Social work, Social care and Community Studies

Before you begin a research project, you may want to build your understanding about the research process.

The follow books will help introduce you to research methodologies within health and social care. You can start with:

• the basics of research methodology
• conducting good quality research
• ethics
• effective research techniques 
• interpreting your findings.  

In the 'Exploring Research Methodology' section are a couple of really good resources covering all aspects of research methodology in Health and Social Care. There are also a couple of useful glossaries of terms used in Healthcare research that are a good introduction to some of the terminology you will hear and read about.

Developing an understanding of research methods is important.

We need to build our understanding of what specific research terms mean because you will be reading about these methods and approaches within academic literature. The development of our understanding will help improve our comprehension and grasp of the research approach being applied within the research we are reading about.

This knowledge also comes in very useful when you need to analyse research or decide on your ow research approach when designing projects or planning your dissertation.

Here are some fantastic resources to help you find definitions and research methods applied in a range of case studies as well as books on specific research methods.

Sage Research - methods map and project planner

Within Sage Research are two incredibly useful tools:

• the methods map which allows you to read definitions of key terminology, and discover content relevant to your research project.
• the project planner to help you plan your project.

Both are available on the database home page after login.

Here are a range of sources you can use to look up research terms.

Using a glossary of terms will provide you with a good introduction to some of the terminology you will hear and read about.