Counting since 17.10.2005 <http://lipas.uwasa.fi/~ts/opas/intd/resgui.html> Copyright © 1995-2010 by Prof. Timo Salmi Last modified Fri 12-Mar-2010 09:09:16

Timo's Reviews of Research and Doctoral Dissertation Advice Guides

• Bell, Judith (1993). Doing your Research Project. A Guide for First-Time Researchers in Education and Social Science. 2nd ed. Open University Press, Buckingham, Philadelphia. (There are three chapters in this book that can be made recommended readings in this otherwise rather shallow research guide. They are the chapters on Questionnaires, Interviews and Observation studies. The other aspects of research work are covered much better by the alternative books in the list. The books is somewhat specific to educational research. There is some discussion of the different approaches to research, but the alternatives discussed are too much tied to educational research to be generally useful for a post-graduate student of business economics.)
   
  
• Blaxter, Loraine & Huges, Christina & Tight, Malcolm (1996). How to Research. Open University Press, Buckingham, Philadelphia. (Although the alphabetical order has this book high on the list it is yet another guide to research. Not a bad one, but certainly not in the forefront either. Best for additional readings on many tips on practical aspects. A lot of those small, practical details. Somewhat too simplistic. Most lacking in the overall research principles even if all the ingredients are there if one knows them. Slightly too much social sciences emphasis to for quantitatively oriented students of accounting and finance. Some useful, brief information and references to questionnaires.)
   
  
• Boufis, Christina & Olsen, Victoria C. (1997). On the market; surviving the academic job search. 381. Riverhead Books. New York. (A rather depressing collection of personal horror stories of the plight of academic job applicants with the less marketable Ph.D degrees in the U.S. While no doubt also having universal applicability, the stories, and especially the attitudes bear a strong North-American flavor. The emphasis on the pros and cons of affirmative action are present to such a degree that almost feels strange to an overseas reader. Problems can and do occur, but on the whole it is doubtful if the anguished stories garnered into this collection are productive. True, the stories coincide with the era of downsizing in academia. With the exception of the afterword, the practical advice is rather minimal and obvious: Take whatever comes along; Be prepared to relocate [in fact I have done that!]; Dress properly for an interview. To be honest, I was somewhat hesitant to include this reference to my list at all.)
   
  
• Choi, Kwan [ed.] (1998). How to Publish in Top Journals [online]. Under the auspices of Review of International Economics [Cited 12-Mar-2010]. Available from World Wide Web: <URL:http://www.moneyscience.com/Information_Base/How_to_Publish_in_Top_Journals.html>
   
  
• Creswell, John W. (1994). Research Design: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches. 228. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaksm London, New Delhi. (Useful for a student needing to understand the terminology of different research paradigms, and the differences and interactions between the quantitative and qualitative approaches.)
   
  
• Cryer, Pat (1996). The Research Student's Guide to Success. 221. Open University Press, Buckingham, Philadelphia. (Another guide like Blaxter, Huges and Tight giving detailed, but often simplistic practical advise for the research student. Can be used as additional, but not as main general readings for doctoral tutoring. The best, but rather specialized part of this book is at its outset when the books describes a internaltional students' settling-in problems, especially in Britain.)
   
  
• Davis, Gordon B. and Parker, Clyde A. (1997). Writing the Doctoral Dissertation. A Systematic Approach. Second Edition. 154. Barron's Educational Series, Inc. First book edition 1979. (The definitive number one guide to the doctoral dissertation management. The absolute must for every serious doctoral student whatever the student's field. I have a special personal attachment to this particular book, since I closely followed the systematic research project management advice of its predecessor when I wrote my own doctoral dissertation in 1973-1975.)
   
  
• Delamont, Sara & Atkinson, Paul & Parry, Odette (1997). Supervising the PhD. A guide to success. 209. Open University Press. (Unfortunately, I can't recommend this book. I have to consider it naive, full of counter-productive trivia, and outright misleading at times. The book gives too dismal a picture about the ability of the supervisors to give good guidance to doctoral students. One gets a feeling that the authors regard a significant number of professors as rank amateurs with little experience in supervising doctoral studies. It is difficult to say what exactly the reason for the negative undertone is, but it is possible that it is somehow particular to the British academia and its current difficulties. This guide is not the only guide by British authors that emphasizes the downside of post-graduate research studies and the hardships of coming to Britain to study. On the other hand, there are a couple of reasonably useful list in the book. On page 124 "Some practical suggestions for thesis writing" and starting from page 174 "Advice on getting published.)
   
