Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences

What sets this book apart is the emphasis on examples throughout. It was well written, reader friendly and engages the student via "real life" type examples. One small point was that over time some began to feel a bit redundant or even slightly forced - then again, in real life many start to sound similar. This can be used in a wide variety of ways including assignment planning - very versatile and I find myself thinking up new ways on a regular basis. This is one you will want to consider for class adoption.

This is a thorough introductory level undergraduate level book on doing (or understanding) behavioral research. My son, who just graduated with a Psychology degree, says this is typical of a freshman/sophomore level course on the topic.Here’s a brief overview of what this book offers: Chapter 1 is rather basic coverage of the scientific method. Chapter 2 is about how to come up with an idea to research and how to conduct a review of related literature. Chapter 3 looks at how and why current ethical standards were established and what these standards are. Chapter 4 looks at how reliability and validity are measured. Chapter 5 covers sampling techniques. Chapter 6 presents a tree diagram for experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental research designs. Chapter 7 covers some nonexperimental designs (naturalistic designs, qualitative designs, and existing data designs). Chapter 8 is about more nonexperimental designs (survey designs and correlational designs). Chapter 9 looks at a number of quasi-experimental designs (one-group, time series, non-equivalent control group, and developmental). Chapter 10 looks at between-subject experimental design for two or more groups. It also looks at the criteria for an experimental design. Chapter 11 covers the within-subjects experimental design. Chapter 12 explains the factorial experimental design for between, within, and mixed factorial designs. Chapter 13 covers descriptive statistics, graphing data, and measuring reliability. Chapter 14 is about significance testing. Chapter 15 is an introduction to writing an APA-style manuscript.But that’s JustMe.

Book arrived with hard cover detached from book. I am still going to use it for my class but wanted to document the condition of the book so there are no issues when I return it.

The binding of the book unglued and fell apart. Very cheap quality. I am very disappointed because of the price of the book.

As my eyes are not as good as they used to be, the thing that I appreciate about "Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences" by Gregory J. Privitera is that even though text in side margins is small, it is clear and easy to read. I appreciate that.As to the content, it is informative and detailed. It has good transitioning from chapter to chapter in that it builds from one idea to the next idea. I like that the introduction pages at beginning don't go overly long but it doesn't skimp on info either. I like the format of the end of chapter review section. It is text-based so there aren't pretty pictures of people in it and oddly, I rather appreciate that as well. Conversely, that wall of text effect can make the information seem a little overwhelming at times. Still, I liked the presentation. It is focused and clearly meant for those serious about researching and learning good methodology.