Research Foundations of Human Development and Family Science

Rezensionen / Stimmen

"Written in an accessible and thorough style, Dr. Kathleen Dyer's Research Foundations of HDFS is well suited for undergraduate and graduate students, practitioners, and family scientists in a variety of disciplines that seek to answer pressing research questions about human development, families, and interpersonal relationships. Dyer offers a truly interdisciplinary overview of the history and guiding epistemologies of family science, as well as the various approaches to research design utilized by family scientists. Using detailed practical examples, Dyer describes in a truly balanced way the strengths and goals of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches to the scientific study of human development and families. Highly recommended for methods, research design, and logic of inquiry courses in any field that centers the scientific understanding of family life!" Jennifer Randles, Professor of Sociology, California State University, Fresno

"Research Foundations of HDFS needed to be written and thankfully Dr. Dyer has fulfilled this mission. To my knowledge, this is the first research methods textbook written about HDFS by an HDFS-trained scholar. And, what a book she has written! Dr. Dyer lays out research methods, always with a focus on HDFS, in a most engaging manner. As I read through the book, I could not put it down, as the examples and case studies, in particular, are extremely interesting, engaging, timely, and informative. What makes this book so unique and special is her willingness to so clearly distinguish between sound science and pseudoscience, and her ability to show how damaging pseudoscience can be and has been so often in the past. This book should be required reading for all HDFS students, particularly undergraduates, although the book would also be useful for students from other disciplines as well." Mark Fine, HDFS, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

"This engaging book provides a creative, original, and witty foundation for understanding research methods in HDFS. It covers a wide range of methods in just the right amount of detail. Especially valuable are the chapters that guide students toward learning to distinguish valid research from pseudoscientific nonsense, a skill that is essential in our time. Students will learn from this book both how to do research and how to read research with a critical eye." Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Psychology, Clark University

"Sometimes what seems like common sense is actually common nonsense. In Research Foundations of HDFS, Kathleen Dyer teaches how to think critically, and think better. Her book is a smart and pleasing way to gain important scientific literacy." Elizabeth Loftus, Psychological Science & Criminology, University of California, Irvine