New Trials: Sage Research Methods resources

I am pleased to announce that the SFU Library is currently running trials of three Sage Research Methods resources.

Sage Research Methods Cases: SAGE Research Methods Cases are stories of how real research projects were conducted. The collection provides more than 1100 case studies, showing the challenges and successes of doing research, written by the researchers themselves. They explain why the researchers chose the methods they did, how they overcame problems in their research and what they might have done differently with hindsight: the realities of research that are missing from journal articles and textbooks. Cases are peer-reviewed and come with pedagogical tools including learning objectives and discussions questions. They can be used as a teaching tool to demonstrate a particular method and how it is applied in real research, or as inspiration to students who are preparing for their own research project. 

• Examples: "A Participatory Research Approach: Designing Research with Vulnerable Women," "A Mixed-Methods Approach to Occupational Commitment in Student Nurses"

Sage Research Methods Datasets: SAGE Research Methods Datasets is a collection of teaching datasets and instructional guides that give students a chance to learn data analysis by practicing themselves. This bank of topical, engaging practice datasets, indexed by method and data type, are optimized to use in classroom exercises or in exam papers, saving faculty members hours spent sourcing and cleaning data themselves. The decisions researchers make when analyzing data can seem like a black box for students—through practicing analysis using real data from SAGE Research Methods Datasets, students can see how analytic decisions are made, helping them to become confident researchers. 

• Examples: "Multiple Regression and the Race Implicit Attitudes Test (2012): Political Ideology and Racial Attitudes," "Paired Samples T-test and the Time Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences (2010): Attitudes to Immigration in the USA"

Sage Research Methods Videos: SAGE Research Methods Video contains more than 125 hours of video, including tutorials, case study videos, expert interviews, and more, covering the entire research methods and statistics curriculum. The videos can help to bring methods to life: instead of reading about how to conduct a focus group, students can watch one in action. Stimulate class discussions by assigning videos for pre-class viewing, or use a clip in class to provide an alternative viewpoint. Videos can also be embedded into course management systems for exam preparation. Through these videos, 60% of which are exclusive to SAGE, students can find extra help and support to guide them through every step of their research project and succeed in their research methods course. 

• Examples: "Am I The Only One Struggling To Write A Literature Review?", "An Introduction to Using Photographs in Research," "Mixed Methods: Exploring the Role of Emotions in Urban Behavior"

These trials can be accessed here, and will last until November 30, 2017. Please send your feedback to: sfulibrary-trials@sfu.ca