Managing Applied Social Research: Tools, Strategies, and Insights

THE ROAD MAP TO OPTIMIZING YOUR APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECTS WITH A PROJECT MANAGEMENT SKILLSET

Managing Applied Social Research gives applied social researchers a powerful framework for using project management concepts and tools to optimize the effectiveness and delivery of their applied social science research studies.

Applied social researchers don′t have the luxury of working in controlled labs, and often their research environments are messy, chaotic, and political, which makes even well–designed studies using high–quality data collection and analysis techniques inadequate for timely, focused results within budget. Brought together under the common goal to create a practical toolkit for managing people and resources at scale, the uniquely qualified author team offers a turnkey process for running any social research study with the most up–to–date thinking and techniques in project management.

Conveniently focused sections on planning, executing, and closing out a study present informative chapters offering:

Clear introductions and definitions to key concepts and systems Authoritative advice on practical implementation, including reliable estimates of the required time and resources Real–world examples, case studies, and vignettes illustrating how the framework is being used in the field Ready–to–use checklists, templates, samples, and other tools to streamline your mastery of this dependable methodology

Anticipate and prevent the problems threatening the success of your study with Managing Applied Social Research.

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List of Tables and Figures

About the Authors

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Section I: Overview

Chapter 1: Why Manage Applied Social Research Studies?

Chapter 2: A Bird s–Eye View of Project Management

Section II: Planning the Study: Deciding How to Conduct the Research Study

Chapter 3: Plan the Scope of the Research Study

Chapter 4: Plan the Data Collection and the Data Analysis

Chapter 5: Plan the Study s Work and the Research Schedule

Chapter 6: Plan the People

Chapter 7: Plan the Budget

Chapter 8: Plan How to Deal With the Risks

Section III: Executing the Study: Delivering the Goods

Chapter 9: Manage and Direct the Work

Chapter 10: Sustain the Team

Chapter 11: Consider the Worldviews

Chapter 12: Draft the Final Report

Section IV: Closing Out the Study: Bringing It Home

Chapter 13: Complete the Activities That End the Study

Chapter 14: Close Out the Study

 

Postscript: Renewing the Case for Research Management

Book References and Resources

Appendix A: List of Research Design and Management Tasks

Appendix B: Data–Sharing Agreement Example

Index

DARLENE F. RUSS–EFT, PHD, is Professor and Discipline Liaison of Adult Education and Higher Education in the College of Education at Oregon State University.

CATHERINE M. SLEEZER, PHD, works with Employee Training and Performance Improvement Specialists to consult on human resources.

GREGORY SAMPSON, PHD, is an educational researcher with a wide variety of professional experiences. He has worked on the design and execution of numerous high–stakes grants and contracts, as well as taught at several universities.

LAURA LEVITON, PHD, is Senior Advisor for Evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey.