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Research Methodology
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Research Methodology
Best Practices for Rigorous, Credible, and Impactful Research

  • Herman Aguinis - The George Washington University School of Business, USA, The George Washington University


May 2024 | 616 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Research Methodology: Best Practices for Rigorous, Credible, and Impactful Research takes a 360-degree view of understanding and doing research, helping readers become expert researchers, reviewers, and consumers of research. Renowned author, journal editor, and researcher Herman Aguinis distills the vast body of work on methodological best practices into a singular experience. Each of the 16 chapters thoroughly explains a different aspect of methodology step by step, from choosing useful and compelling research topics to reporting results accurately and credibly. Researchers at all career stages will find this text helpful to structure and conduct high-impact empirical research aimed at producing a thesis, dissertation, or journal publication. Research consumers will find instruction on how to evaluate the rigor and credibility of research conducted by others. Instructors will find the book’s modular approach refreshing by assigning students the most relevant topics—from checklists of best practices to an in-depth treatment of a methodology. Filled with “how-to’s” and “dos and don’ts”, figures, hands-on exercises, and “Methods in Practice” boxes that summarize and apply best practices, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in producing or reading research.

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Read a review of the book published in the Academy of Management Learning & Education journal here
 
Chapter 1: How to Understand the Current Methodological Landscape
Importance of Research Methods

 
Research Methods: A Brief Historical Journey

 
Mapping Quantitative Research Methods

 
Mapping Qualitative Research Methods: Research Design, Measurement, and Data Analysis

 
Research on Research Methods: Best in Kind

 
Research Methods: The Present and the Future

 
 
Chapter 2: How to Conduct Ethical Research
Importance of Ethical Research

 
Research Ethics: Definition and Two Approaches

 
How to Plan Ethical Research

 
How to Execute Ethical Research

 
Special Considerations for Conducting Ethical Research in Field Settings

 
How to Report Research Results Ethically

 
How to Enforce Ethical Research

 
How to Resolve Ethics Complaints

 
 
Chapter 3: How to Make Contributions to Theory
Importance of Contributions to Theory

 
Why Theories Should Be Useful and for Whom

 
Important Distinctions in Discerning Good Theory

 
When Is New Theory Needed?

 
Pruning the Theoretical Landscape

 
How to Improve Theory Using Theory Elaboration

 
How to Conduct a Theory Elaboration Study

 
How to Bridge Levels of Analysis to Improve Theory

 
 
Chapter 4: How to Plan Your Research
Importance of Research Planning

 
How to Address an Important Issue and Conduct Research with a Practical End in Mind

 
How to Strengthen Causal Inferences

 
How to Balance the Internal Versus External Validity Tradeoff

 
How to Choose Control Variables

 
Illustrations of Best-Practice Recommendations Implementation

 
 
Chapter 5: How to Collect Your Sample Using Surveys and Other Means
Importance of Sample Size

 
Why Large Sample Size Is Not Always the Best Option

 
How to Make Sure Your Study Participants Are Who You Think They Are

 
Implementing Best Practices in Merging Your Data with Data from Existing Databases

 
How to Evaluate the Appropriateness of Your Study’s Response Rate When Using Surveys

 
How to Deal with Publication Bias and the File Drawer Problem

 
 
Chapter 6: How to Measure Your Variables
Importance of Measurement

 
Definition of Measurement and Benefits of Good Measurement

 
Scales of Measurement

 
How to Create a New Measure

 
How to Improve Existing Measures

 
 
Chapter 7: How to Design and Conduct Experimental Research
Importance of Experiments

 
How to Conduct Vignette Experiments

 
How to Conduct Experiments Online

 
How to Conduct Experiments Using Virtual Reality

 
How to Conduct Thought Experiments

 
 
Chapter 8: How to Prepare Your Data for Analysis
Importance of Cleaning Up Your Data

 
How to Handle Missing Data and Data Transformations

 
How to Handle Outliers

 
How to Not Clean Up Your Hypotheses by Hypothesizing After Results are Known (HARKing)

 
 
Chapter 9: How to Conduct Quantitative Analysis, Part I: Regression-based Approaches
Importance of Regression Analysis

 
Moderation

 
Mediation

 
Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)

 
Using Regression to Understand Nonlinear Effects: The Too-Much-of-A-Good-Thing (TMGT) Effect

 
 
Chapter 10: How to Conduct Quantitative Analysis, Part II: Multilevel Modeling
Importance of Multilevel Modeling

 
Fundamentals of Multilevel Modeling

 
Visual Representation of Types of Variances Modeled in Multilevel Analysis

 
Analytic Representation of Sources of Variance Modeled in Multilevel Analysis

 
The Importance of Statistical Power in Multilevel Modeling

 
Multilevel Modeling: Step-by-Step Illustration

 
Why You Need to Examine More than Just the Traditional Intraclass Correlation

 
Best-practice Recommendations for Conducting and Reporting Multilevel Analysis and Cross-level Interaction Effects

 
 
Chapter 11: How to Conduct Quantitative Analysis, Part III: Meta-analysis
Importance of Meta-analysis

 
Meta-analysis: Choices, Choices, Choices

 
How to Conduct a State-of-the-science Meta-analysis

 
Meta-regression

 
Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling

 
Is There a Need for an Updated Meta-Analysis?