  
• Eco, Umberto (1990). Oppineisuuden osoittaminen eli miten tutkielma tehdään. 2. painos. 202. Translated from Come si fa una tesi di laurea. Vastapano, Hämeenlinna. (A rather interesting view into studying classic literature. The potential of writing "politically aware" text as a scientific treatise feels rather strange to a researcher more inclined towards value-free natural sciences.)
   
  
• Feibelman, Peter J. (1993). A Ph.D. is not enough: A Guide to Survival in Science. 109. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts, Menlo Park, California etc. (Miraculously manages to squeeze a fairly interesting hundred pages out of one good idea in calculated science career planning.)
   
  
• Fisher, Colin & al. (2007). Researching and Writing a Dissertation: A Guidebook for Business Students. Second Edition. 359. Pearson Education, Prentice Hall. (The Introduction includes a useful, concise epistemological presentation of the different forms of management research and disagreements in them. Reflects the British scientific scene in business research and is thus rather broad in scope.)
   
  
• Ghauri, Pervez & Gronhaug, Kjell & Kristianslund, Ivar (1995). Research Methods in Business Studies; A Practical Guide. 162. Prentice Hall, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo and Singapore. [Second Edition 2002. 212] (A useful, but at places slightly lightweight Dutch and Norwegian joint effort. I can recommend this as supplementary readings for undergraduate business students. The book's weak side is its exposition of scientific thinking. For example the concepts of deduction and induction are presented controversially. On the other hand the "boxed" little blurbs throughout the book are a nice bonus. There also are a lot of instructive little details on e.g. research designs, validity threats, data collection and data sources, sampling, qualitative methods including the case study method, and statistical analysis of data.)
   
  
• Gill, John and Johnson, Bill (1991). Research Methods for Managers. 168. Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd, London. (A useful book on various methodological approaches to scientific research. Even granted that its examples come from the section of management research, it is of interest across disciplines. The authors advocate methodological pluralism between positivism (nomothetic methodology) and interpretative (ideographic) approaches. They discuss the pros and cons of the different approaches in different situations. The spirit is very commendable taken the sometimes overly aggressive views on 'alternative' methodologies. Besides, the authors emphasize a systematic outlook on topic and approach selection bringing home the point that no approach is except from scientific rigor. The book has fine sections on deduction and induction with popularized references to the philosophy of science. Furthermore, there are good general chapters for example on experimental design, quasi experiments, action research and survey research design. This book is suitable as recommended further readings for doctoral students.)
   
  
• Glatthorn, Allan A. (1998). Writing the Winning Dissertation. A Step-by-Step Guide. 228. Corwin Press, Inc., Thousand Oaks, California. (Another, useful managing and writing the doctoral dissertation, and why not a master's thesis, as well. Much familiar, but useful lore on writing, of course. Also contains advice to the whole process. Research types and methods are nicely brought up in a concise format and linked to each other, even if this aspect does go very deep. Can well be recommended to complement Davis and Parker in the respects of research type and writing tips.)
   
  
• Gothoni, Rene (1996). How to Survive in Academia. Helsinki University Press. Originally (1991) in Finnish: Oletko neuvoton. Lohdutuksen sanoja opinnäytteen laatijalle. Yliopistopaino. (An empathetic account and view into doing doctoral research.)
   
  
• Henderson, Scott & Peirson, Graham & Brown, Rob (1992). Financial Accounting Theory. Its Nature and Development. 381. 2nd ed. Longman Chesire, Malaysia. (Even if this book is primarily written for accounting studies the first part of the book "The Nature of Theory" is of general interest. It gives a concise, quick review of the inductivist interpretation, Popper's falsificationist interpretation, Kuhn's scientific revolution interpretation, Lakatos' research programme interpretation, and Feyerabend's epistemological anarchy. Also the next to the last chapter on Positive Accounting Theory, which also gives the outline of the agency theory, can be of some interest also outside the field of accounting research. The analysis in the last chapter about the reasons for the drift between accounting practitioners and academic accounting professionals is noteworthy and may apply to other fields as well.)
   
