- 683 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Research Methods for Education, second edition
About This Book
Research Methods for Education, Second Edition takes the student by the hand and guides them through the complex subject of research methods in an engaging, witty and clear way. The book covers the philosophical approaches and epistemology, as well as the practical aspects of research, such as designing questionnaires and presenting conclusions.
Each chapter is split into 'Context' and 'Practice' and both sections are packed with exercises, examples and comparative international material from other educational contexts, Peter Newby's book is the student-friendly text which demystifies the research process with clarity and verve.
Key features:
-written in a clear and friendly manner to help students feel more confident dealing with the complexities of research and particularly useful for those new to research or less confident with numbers
-a mixed methods approach, which doesn't simply prioritise quantitative or qualitative methods, allowing for greatest possible coverage
contains guidance on analytic procedures that require more advanced tools such as SPSS and Minitab
-many excellent international examples and case studies specifically from education, which breaks away from a parochial focus on UK education system.
Frequently asked questions
Information
Part 1 The Context for Your Research
- It is possible to omit much of Part 1 and go on to Parts 2 and 3, which deal with the more technical aspects of research data collection and analysis. But do note, there will be times when it will be necessary to return to Part 1 in order to understand fully why certain things should be done in a certain way and why some approaches and techniques should be used only in specific circumstances.
- If this is your first introduction to research methods, the discussion and explanations are still within your grasp, especially if they are supported by the guidance of a tutor and class discussions.
Chapter 1 Research: A Messy Business
Chapter contents
- Learning themes
- Introduction: Putting the text in perspective
- 1.1 What do you put first?
- 1.2 Who is this text for?
- (i) If you are starting your research journey
- (ii) If you are preparing a research project
- (iii) If you are a lecturer or supervisor
- (iv) Professional and academic researchers
- 1.3 Why do we do educational research?
- (i) To explore issues
- (ii) To shape policy
- (iii) To improve practice
- 1.4 Who are the educational researchers?
- 1.5 What are the objectives of educational research?
- (i) Find something out
- (ii) Convince others
- 1.6 Some guidelines on research
- (i) Don't get into a research rut
- (ii) Audit your resources
- (iii) Appreciate that things can go wrong
- (iv) Understand the enquiry process
- (v) Appreciate the research progression
- (vi) Understand how to allocate time
- 1.7 Finally, some things we ought to know about educational research before we start
- (i) Research into education is highly political
- (ii) Doing education research can make you enemies
- (iii) Be careful how you read āresearch'
- (iv) Striving to be neutral
- (v) Research and changing the face of education
- (vi) Research into education is fulfilling
- 1.8 Is research a messy business?
- Summary
- Further reading
- References
- Learn how this text can meet your needs, whatever stage you are at in your research development.
- Why people undertake education research.
- The character of the research community in education.
- How to be successful in education research.
- Educational research is highly contested.
- Understand how this text meets your needs and how you can use it.
- Appreciate the character of educational research, its broad goals and objectives and be able to use these to stimulate your own research thinking.
- Be able to think in advance of what you should do to minimise the risk of your research programme being derailed.
1.1 What do you put first?
1.2 Who is this text for?
- First, real world research is not necessarily clear cut and well structured. It is important that you develop the skill of knowing when, where and how to compromise with what theory and accepted practice says that you should do. You can choose to work within one of the traditional research approaches and abide by their rules (we cover these in Chapter 3). But you do not have to; you can mix approaches and styles of research to give you the information you need to solve your research problem. If you do work within a set of rules, you should recognise that you are letting go of your freedom to take decisions and to construct your research programme in ways that seem best for you. The argument of this text is that you need to understand the consequences of doing or not doing something, so that you are able to make good decisions according to the circumstances.
- This leads on to the second key message. Once you have this understanding and you are confident in your judgements, then you will have the intellectual command of your subject to persuade others that the choices you have made and the way you have done things are appropriate. This word āappropriateā is important. It does not mean ābestā necessarily, but it does mean ājustifiableā and āacceptable in delivering results that are fit for purposeā. Once you can do this, then you will meet the prime, perhaps the only, requirement of delivering research output, namely that it is acceptable to the audience you select. ...
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Praise for the first edition
- Research Methods for Education
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of case studies
- List of activities
- About the author
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part 1 The Context for Your Research
- Part 2 The Process of Data Collection
- Part 3 The Process of Data Analysis
- Appendix 1 Calculating sample size
- Appendix 2 Calculating critical values for the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
- Glossary
- Index