The three-volume handbook features descriptions of many techniques that psychologists and others have developed to help them pursue a shared understanding of why humans think, feel, and behave the way they do.
 
At the broadest level, when choosing a method, researchers make decisions about what data or measurement techniques will best capture the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that interest them; what research design best fits the question that they want to answer; and what strategies for data analysis best match the characteristics of their design and measurements. The simplest choice for organizing the presentation of material is the temporal sequence in which they will make these decisions.
 
The earliest chapters in the handbook address the broadest questions related to research designs. These involve both (a) which research designs are most appropriate for which question; and (b) how to think about the ethicality and feasibility of the designs that address the question and the measures available.
 
Next, handbook chapters describe the types of data that psychologists most often collect and how to determine whether the measurement techniques are the best ones for the research purpose.
 
Later, the chapters return to issues of research design and present a panoply of options, further divided along more nuanced distinctions in their objectives. Chapters on techniques for data analysis follow, again with special attention to the fit between design, measurement, and analysis.
 
Finally, issues and choices to be considered when writing up research to share with the community of psychologists are discussed in the handbook's concluding chapters.

Harris Cooper, PhD, received his doctoral degree in social psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1976. From 1977 to 2003, he served on the faculty at the University of Missouri and currently serves as professor and chair in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
 
Dr. Cooper's research interests follow two paths: The first concerns research synthesis and research methodology. His book, Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis: A Step-by-Step Approach (2010) is in its fourth edition. He is the coeditor of the Handbook of Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis (2nd ed., 2009). In 2007, Dr. Cooper was the recipient of the Frederick Mosteller Award for Contributions to Research Synthesis Methodology given by the Campbell Collaboration. In 2008 he received the Ingram Olkin Award for Distinguished Lifetime Contribution to Research Synthesis from the Society for Research Synthesis Methodology.
 
In 2007–2008, Dr. Cooper chaired APA's committee that developed guidelines for information about research that should be included in manuscripts submitted to APA journals. He recently authored the book Reporting Research in Psychology: How to Meet Journal Article Reporting Standards (2011) published by APA. He is cocreator of the Study Design and Implementation Assessment Device, an instrument for assessing the correspondence between the design and conduct of social science research and its ability to draw inferences about causal relationships. In 2007, Dr. Cooper was appointed to membership on the National Academy of Sciences' Standing Committee on Social Science Evidence for Use: Improving the Quality and Utility of Social Science Research.
 
Dr. Cooper is also interested in the application of social and developmental psychology to education policy issues. In particular, he studies the relationship between time and learning. Whereas most people think of issues relating time to learning in terms of how time is spent in school (class time, instructional time, time-on task), Dr. Cooper's work zooms out from school time. He focuses on issues related to the school day and school calendar (extended school days and years, summer school, year-round calendars, summer learning loss) and academic-related contexts children find themselves in outside the school day (doing homework, afterschool programs, tutoring).
 
Dr. Cooper served as editor for the Psychological Bulletin from 2003 through mid-2009. He was chair of the APA Council of Editors in 2006 and was a member of the APA committee that revised the APA Publication Manual.1 Since 2009, he has served as the chief editorial advisor for APA's journal publishing program. In this role he assists the editors of APA's more than 30 journals and mediates disputes between editors and authors and between authors and authors.

Volume 1: Foundations, Planning, Measures, and Psychometrics
Editorial Board
About the Editor-in-Chief
Contributors
Series Preface
Introduction: Objectives of Psychological Research and Their Relations to Research Methods
Harris Cooper

I. Philosophical, Ethical, and Societal Underpinnings of Psychological Research
Section 1: Philosophical Issues for Research in Psychology
Perspectives on the Epistemological Bases for Qualitative Research
Carla Willig
Theories of Causation in Psychological Science
William R. Shadish and Kristynn J. Sullivan

Section 2: Ethical and Professional Considerations in Conducting Psychological Research
Ethics in Psychological Research: Guidelines and Regulations
Adam L. Fried
Ethics and Regulation of Research With Nonhuman Animals
Chana K. Akins and Sangeeta Panicker

Section 3: Cultural and Societal Issues in Conducting Psychological Research
Cross-Cultural Research Methods
David Matsumoto and Fons J. R. van de Vijver
Research With Underresearched Populations
Mark W. Roosa, George P. Knight, and Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor

II. Planning Research
Developing Testable and Important Research Questions
Frederick T. L. Leong, Neal Schmitt, and Brent J. Lyons
Accessing Relevant Literature
Hannah R. Rothstein
Obtaining and Evaluating Research Resources
Louis A. Penner, Terrance L. Albrecht, and John F. Dovidio
Psychological Measurement: Scaling and Analysis
Heather Hayes and Susan E. Embretson
Sample Size Planning
Ken Kelley and Scott E. Maxwell

III. Measurement Methods
Section 1: Behavior Observation
Behavioral Observation
Roger Bakeman and Vicenç Quera

Section 2: Self-Reports
Question Order Effects
Kenneth A. Rasinski, Lisa Lee, and Parvati Krishnamurty
Interviews and Interviewing Techniques
Anna Madill
Using Diary Methods in Psychological Research
Masumi Iida, Patrick E. Shrout, Jean-Philippe Laurenceau, and Niall Bolger
Automated Analysis of Essays and Open-Ended Verbal Responses
Arthur C. Graesser and Danielle S. McNamara

Section 3: Psychological Tests
The Current Status of "Projective" "Tests"
Robert E. McGrath and Elizabeth J. Carroll
Objective Tests as Instruments of Psychological Theory and Research
David Watson
Norm- and Criterion-Referenced Testing
Kurt F. Geisinger
Brief Instruments and Short Forms
Gregory T. Smith, Jessica L. Combs, and Carolyn M. Pearson

Section 4: Chronometric and Psychophysical Measures
Eye Movements and Cognitive Processes
Keith Rayner and Reinhold Kliegl
Response Time Distributions
Roger Ratcliff
Psychophysics
Paul T. Sowden

Section 5: Measures in Psychophysiology
Peripheral Physiological Measures of Psychological Constructs
Louis G. Tassinary, Ursula Hess, and Luis M. Carcoba
Hormone Assays
Oliver C. Schultheiss, Anja Schiepe-Tiska, and Maika Rawolle

Section 6: Measures in Neuroscience
Electroencephalographic Methods in Psychology
Eddie Harmon-Jones and David M. Amodio
Event-Related Potentials
Steven J. Luck
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Bianca C. Wittmann and Mark D'Esposito
Beyond ERP and fMRI: Other Imaging Techniques for Studying Human Brain Function
Gabriele Gratton and Monica Fabiani
Combined Neuroimaging Methods
Christian C. Ruff
Noninvasive Stimulation of the Cerebral Cortex in Social Neuroscience
Dennis J. L. G. Schutter

IV. Psychometrics
Construct Validity
Kevin J. Grimm and Keith F. Widaman
Reliability
Patrick E. Shrout and Sean P. Lane
Generalizability Theory
Xiaohong Gao and Deborah J. Harris
Item-Level Factor Analysis
Brian D. Stucky, Nisha C. Gottfredson, and A. T. Panter
An Introduction to Item Response Theory Models and Their Application in the Assessment of Noncognitive Traits
Steven P. Reise and Tyler M. Moore
Measuring Test Performance With Signal Detection Theory Techniques
Teresa A. Treat and Richard J. Viken

Volume 2: Research Designs: Quantitative, Qualitative, Neuropsychological, and Biological
Editorial Board

I. Qualitative Research Methods
Section 1: Overview of Qualitative Methods
Varieties of Qualitative Research: A Pragmatic Approach to Selecting Methods
Nancy Pistrang and Chris Barker
Metasynthesis of Qualitative Research
Margarete Sandelowski

Section 2: Thematic Approaches
Grounded Theory and Psychological Research
Antony Bryant and Kathy Charmaz
Thematic Analysis
Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Jonathan A. Smith and Pnina Shinebourne

Section 3: Narrative- and Language-Based Approaches
Narrative Analysis
Michael Bamberg
Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis
Paul ten Have
Discourse Analysis and Discursive Psychology
Jonathan Potter

Section 4: Multilayered Approaches
Case Study Methods
Robert K. Yin
Using Focused Ethnography in Psychological Research
Laura M. Simonds, Paul M. Camic, and Andrew Causey
Critical Participatory Action Research as Public Science
María Elena Torre, Michelle Fine, Brett G. Stoudt, and Madeline Fox
Visual Research in Psychology
Paula Reavey and Jon Prosser
Researching the Temporal
Karen Henwood and Fiona Shirani

II. Sampling Across People and Time
Introduction to Survey Sampling
Roger Tourangeau and Ting Yan
Epidemiology
Rumi Kato Price
Issues in Collecting Longitudinal Data
Emilio Ferrer and Kevin J. Grimm
Using the Internet to Collect Data
Ulf-Dietrich Reips

