Qualitative Methods in Public Health

Qualitative Methods in Public Health
Author: Elizabeth E. Tolley
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2016-05-09
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 111883450X

Qualitative Methods in Public Health: A Field Guide for Applied Research, 2nd Edition provides a practical orientation to conducting effective qualitative research in the public health sphere. With thorough examination and simple explanations, this book guides you through the logic and workflow of qualitative approaches, with step-by-step guidance on every phase of the research. Students learn how to identify and make use of theoretical frameworks to guide your study, design the study to answer specific questions, and achieve their research goals. Data collection, analysis, and interpretation are given close attention as the backbone of a successful study, and expert insight on reporting and dissemination helps you get your work noticed. This second edition features new examples from global health, including case studies specifically illustrating study design, web and mobile technologies, mixed methods, and new innovations in information dissemination. Pedagogical tools have been added to help enhance your understanding of research design and implementation, and extensive appendices show you how these concepts work in practice. Qualitative research is a powerful tool for public health, but it's very easy to get it wrong. Careful study design and data management are critical, and it's important to resist drawing conclusions that the data cannot support. This book shows you how to conduct high-quality qualitative research that stands up to review.

Advanced Mean Field Methods

Advanced Mean Field Methods
Author: Manfred Opper
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2001
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780262150545

This book covers the theoretical foundations of advanced mean field methods, explores the relation between the different approaches, examines the quality of the approximation obtained, and demonstrates their application to various areas of probabilistic modeling. A major problem in modern probabilistic modeling is the huge computational complexity involved in typical calculations with multivariate probability distributions when the number of random variables is large. Because exact computations are infeasible in such cases and Monte Carlo sampling techniques may reach their limits, there is a need for methods that allow for efficient approximate computations. One of the simplest approximations is based on the mean field method, which has a long history in statistical physics. The method is widely used, particularly in the growing field of graphical models. Researchers from disciplines such as statistical physics, computer science, and mathematical statistics are studying ways to improve this and related methods and are exploring novel application areas. Leading approaches include the variational approach, which goes beyond factorizable distributions to achieve systematic improvements; the TAP (Thouless-Anderson-Palmer) approach, which incorporates correlations by including effective reaction terms in the mean field theory; and the more general methods of graphical models. Bringing together ideas and techniques from these diverse disciplines, this book covers the theoretical foundations of advanced mean field methods, explores the relation between the different approaches, examines the quality of the approximation obtained, and demonstrates their application to various areas of probabilistic modeling.

Collecting Qualitative Data

Collecting Qualitative Data
Author: Greg Guest
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2013
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1412986842

Provides a very practical and step-by-step guide to collecting and managing qualitative data,

An Applied Guide to Research Designs

An Applied Guide to Research Designs
Author: W. Alex Edmonds
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 311
Release: 2016-04-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1483317285

The Second Edition of An Applied Guide to Research Designs offers researchers in the social and behavioral sciences guidance for selecting the most appropriate research design to apply in their study. Using consistent terminology, the authors visually present a range of research designs used in quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to help readers conceptualize, construct, test, and problem solve in their investigation. The Second Edition features revamped and expanded coverage of research designs, new real-world examples and references, a new chapter on action research, and updated ancillaries.

Applied Thematic Analysis

Applied Thematic Analysis
Author: Greg Guest
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2012
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1412971675

This book provides step-by-step instructions on how to analyze text generated from in-depth interviews and focus groups, relating predominantly to applied qualitative studies. The book covers all aspects of the qualitative data analysis process, employing a phenomenological approach which has a primary aim of describing the experiences and perceptions of research participants. Similar to Grounded Theory, the authors' approach is inductive, content-driven, and searches for themes within textual data.

Field Methods in Archaeology

Field Methods in Archaeology
Author: Thomas R Hester
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 449
Release: 2016-09-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1315428407

Field Methods in Archaeology has been the leading source for instructors and students in archaeology courses and field schools for 60 years since it was first authored in 1949 by the legendary Robert Heizer. Left Coast has arranged to put the most recent Seventh Edition back into print after a brief hiatus, making this classic textbook again available to the next generation of archaeology students. This comprehensive guide provides an authoritative overview of the variety of methods used in field archaeology, from research design, to survey and excavation strategies, to conservation of artifacts and record-keeping. Authored by three leading archaeologists, with specialized contributions by several other experts, this volume deals with current issues such as cultural resource management, relations with indigenous peoples, and database management as well as standard methods of archaeological data collection and analysis.

Qualitative Methods in Public Health

Qualitative Methods in Public Health
Author: Priscilla R. Ulin
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2012-07-05
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1118429478

Qualitative Methods in Public Health is a comprehensive resource that presents practical strategies and methods for using qualitative research and includes the basic logic and rationale for making qualitative research decisions. This important book outlines the complexities, advantages, and limitations of qualitative methods and offers information and step-by-step procedures for every phase of research3⁄4from theory to study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, and dissemination. Written for faculty, students, and practitioners in public health research, promotion, and education Qualitative Methods in Public Health will help those with prior research experience expand their repertoire to include qualitative methods. The book also contains up-to-date illustrations from a wealth of topics such as reproductive choice, sexual risk and protection, gender relations, and other areas critical to understanding population, health, and disease. Qualitative Methods in Public Health includes Examples of mixed qualitative-quantitative research design Guidelines for discussions, sample budgets, and caveats for planning and implementing focus groups Sample agenda for training interviewers A summary of needed critical appraisal skills Tips on where to publish the results Sample brochure to share qualitative study findings with participating communities A comprehensive index

Applied Research Design

Applied Research Design
Author: Terry Elizabeth Hedrick
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 193
Release: 1993-01-11
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1506319440

"The Terry E. Hedrick, Leonard Bickman, and Debra J. Rog text provides a framework for designing research that is adaptable to almost any applied setting and constantly reiterates the need for establishing and maintaining credibility with the client at each level of the research process. Although the applied research book is a practical guide, suitable to accompany any thorough applied design textbook, it does a comprehensive job of presenting the distinction between basic and applied research. It introduces many topics found in the general methodology textbooks. This overlap will help students to feel comfortable in using the general skills in a more specific and complex manner." --Contemporary Psychology "For researchers needing to know how to plan and design applied research projects, Applied Research Design will be a most welcome publication. . . . The writing is clear and concise, graphics are utilized helpfully, and this book will be much appreciated by beginning social scientists who are serious but uncertain about the methodologies possible for doing applied research." --Academic Library Book Review Aimed at helping researchers and students make the transition from the classroom and the laboratory to the "real" world, the authors reveal pitfalls to avoid and strategies to undertake in order to overcome obstacles in the design and planning of applied research. Applied Research Design focuses on refining research questions when actual events force deviations from the original analysis. To accomplish this, the authors discuss how to study and monitor program implementation, statistical power analysis, and how to assess the human and material resources needed to conduct an applied research design to facilitate the management of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Appropriate for professionals and researchers who have had some previous exposure to research methods, this book will enable the development of research strategies that are credible, useful, and--more important--feasible.