About the Book
This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition comprises of 24 chapters and each chapter is further divided into sections of specific units. Considering the demand of the readers, following four new chapters have been added:
• Units and Numbers considering the necessity of adopting only SI units in scientific measurements.
• Guidelines for Successful Lecturing for those who would like to pursue a career in teaching.
• Note making, Note-taking and Assignments to boost the learning outcomes for students.
• Plagiarism: Prevention and Cure to warn about the perils of plagiarism and the corrective steps.
Other chapters have been restructured with addition of new materials. By splitting the chapter on "Approaches to Research", a new chapter "Major Research Methods" has been added with more inputs on the section, participatory learning and action. The chapter "Information Sources" has been split into two, "Publications and the Library" and "Academic Databases" that has been rewritten by deleting some non-functional databases and adding several useful ones with the latest trends and web links. Similarly, the chapter on "Scientific Writing: improve your writing skills" has been split into three with additional information. The chapter on "Preparation of Thesis and Research papers" has been split into two, devoting a chapter entirely for thesis writing. The chapter on "References: How to cite and list correctly" has been restructured by adding new trends in referencing with several new examples.
With the restructured and additional contents, the reader will find the book more informative and useful.
Contents
1. Research: The Search for Knowledge
2. Philosophy of Research
3. Approaches to Research
4. Major Research Methods
5. Experimental Research
6. Collection and Analysis of Data
7. Planning and Writing a Research Proposal
8. Publications and the Library
9. Academic Databases
10. The Literature Review
11. Preparation of Research Papers and Other Articles
12. The Structure of a Thesis
13. Tables and Illustrations
14. Reasoning in Research
15. References: How To Cite and List Correctly
16. Improve Your Writing Skills
17. Use Appropriate Words and Phrases
18. Punctuation Marks and Abbreviations
19. Units and Numbers
20. Conference Presentations and Posters
21. Guidelines for Successful Lecturing
22. Note Taking, Note Making, and Assignments
23. Ethics and Related Issues in Research
24. Plagiarism: Prevention and Cure
Index
About the Author
Dr. C. George Thomas is Professor and Head in the Department of Agronomy, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur. Currently, he holds the post of Associate Dean, College of Horticulture as well. He has more than 34 years of experience in teaching, research, and guiding students. Dr. Thomas obtained MSc (Ag) from Kerala Agricultural University and PhD from Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. A renowned science writer, Dr. Thomas has authored 16 books, 90 research papers, and over 250 other articles. He is a recipient of the Karshaka Bharati award of Govt. of Kerala for his contributions towards farm journalism.
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