convert these to hypertext links in the event of e-book conversion has been well thought through. The book also contains a number of useful case study examples by providing practical theoretical examples.

Weaknesses may include adding links and references that potentially will become outdated unless the book is reproduced and updated in a number of subsequent editions.  The extended use of bullet points will not appeal to all readers, particularly those who prefer in text reading and considerable more depth and expansion of the subject matter.  I personally like this type of book as it contains complex subject matter that is broken down into easy to absorb components; although this is not to everyone’s taste and as such is really a matter of personal preference.

Credibility of the Author

John W Creswell is a well-known author and Professor of Educational Psychology. He has completed over 11 books and has in excess of 30 year’s experience in the profession. An Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan and a co-editor with Sage Publications. In 2008 he was appointed as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and took up a research post in South Africa further developing his mixed methods concepts.  He has in addition been a Professor at the University of Nebraska for around 30 years.

An additional strength of the book is that it is not single dimensional and does not focus the perspective on one sector of qualitative, quantitative or mixed method research. The book is more heavily focused upon the application of technique and how this may be utilized across different functional settings. In this regard the book has an appeal to students of a diverse study background and becomes more appealing in terms of obtaining a grounding in research theory and technique that can be applied in different application settings.

Evaluation of sources

The author draws upon a wide degree of academic and professional references and resources. Many of these are quoted in further or additional reading.  A useful element is that most of these are work related and have a direct meaning i.e. nursing, educational and medical research being but a few of those mentioned in the book. The book seems extremely well rounded with the author drawing upon a wide number of sources and case study examples. The book contains a useful bibliography for further reading.  The author has drawn upon the large informational database contained by Sage Publishing and has provided a number of important academic cross-references to the theory and work contained within the book. The author demonstrates a very good practical and theoretical understanding of research concepts and design.  It is clear that the author has spent many years in this field.

Commentary

I found the steps on conducting a Literature Review (pp. 25-36 refers) to be an extremely useful and helpful part of this book.  Many students tend not to understand the importance or procedure of carrying out a proper Literature Review.  The process outlined a logical flow and sequence of events that included:

• The logical steps of the process for conducting a literature review;
• How to search computer databases and find your information;
• Priority selection;
• Developing a literature map of your research
• Abstractive studies

This was then placed into specific context ( pp. 37-43 refers), whereby precise examples were illustrated of literature reviews in qualitative research, quantitative research and mixed method research were discussed.  This included both style manuals and definition of terminology.  The section was concluded by written exercises and additional references for further information. This particular theme is carried on throughout the book and as such provides a means of continuity and thread between the different sections.  The references are useful in that most relate to real word examples and practical working examples or demonstrations in a practical setting.

The section of the book on the use of Theory is extremely well laid out and again demonstrates a consistency and simplicity of approach in conveying the main messages of the subject matter.  For example:  The theory method is selected i.e. Qualitative Theory, this then goes on to define the theory, the different forms that the theory may take and the practical applications of same.  This is then followed up with working examples, the section is then summarized and concluded by additional writing exercises and references where further reading on the subject matter might be obtained. This is a common theme that is adopted and followed throughout the book.

If any criticism is due it might be perhaps in the lack of depth of treatment and analysis in certain parts of the subject area.  The author may be forgiven for this as you are faced with a difficult balancing act of dealing with a large amount of complex subject matter and relating this to the reader in simple, easy to understand and relative abstract terms. The book is clearly focused towards graduates undertaking research projects for the first time and wishing to expand their knowledge in terms of approach, methods, tools and techniques. The author does this extremely well and as such makes the book extremely compelling and as such a valuable reference guide and navigational map for conducting postgraduate research.

Works Cited

Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design: qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approach. London: Sage Publications.

Flick, U. (2006). An introduction to qualitative research, 2nd Edition. London: Sage.

Mazwell, J. (2005). Qualitative Research Design : an interactive approach. London: Sage Publications.

Vogt, P. (2007). Quantitative research methods for professionals. Michigan: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.