Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice


Peter G. Northouse - 2008
    The book examines one quality of leadership per chapter, enabling students to apply concepts and skills to their leadership development. It provides self-assessment questionnaires, observational exercises, and reflection and action worksheets in each chapter. A new chapter on handling conflict has been added to the Second Edition, giving a multi-faceted view of conflict and methods for resolving conflict in leadership situations. Case studies have been added to the end of each chapter, including more global examples, and followed by questions to stimulate class discussion.

Making Social Science Matter: Why Social Inquiry Fails and How It Can Succeed Again


Bent Flyvbjerg - 1997
    Why has social science failed in attempts to emulate natural science and produce normal theory? Bent Flyvbjerg argues that the strength of social science is in its rich, reflexive analysis of values and power, essential to the social and economic development of any society. Richly informed, powerfully argued, and clearly written, this book provides essential reading for all those in the social and behavioral sciences.

Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before


Jean M. Twenge - 2006
    In this provocative new book, headline-making psychologist and social commentator Dr. Jean Twenge explores why the young people she calls "Generation Me" -- those born in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s -- are tolerant, confident, open-minded, and ambitious but also cynical, depressed, lonely, and anxious.Herself a member of Generation Me, Dr. Twenge uses findings from the largest intergenerational research study ever conducted -- with data from 1.3 million respondents spanning six decades -- to reveal how profoundly different today's young adults are. Here are the often shocking truths about this generation, including dramatic differences in sexual behavior, as well as controversial predictions about what the future holds for them and society as a whole. Her often humorous, eyebrow-raising stories about real people vividly bring to life the hopes and dreams, disappointments and challenges of Generation Me.GenMe has created a profound shift in the American character, changing what it means to be an individual in today's society. The collision of this generation's entitled self-focus and today's competitive marketplace will create one of the most daunting challenges of the new century. Engaging, controversial, prescriptive, funny, "Generation Me" will give Boomers new insight into their offspring, and help those in their teens, 20s, and 30s finally make sense of themselves and their goals and find their road to happiness.

How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers


Sönke Ahrens - 2017
    This book helps students, academics and nonfiction writers to get more done, write intelligent texts and learn for the long run. It teaches you how to take smart notes and ensure they bring you and your projects forward. The Take Smart Notes principle is based on established psychological insight and draws from a tried and tested note-taking-technique. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. It suits students and academics in the social sciences and humanities, nonfiction writers and others who are in the business of reading, thinking and writing. Instead of wasting your time searching for notes, quotes or references, you can focus on what really counts: thinking, understanding and developing new ideas in writing. It does not matter if you prefer taking notes with pen and paper or on a computer, be it Windows, Mac or Linux. And you can start right away.

Succeeding with Your Master's Dissertation: A Step-By-Step Handbook


John Biggam - 2008
     Using case examples of both good and bad student practice, the handbook takes students through each step of the dissertation process, from their initial research proposal to the final submission. The author uses clear illustrations of what students need to do - or not do - to reach their potential, helping them to avoid the most common pitfalls. This essential handbook covers: Producing focused and relevant research objectives Writing your literature review Citing your sources correctly Clearly explaining your use of research methods Writing up your findings Summarizing your work by linking your conclusions to your initial proposal Understanding marking schemes Aimed primarily at Master's students or students on short postgraduate courses in business, humanities and the social sciences, this book is also key reading for supervisors and undergraduates considering postgraduate study.

Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life


William Deresiewicz - 2014
    His students, some of the nation’s brightest minds, were adrift when it came to the big questions: how to think critically and creatively, and how to find a sense of purpose.Excellent Sheep takes a sharp look at the high-pressure conveyor belt that begins with parents and counselors who demand perfect grades and culminates in the skewed applications Deresiewicz saw firsthand as a member of Yale’s admissions committee. As schools shift focus from the humanities to "practical" subjects like economics and computer science, students are losing the ability to think in innovative ways. Deresiewicz explains how college should be a time for self-discovery, when students can establish their own values and measures of success, so they can forge their own path. He addresses parents, students, educators, and anyone who's interested in the direction of American society, featuring quotes from real students and graduates he has corresponded with over the years, candidly exposing where the system is broken and clearly presenting solutions.

Ethnography: Principles and Practice


Martyn Hammersley - 1983
    Thoroughly updated, this accessible introduction to the methods of ethnographic fieldwork reconsiders the status of ethnography and places it quite explicitly in a general methodological context.

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century


Henry Jenkins - 2009
    A growing body of scholarship suggests potential benefits of these activities, including opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, development of skills useful in the modern workplace, and a more empowered conception of citizenship. Some argue that young people pick up these key skills and competencies on their own by interacting with popular culture; but the problems of unequal access, lack of media transparency, and the breakdown of traditional forms of socialization and professional training suggest a role for policy and pedagogical intervention.This report aims to shift the conversation about the digital divide from questions about access to technology to questions about access to opportunities for involvement in participatory culture and how to provide all young people with the chance to develop the cultural competencies and social skills needed. Fostering these skills, the authors argue, requires a systemic approach to media education; schools, afterschool programs, and parents all have distinctive roles to play.The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning

Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers in Education, Health and Social Science


Judith Bell - 1987
    Research can be daunting, particularly for first-timers, but this indispensable book provides everything you need to know to prepare for research, draft and finalise a methodologically sound and well-written report or thesis, plus it warns you of potential pitfalls to prevent you wasting time on false trails.This new edition of "Doing Your Research Project" has been thoroughly updated and includes: Wider coverage of research ethics Clear guidelines on the differences between different types of research project New coverage of "Research diaries" New sources in further reading plus more information on internet research and the use of electronic resources Coverage of the latest information on plagiarism More examples to highlight key issues This bestselling book is an essential resource to help establish good practice for beginner researchers embarking on undergraduate or postgraduate study, and for professionals in such fields as social science, education, and health.

Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter


George D. Kuh - 2005
    This book clearly shows the benefits of student learning and educational effectiveness that can be realized when these conditions are present. Based on the Documenting Effective Educational Practice (DEEP) project from the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University, this book provides concrete examples from twenty institutions that other colleges and universities can learn from and adapt to help create a success-oriented campus culture and learning environment.

Career Paths in Psychology: Where Your Degree Can Take You


Robert J. Sternberg - 1997
    In this comprehensive anthology, authors selected for their distinction in their chosen careers offer their professional - and personal - perspectives on 19 different graduate-level careers in psychology. Few fields of study offer more career opportunities than does psychology, and readers will find thoughtful discussions, leavened with tips and insights gained from personal experience, on the full range, including (to name only a few) academia, clinical psychology, health and school psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and government service. Each chapter discusses the nature of the career, its advantages and disadvantages, how to prepare for it, typical activities, ranges of financial compensation, opportunities for employment, and the personal attributes needed for success in the career. realities, challenges, and rewards of each career that the lab or lecture hall rarely provides. Reprinted eight times since the publication of the first edition in 1997, Career Paths in Psychology is recognized as the go-to sourcebook for anyone seeking a candid portrait of different careers in this ever-changing field. The second edition has been expanded (discussions of five new careers added) and updated to reflect current trends and changes in the field.

Misreading Masculinity: Boys, Literacy, and Popular Culture


Thomas Newkirk - 2002
    This complex, contested intersection has led to censorship and worse-alarm, irrationality, and a failure to examine our ways of teaching, particularly teaching literacy to boys. In this book Tom Newkirk takes an up-close and personal look at elementary boys and their relationship to sports, movies, video games, and other venues of popular culture. Unlike the alarmists, he sees these media not as enemies of literacy, but as resources for literacy.Through a series of extraordinary interviews, Newkirk listens to young boys, and girls, who describe the pleasure they take in popular culture. They explain the ways in which they use visual narratives in their writing. They even defend their use of violence in their work. Newkirk disproves the simplistic stereotype of boys who are primed to imitate the violence they see. He shows that, rather than mimic, boys most often transform, recombine, and participate in story lines, and resist, mock, and discern the unreality of icons of popular culture.Using a mixture of memoir, research project, cultural analysis, and critique of published findings, Newkirk encourages schools to ask questions about what counts as literacy in boys and what doesn't, to allow in their literacy programs boys' diverse tastes, values, and learning styles. In other words, if we want boys to join the literacy club, then we have to invite them in with genres of their own choosing.

Metaphors We Live By


George Lakoff - 1980
    Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are "metaphors we live by", metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them.In this updated edition of Lakoff and Johnson's influential book, the authors supply an afterword surveying how their theory of metaphor has developed within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how we think and how we express our thoughts in language.

Style: Toward Clarity and Grace


Joseph M. Williams - 1981
    A logical, expert, easy-to-use plan for achieving excellence in expression, Style offers neither simplistic rules nor endless lists of dos and don'ts. Rather, Joseph Williams explains how to be concise, how to be focused, how to be organized. Filled with realistic examples of good, bad, and better writing, and step-by-step strategies for crafting a sentence or organizing a paragraph, Style does much more than teach mechanics: it helps anyone who must write clearly and persuasively transform even the roughest of drafts into a polished work of clarity, coherence, impact, and personality."Buy Williams's book. And dig out from storage your dog-eared old copy of The Elements of Style. Set them side by side on your reference shelf."—Barbara Walraff, Atlantic"Let newcoming writers discover this, and let their teachers and readers rejoice. It is a practical, disciplined text that is also a pleasure to read."—Christian Century"An excellent book....It provides a sensible, well-balanced approach, featuring prescriptions that work."—Donald Karzenski, Journal of Business Communication"Intensive fitness training for the expressive mind."—Booklist(The college textbook version, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 9th edition, is available from Longman. ISBN 9780321479358.)

Even a Geek Can Speak: Low-Tech Presentation Skills for High-Tech People


Joey Asher - 2001
    But it's not cool to talk like a geek. Even a Geek Can Speak shows anyone how to express complex ideas in ways that are simple, that connect with listeners, and that persuade. Focusing Your Message: One internet security executive won over non-technical business owners by focusing on the importance of internet security to the business world. Result: Listeners said - I'm buying that stock.Keeping it Simple: A software consultant steered clear of the technical details when pitching to a CEO and focused on three key points: saving money, security and competitiveness. Result: He won the business.Telling Stories: A telecommunications saleswoman spoke to a users' group and illustrated her points with stories, rather than dwelling too much in detail. Result: A jump in new orders.Not Looking Like a Geek: An internet executive learned to connect with his audience merely by energizing his voice. Result: He received praise unlike any he'd received before.