Counseling and Educational Research: Evaluation and Application [Paperback]

Rick A. Houser (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1412956617 | ISBN-13: 978-1412956611 | Publication Date: November 19, 2008 | Edition: Second Edition

Fills a special niche for courses in counseling and educational research…

The Second Edition of Counseling and Educational Research: Evaluation and Application emphasizes the importance of being a good consumer of research and teaches the practitioner how to conduct research in practice. Author Rick Houser uses concrete examples from the professional literature to demonstrate how to effectively evaluate and interpret research articles. In order to give the reader a chance to see the evaluation of an article from beginning to end, this new edition uses several articles throughout the book to illustrate the methods of evaluation and interpretation rather than using different articles for each segment of an article.

New to the Second Edition

• Offers more material on qualitative research
• Includes a new chapter on statistical methods
• Provides a new chapter on mixed methods
• Incorporates a new chapter on searching articles in professional journals and searching various online databases
• Summarizes recent developments through a new chapter on evidence-based research
• Presents new articles to draw on for examples
• Gives ACA ethical guidelines and expanded coverage on program evaluation

Intended Audience
This book is specifically written for introductory courses in research methods at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels in the fields of counseling, social work, education, and psychology.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rick Houser is the Department Head in Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling at The University of Alabama. He has been professor, department chair, and Associate Dean in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts. Rick Houser has taught graduate level ethics courses for over 15 years. He received his doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in rehabilitation counseling with a minor in research methodology. He conducts research in ethical decision-making, stress and coping, and the use of virtual reality in counseling.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc; Second Edition edition (November 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1412956617
• ISBN-13: 978-1412956611
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent premise, but falls short, November 27, 2010

By 

K. DeVitto "Ceit" (New Bedford,MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Counseling and Educational Research: Evaluation and Application (Paperback)

I am trying to figure out the best way to explain and review this book. On one hand it's a good book because it has lots of information in it, but on the other hand it's not designed well. I had to read this book for a class that I am taking this semester.

Here are the issues I have with it.

Chapter 3 Basics of Statistical Methods

He shoves way too much information that should be handled in maybe two or three extensive chapters into 19 pages (p23-42). It's almost like putting 100lbs of something into 5lbs bag, something is going to break or get lost. This condensed thickly worded mess, is hard to read, is hard to understand, and very difficult to follow. This book is supposed to be for people who haven't taken statistics nor is going to be a researcher. I had to purchase a couple of other books on basic statistics to make sense of this chapter.

The book although rich with information is in need of a design make over. There are some spots I felt that he dictated and it was transcribed and never edited. For instance there is a paragraph that was 36 or 37 lines long that could have easily been broken up into several paragraphs, which could be read easier and could clear up the meaning.

I don't think he had a *learner* read the book, nor did he *test* the book to see if it could be useful. If he did have someone review the book, then the person did a horrible job at review.

I found the glossary to be poorly design and very hard to read (at first you don't even know it's a glossary.)
Because it was so hard to get through, without other references, my book looks like a warzone and will not be able to sell it.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best book ever, May 10, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Counseling and Educational Research: Evaluation and Application (Hardcover)

i thought this book an interesting and exciting book. i really liked this book because there are not many books that have this kind of information and i also thought that there was so much to learn in this book . there must have been alot of research on this book. i gave this book 5 stars because it covers all the topics you can ever think of. i found this book very useful and fun to read.