 
 
Chapter 12: How to Conduct Quantitative Analysis, Part IV: Advanced Techniques
Importance of Advanced Quantitative Techniques

 
Market Basket Analysis

 
Experience Sampling Methodology

 
Bayesian Analysis

 
 
Chapter 13: How to Conduct Qualitative Research
Importance of Qualitative Research

 
Interviews with Key Informants

 
Computer-Aided Text Analysis (CATA)

 
Methodological Literature Reviews

 
Mixed Methods

 
How to Improve Transparency and Replicability in Your Qualitative Research

 
 
Chapter 14: How to Report Your Results
Importance of How You Report Your Results

 
How to Report p-values

 
Why You Should Report Effect Size Estimates

 
How Your Effect Sizes Compare to Those in Social and Behavioral Research

 
How to Interpret the Meaning of Effect Sizes

 
How to Report Statistical Results: The Case of ?2 and ?2

 
How to Report Your Study’s Limitations and Future Research Directions

 
 
Chapter 15: How to Improve the Transparency, Reproducibility, and Replicability of Your Research
Importance of Transparency and Replicability of Your Research

 
How to Improve Transparency about Your Theory

 
How to Improve Transparency about Your Research Design

 
How to Improve Transparency about Your Measures

 
How to Improve Transparency about Your Data Analysis

 
How to Improve Transparency about Your Results

 
How to Motivate Authors to Improve Transparency

 
 
Chapter 16: How to Enhance the Impact of Your Research
Importance of the Impact of Your Research

 
Scholarly Impact: Internal and External

 
On the Use and Misuse of Journal Lists as an Indicator of Scholarly Impact

 
How to Broaden the Meaning and Measurement of Impact

 
Actions that University Administrators, Researchers, and Educators Can Take to Enhance Scholarly Impact

 
How to Create Your Own Personal Impact Development Plan

 
Enhancing Your Impact: It’s a Journey

 

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site
Online resources included with this text

The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site, which offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.
Student Resource Site
Online resources included with this text

The online resources for your text are available via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site, which offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides.

This is an interesting, fresh approach, describing the development of research methodologies throughout the years… Much better than my current textbook.

Verl Anderson
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

This book is easy to read and teach. Students can understand the language and be able to use it with their own research. It is both modern and has history of research within it. Overall, students would benefit in early research to using this book.

Mindy Myers
Midwestern State University

I can think of no other research methods book I've recently used that devotes this much attention to theory and I think this attention is well-deserved.

Ewa Golebiowska
Wayne State University

The discussion or parsimony, falsification, and precision within this book are particularly welcomed and map precisely how I teach these topics.

Scot Schraufnagel
Northern Illinois University

I like that there is a chapter devoted to making connections to theory. This is novel. I have not seen such a chapter in similar texts, and it is important. Often junior scholars ask questions for the sake of simplicity or curiosity but lack the skills to link their inquiries to theory. This chapter is a useful contribution!

Rachel R. Tambling
University of Connecticut

A high-level but readable textbook presenting research design and methods in an approachable way. The text would be appropriate for graduate level psychology, organizational behavior, or decision sciences courses in research methods.

Kristina M. Patterson
Georgia Southern University

I would describe this book as a long-form publication that provides knowledge on methodological best practices in social and behavioral science disciplines. The writing is explicit and bridges the gap between knowledge and applicability and presents a comprehensive review of the research process from beginning to end.

Meghan Pfeiffer
University of Memphis

The text combines research methods and statistics and could work very well for graduate-level programs with combined coursework.

Michael T. Moore
Adelphi University

This is a comprehensive overview of research methodology that will be helpful for advanced students who wish to explore methodological issues in more depth than is typically provided in textbooks at Levels 6 and 7 (Final year undergraduate and taught postgraduate). It will also be useful for doctoral students starting on their research journeys.

Professor Steve Johnson
Dept of Business, Management & Market, Leeds Trinity University
March 4, 2025

Nice title with clearly laid out and concise information. Will be very useful for a student wishing to explore more on this topic.

Mr Ben Yates
Department Education, Guildford College
January 13, 2025

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