III. Building and Testing Models
Statistical Mediation Analysis
David P. MacKinnon, JeeWon Cheong, and Angela G. Pirlott
Path Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling With Latent Variables
Rick H. Hoyle
Mathematical Psychology
Trisha Van Zandt and James T. Townsend
Computational Modeling
Adele Diederich and Jerome R. Busemeyer
Bootstrapping and Monte Carlo Methods
William Howard Beasley and Joseph Lee Rodgers
Designing Simulation Studies
Xitao Fan
Bayesian Modeling for Psychologists: An Applied Approach
Fred M. Feinberg and Richard Gonzalez

IV. Designs Involving Experimental Manipulations
Section 1: Designs With Different Participant Assignment Mechanisms
Types of Designs Using Random Assignment
Larry Christensen
Nonequivalent Comparison Group Designs
Henry May
Regression-Discontinuity Designs
Charles S. Reichardt and Gary T. Henry

Section 2: Experimental Manipulations in Applied Settings
Treatment Validity for Intervention Studies
Dianne L. Chambless and Steven D. Hollon
Translational Research
Michael T. Bardo and Mary Ann Pentz
Program Evaluation: Outcomes and Costs of Putting Psychology to Work
Brian T. Yates

V. Quantitative Research Designs Involving Single Participants or Units
Single-Case Experimental Designs
Shireen L. Rizvi and Suzannah J. Ferraioli
Time-Series Designs
Richard McCleary and David McDowall

VI. Designs in Neuropsychology and Biological Psychology
Section 1: Neuropsychology
Case Studies in Neuropsychology
Randi C. Martin and Corinne Allen
Group Studies in Experimental Neuropsychology
Lesley K. Fellows

Section 2: Biological Psychology
Genetic Methods in Psychology
Karestan C. Koenen, Ananda B. Amstadter, and Nicole R. Nugent
Genetic Epidemiology
Lannie Ligthart and Dorret I. Boomsma

Volume 3: Data Analysis and Research Publication
Editorial Board

I. Quantitative Data Analysis
Section 1: Preparing Data for Analysis
Methods for Detecting Badly Behaved Data: Distributions, Linear Models, and Beyond
Robert Andersen
What to Do About Missing Values
Alan C. Acock
Exploratory Data Analysis
Paul F. Velleman and David C. Hoaglin

Section 2: Describing Data
Graphic Displays of Data
Leland Wilkinson
Estimating and Graphing Interactions
Leona S. Aiken, Stephen G. West, Maike Luhmann, Amanda Baraldi, and Stefany J. Coxe
Effect Size Estimation
Michael Borenstein
Measures of Clinically Significant Change
Michael J. Lambert and Russell J. Bailey

Section 3: Methods With Single Outcomes
Analysis of Variance and the General Linear Model
James Jaccard and Kim Daniloski
Generalized Linear Models
David Rindskopf
Taxometrics: Conceptual and Applied Aspects
William M. Grove and Scott I. Vrieze
Multilevel Modeling for Psychologists
John B. Nezlek

Section 4: Methods With Outcomes Measured Over Time
Longitudinal Data Analysis
Michael Windle
Event History Analysis
Fetene B. Tekle and Jeroen K. Vermunt
Latent State–Trait Models
Rolf Steyer, Christian Geiser, and Christiane Fiege
Latent Variable Modeling of Continuous Growth
David A. Cole and Jeffrey A. Ciesla
Dynamical Systems and Differential Equation Models of Change
Steven M. Boker
A Multivariate Growth Curve Model for Three-Level Data
Patrick J. Curran, James S. McGinley, Daniel Serrano, and Chelsea Burfeind

Section 5: Multivariate Methods
Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Keith F. Widaman
Latent Class and Latent Profile Models
Brian P. Flaherty and Cara J. Kiff
Exploratory Data Mining Using CART in the Behavioral Sciences
John J. McArdle

Section 6: Dyadic and Social Network Data
Using the Social Relations Model to Understand Interpersonal Perception and Behavior
P. Niels Christensen and Deborah A. Kashy
Dyadic Data Analysis
Richard Gonzalez and Dale Griffin
Social Network Research: The Foundation of Network Science
Stanley Wasserman and Garry Robins

Section 7: Using Data Collected by Others
Secondary Analysis and Archival Research: Using Data Collected by Others
David W. Stewart
Meta-Analysis
Jeffrey C. Valentine

II. Publishing and the Publication Process
Preparing a Manuscript for Publication
Karin Sternberg and Robert J. Sternberg
How to Publish Your Manuscript
Gary R. VandenBos
Index