  
• Howard, Keith and Sharp, John A. (1983). The Management of a Student Research Project. 238. Gower, Cambridge, Great Britain. (I warmly recommend this guide as additional readings for a doctoral student after s/he has read the primary guides Davis & Parker, Sternberg, Phillips & Pugh, and Gill & Johnson. It overlaps by containing the very familiar elements of the need for a planned, systematic approach to the doctoral thesis, requirements on a thesis, topic selection, literature search, research execution, and presentation. In places the book is overly elaborate, even pedantic. The emphasis on using charts and network tools seem an overly elaborate. I would not suggest quite that rigid an approach to a doctoral student. But there are some useful detail tips throughout the elaborate parts like on the writing techniques. There also is genuine "value-added" compared to the other guides in the very useful chapters 5 and 6 on data analysis and gathering. At the very least read these two chapters giving a view into the statistical analysis in general terms. The background of the book is the English doctoral system.)
   
  
• Mayon-White, Bill (1990). Study Skills for Managers. 88. Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd, London. (A book written as a practical guide to study skills for managers participating in continuing education management courses. The target audience is not a limitation, however, since in my view the book is directly applicable also for undergraduate business students. Furthermore, some of the ideas might be found interesting by doctoral students. Even if the book is in many respects superficial and at times a bit naive, it can be recommended for a quick additional reading for students wishing to take their studies seriously in an organized way. As all such books do, also this one emphasizes the planning studying and taking the systematic approach. Some of the highlights of this particular book are time management study schedules, work space arrangements, a trivial presentation how our brains deal with information to help memorizing, diagrams as an aid to thinking and learning (the heavy emphasis on diagrams looks like a pet theme of the author), some observations on speed reading techniques, down-to-earth advice about writing reports and, finally, some thoughts about stress.)
   
  
• Metsämuuronen, Jari (2003). Tutkimuksen tekemisen perusteet ihmistieteissä. 772. International Methelp KY, Gummerus Kirjapaino Oy, Jyväskylä. (Extensively presents the methods is education research. Detailed information on various methodologies. Can be useful as an extra handbook for a Finnish student in other disciplines.)
   
  
• Patja, Kristiina & Huhtaniemi, Ilpo & Ikonen, Elina & Kontula, Kimmo (toim./eds) (1999). Kohti karonkaa: Neuvoja väitöskirjaa tekevälle. 283. Kustannus Oy Duodecim. An interesting doctoral dissertation advice collection in the field of medicine research written in Finnish. Suitable as additional readings for a Finnish doctoral student. A more complete evaluation written by yours truly can be found in Vaasan yliopistolehti, 1/2000, p. 17.
   
  
• Phillips, Estelle M. and Pugh, D. S. (1994). How to Get a PhD. A handbook for students and their supervisors. 203. 2nd edition, revised and updated. Open University Press, Buckingham, Philadelphia. (A good and thorough guide to the institutional process of doctoral research. Much familiar, time-proven, very applicable and practical, detailed advice. Useful chapter summaries for quick reading. Quite emphatic on the importance of deadlines. Very realistic about the pitfalls like the effect of taking a new outside job during the process. Stresses the importance of regular meetings with the supervisor and candid feedback about the student's work. An interesting and useful detail: The grid technique, i.e. half-line main-idea description of every page in the thesis as a means of check and preparation (pp. 140-). However, the guide also contains a few facets I am not completely comfortable with. First, in my view the guide is somewhat overoptimistic about the extent of the supervisors' capacity. This might partly be explained by the (consultative?) open university background of the authors. Second, the authors' recommendation of so readily officially claiming an abuse of minorities in (the British) academia in case of not getting one's views accepted could be destructively ill-advised when unfounded. The authors are against inter-university formalized doctoral programmes while I am for them. These are minor points, however. I highly recommend this guide to our beginning doctoral students.)
   
  
• Preece, Roy (1994). Starting Research. An Introduction to Academic Research and Dissertation Writing. 252. Continuum, London and New York. (While not sufficient as a stand-alone guide for accounting and finance students this book makes very good additional reading. It elaborates on central research concepts such as the role of theory, formulation of hypotheses and the usage of empirical data. On a more detailed level, there is much useful, semi-general information on various data gathering methods. All in all, this indeed will make good "required additional reading" for our students.)
   
