Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers

Citation

Bell, J., Waters, S., & Johnson, H. (2024). Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers (8th ed.). Open University Press / McGraw Hill.

Chapter Summary

The eighth edition, published in July 2024, has fourteen chapters arranged in the order of a small research project: preparation and principles, then reading and the literature, then methods of collecting evidence, then analysis and writing. McGraw Hill's description says every chapter includes reflective questions to help readers apply the advice to their own work. It also lists self-reflection exercises, text boxes, key terms and a glossary among the features. According to the publisher, this edition updates coverage of digital research techniques, examines the nature of research and the roles researchers occupy, and expands the discussion of research methods.

Chapter 1: The Researcher and the Research Journey

The opening chapter sets the frame for the whole book: research as a journey, and the person doing it. The title pairs the researcher with the process, in line with the publisher's statement that this edition examines the nature of research and the roles researchers occupy.

Chapter 2: Approaches to Research

The broad approaches a first-time researcher can choose between. The publisher says the book covers a range of disciplines and methodologies so that readers can make an informed choice about what suits their project.

Chapter 3: Ethics and Integrity in Research

Ethics comes early, before any data collection, as a condition of planning a project rather than a formality at the end.

Chapters 4–6: Reading, Referencing and the Management of Information; Literature Searching; The Review of the Literature

Three chapters on the literature, in a logical order: managing what is read and keeping references, searching for relevant sources, and writing the literature review itself.

Chapter 7: The Analysis of Documentary Evidence

Documents as a source of evidence in their own right, treated before the methods that generate new data.

Chapter 8: Using Social Media in Research

A chapter on social media as a research tool and setting, part of the digital research techniques the publisher says have been updated in this edition.

Chapters 9–12: Designing and Administering Questionnaires; Planning and Conducting Interviews; Diaries, Logs, Critical Incidents and Blogs; Observation

The four core methods chapters. Questionnaires and interviews have a chapter each. A separate chapter collects participant records such as diaries, logs, accounts of critical incidents and blogs, and observation closes the group.

Chapter 13: Interpreting the Evidence and Reporting the Findings

How to make sense of the evidence collected and present what was found.

Chapter 14: Writing the Report

The final stage: writing up the project as a report.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–3

• The research journey: a project seen as a sequence of stages, from first idea to finished report.
• Approaches to research: the broad strategies a researcher chooses between before selecting methods.
• Ethics and integrity: the principles that govern how research is planned and carried out.

Chapters 4–8

• Managing information and referencing: keeping track of sources from the start.
• Literature searching and review: finding relevant work and writing a critical account of it.
• Documentary evidence: documents analysed as data.
• Social media in research: online platforms as sources of data and means of collecting it.

Chapters 9–14

• Questionnaires, interviews and observation: the main methods of collecting new evidence.
• Diaries, logs and critical incidents: records kept by participants.
• Interpreting and reporting: moving from evidence to findings and a written report.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Built around the student's project. The chapter order follows what a first-time researcher actually does. A student can read the relevant chapter at each stage of a dissertation or assignment.
• Reflective and practical. Each chapter includes reflective questions applying the advice to the reader's own work, and the publisher lists self-reflection exercises, key terms and a glossary. An endorsement from Christina Cooper (Northumbria University) on the publisher's page describes the book as combining theory and practical skills with case studies, examples and reflections in an easy-to-read form.
• Attention to newer sources. A whole chapter on social media and a chapter that includes blogs reflect the publisher's stated updating of digital research techniques. Steven Gascoigne (University of Warwick), also quoted by the publisher, says the edition keeps the structure and tone of earlier editions while bringing the text and examples up to date.
• Short chapters on specific tasks. Literature work is split into three chapters, and data collection into five, so each can be assigned on its own.

Limitations

• Limited treatment of analysis. Interpretation and reporting share one chapter. There is no chapter on statistical analysis or on systematic qualitative coding, so students whose projects rely on either will need a further text.
• Small-scale methods. The methods chapters cover questionnaires, interviews, participant records, observation and documents. Experimental and quasi-experimental designs, and larger mixed-methods designs, are not given chapters of their own.
• A first book, not a methods textbook. The title and publisher's description aim it at first-time researchers. Readers who need the philosophy of research or detailed design choices should move on to fuller textbooks.

Where It Fits in the Course

Bell, Waters and Johnson is one of two short first guides in the educational research methods course. The other is Gary Thomas's How to Do Your Research Project, also written for undergraduate and master's students in education and the social sciences and also organised as the stages of a real project. Students usually need only one of the two; either can be read first, and the other can serve as a second view on a difficult stage, such as the literature review.

The other books in the course go further in particular directions. Creswell and Guetterman's Educational Research is a step-by-step textbook that covers quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods designs in one framework and uses annotated published studies. It is the natural next step for a student who needs fuller design and analysis. Cohen, Manion and Morrison's Research Methods in Education is a large reference work covering the philosophy of research, design, instruments and analysis. Tisdell, Merriam and Stuckey-Peyrot's Qualitative Research is a graduate-level guide to qualitative design. Murnane and Willett's Methods Matter is a graduate text on causal questions and experimental and quasi-experimental designs, the area this book leaves out.

How to Use This Book

The book is meant for anyone doing a small research project for the first time: undergraduates writing a dissertation, master's students, and teachers or other professionals carrying out a workplace enquiry. No previous knowledge of research methods is assumed.

• Before starting: read Chapters 1–3 in order. Draft a research question and consider its ethics before planning data collection.
• Literature phase: set up a referencing system from Chapter 4 on the first day. Then use Chapters 5–6 while searching and writing the literature review.
• Choosing methods: read Chapter 2 again alongside the methods chapters, but study closely only the one or two methods the project will use (Chapters 7–12). Skim the others so the choice is an informed one.
• Finishing: read Chapters 13–14 before data collection ends, so analysis and writing are planned rather than improvised.

Answer the reflective questions about your own project rather than reading past them; they are the book's main exercise. Pilot any questionnaire or interview schedule before using it. Check your institution's ethics procedures against Chapter 3. If the project involves statistics or substantial qualitative coding, add a chapter from a fuller textbook in the course.