Table of Contents
List of figures ix
List of photocopiables x
About the author xi
Acknowledgements xii
Note to students (and tutors) xiii
Introduction 1
Research: important or just interesting? 1
Research and you 1
Education: a research-based profession? 2
Why this book? 3
Structures and contents 4
Features 7
Time to start 8
Section 1 Learning About Research 9
1 Research, 'paradigms' and ethics 11
What is research? 11
Categorizing research 13
Choosing your type of research 16
'Paradigms' 18
Ethics 21
Let's move on 23
2 The process of doing research 25
Your project 25
1 Planning 25
2 Doing 28
3 Analysing 29
4 Writing up 29
Doing your project well 31
Give it a try 36
3 Learning from other research 37
The task 37
1 Find an example of published research relating to education 38
2 Read your chosen research article carefully, annotating the text 40
3 Answer the questions 40
Case study 41
And now to your own project... 43
Section 2 Doing Research 45
4 Choosing your topic 47
Choosing a topic 47
1 Thinking about education 48
2 Investigating further 49
3 Justifying your choice 50
4 Narrowing down 52
A warning about 'cause and effect' 54
Further considerations 56
Your title 61
Ready to progress 62
5 Research questions 65
What are research questions? 65
What makes 'good' research questions? 67
Where to start? 69
A suggested framework 69
Other kinds of research questions 73
Some further characteristics 74
Thinking about the project as a whole 76
Development 77
Looking ahead 78
6 Literature review 79
Literature about your topic 79
The literature review 80
1 Identify relevant literature 81
2 Find the literature 83
3 Read and analyse it 89
4 Structure your literature review 93
5 Work on content 95
6 Start writing! 98
7 Choosing your methods 101
Methods and data 101
1 Questionnaires 102
2 Interviews 104
3 Observation 106
4 Document analysis 107
5 Testing 109
6 Other methods 109
Choosing your methods 110
'Sampling' 112
8 Designing your research instruments 117
Research instruments (and ethics) 117
Designing questionnaires 118
Designing interviews 123
Designing observations 127
Preparing for document analysis 130
Designing tests 130
In what order do I use my methods? 130
Well on your way 130
9 Validity, reliability and ethical approval 132
Threats to objectivity 132
Validity and reliability 134
Strengthening validity and reliability 137
Ethical approval 139
Informed consent 140
Dealing with sensitive and difficult data 142
Researching with children and other vulnerable groups 144
Your research brief 146
Ready to go 147
10 Carrying out your investigation 148
Choosing your venue 148
Your conduct as a researcher 'in the field' 152
Section 3 Analysing and Writing Up 159
11 Analysing data and producing your findings 161
Analysis 161
Analysing quantitative data 162
Analysing qualitative data 168
Producing your findings 173
1 Determine your findings 173
2 Discuss your findings 174
3 Draw up conclusions 175
4 Produce recommendations 175
End of a journey? 177
12 Writing up your project 178
First tasks 178
Project framework 179
Academic writing 184
Referencing 186
Writing well 189
Conclusion 196
Viva? 196
Saying thank you 197
Dissemination 198
Learning from your research 199
References 200
Appendix I Project Sheets 204
Project Sheet 1: Learning from other research (Chapter 3) 205
Project Sheet 2: Research topic (Chapter 4) 206
Project Sheet 3: Topic checklist (Chapter 4) 207
Project Sheet 4: Research questions (Chapter 5) 208
Project Sheet 5: Research question checklist (Chapter 5) 209
Project Sheet 6: Identify relevant literature (Chapter 6) 210
Project Sheet 7: A structure for your literature review (Chapter 6) 211
Project Sheet 8: Choosing methods (Chapter 7) 212
Project Sheet 9: Designing a questionnaire (Chapter 8) 213
Project Sheet 10: Interview framework (Chapter 8) 214
Project Sheet 11: Observation framework (Chapter 8) 215
Project Sheet 12: Validity and reliability (Chapter 9) 216
Project Sheet 13: Ethics checklist (Chapter 9) 217
Project Sheet 14: Research brief (Chapter 9) 218
Appendix II Activity answers 219
Appendix III Glossary 224
Index 229