  
• Ryan, Ryan, Bob & Scapens, Robert W. & Theobald, Michael (1992). Research Method and Methodology in Finance and Accounting. 208. Academic Press Inc., Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, London. [2nd ed. (2002) 243. Thomson.] (Starts with a discussion about the nature of knowledge and how it is acquired. Covers among other things empiricism vs. rationalism, realism vs. idealism, relativism vs. methodological rationalism, positivism and instrumentalism, prediction and explanation, Popper and falsificationism, the role of observations, and hermeneutics. Presents separately the research traditions in finance, management accounting, and financial accounting. Discusses methods of empirical research. Discusses methods of case study research and the problem of generalization. Presents and discusses publication policies. At the presents a long chapter the analysis of reasoning. Contrary to the other material in the book this chapter is too specialized to be of general value.)
   
  
• Salkind, Neil J. (2006). Exploring Research. Fourth Edition. 323. Prentice Hall, Inc., New Jersey. (A very well-written research guide best suited as further readings for a beginning but serious researcher. At parts the style is slightly simplified and patronizing, but that is not an actual disadvantage. The guide has been written for the field of educational and sociological research. This is reflected somewhat in the general description research principles and in particular in the chapters describing collecting the data for a research project. Nevertheless, the contents and the approach are of direct use and interest to any scientifically serious doctoral student. For example the advice on questionnaires and survey interviews is noteworthy. Likewise e.g. the chapter on experimental research. The chapters on statistics are valid, but maybe too elementary at places. The presentation of the various research approaches are very instructive, but the case study method is one rare instance where I somewhat disagree with the writer. There is much more to the case study method than what the author describes. The concluding chapters on writing a research proposal and writing up the research are standard, but usefully so.)
   
  
• Sauders, Mark & Philip Lewis & Adrian Thornhill (2007). Research Methods for Business Students. Fourth Edition. 624. Pearson Education, Prentice Hall.
   
  
• Sekaran, Uma (1992). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach. Second edition. 428. John Wiley & Sons, New York, Chichester etc. (An interesting treatise to scientific business consulting. Unfortunately, the author either passes or completely fails to understand the cumulative and interactive nature of theory building and empirical observations. But other than that this is a good, practical science book.)
   
  
• Sternberg, David (1981). How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation. 231. St. Martin's Press, New York. (An interesting and useful "cook-book" for doctoral students with much emphasis on the sociological aspects and personal consequences of thesis writing. Contains an instructive case account of the author's own doctoral thesis process. Strong and realistic on the stress caused by the doctoral process on one's private life. Something not to be trifled with.)
   
  
• Yin, Robert K. (1994). Case Study Research; Design and Methods. Second Edition. Applied Social Research Methods Series. Volume 5. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, London and New Delhi. (This is a excellent presentation of a systematic approach to case studies. The central theme is the analytic generalization versus statistical generalization. The chapters cover for case studies (A) Design, (B) Preparing Data Collection, (C) Collecting the Evidence, (D) Analyzing Evidence and (E) Composing the Case Study Report. The book is well presented even if there is just a very slight, understandable, but unnecessary defensiveness against sampling logic. The theme of the book is that case studies should be generalizable to theoretical propositions. In particular, the author emphasizes that using the case study method will not mean less requirements on rigor. According to the author, the five components of case studies are (1) a study's questions, (2) propositions, (3) units of analysis, (4) the logic linking data to the propositions and (5) the criteria for interpreting the findings. Research designs should be evaluated for (a) construct validity, (b) internal validity, (c) external validity and (d) reliability, here best interpreted as replicability.)
   
  
• Yin, Robert K. (1993). Applications of Case Study Research. Applied Social Research Methods Series. Volume 34. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, London and New Delhi. (A sequel to the author's research guide to case study research. Revisits the principles with examples of this approach. Naturally, the chapter on studying management information systems is of special interest for accounting students. Together with Yin's pervious book this is required reading for anyone considering the case study approach. The most important single parts of the book for the student probably are the chapters "Summary of Steps in Designing and Conducting Case Study Evaluations" and the "Summing Up". On the other hand, chapter 6 can safely be skipped.)