Preface to the seventh edition
The context of educational research
1 The nature of enquiry: setting the field
1.3 Two conceptions of social reality
1.5 The assumptions and nature of science
1.8 Criticisms of positivism and the scientific method
1.9 Alternatives to positivistic social science-naturalistic approaches
1.10 A question of terminology: the normative and interpretive paradigms
1.11 Phenomenology, ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism
1.12 Criticisms of the naturalistic and interpretive approaches
1.13 Mixed methods research: a new paradigm?
1.14 Is mixed methods research a new paradigm?
1.15 A note on post-positivism, postmodernism and post-structuralism
1.16 The paradigm of complexity theory
2 Critical educational research
2.1 Critical theory and critical educational research
2.2 Criticisms of approaches from critical theory
2.3 Critical theory and curriculum research
2.4 Participatory research and critical theory
2.6 A note on post-colonial theory and queer theory
2.7 A summary of three major paradigms
3 Evaluation and the politics of educational research
3.2 Research, politics and policy making
4.2 Causal inference and probabilistic causation
4.3 Causation, explanation, prediction and correlation
4.5 The timing and scope of the cause and the effect
4.6 Causal direction, directness and indirectness
4.8 The role of action narratives in causation
4.9 Researching causes and effects
4.10 Researching the effects of causes
4.11 Researching the causes of effects
5 The ethics of educational and social research
5.11 Against privacy, confidentiality and anonymity
5.12 Ethics in electronic research
5.15 Ethics and evaluative research
5.16 Research and regulation: ethical codes and review boards
5.18 Responsibilities to the research community
6.2 What gives rise to the research project?
6.3 The importance of the research
6.4 The purposes of the research
6.5 Ensuring that the research can be conducted
6.6 Considering research questions
6.7 Considering the scope of the literature review
6.8 Summary of key issues in choosing a research topic or project
7 Planning educational research
7.2 Approaching research planning
7.3 A framework for planning research
7.4 Conducting and reporting a literature review
7.5 Searching for literature on the internet
7.6 Orienting decisions in planning research
7.7 Research design and methodology
7.8 How to operationalize research questions
7.10 Presenting and reporting the results
7.11 A planning matrix for research
7.12 Managing the planning of research
7.14 Ensuring quality in the planning of research
8.4 The representativeness of the sample
8.6 The sampling strategy to be used
8.9 Sampling in qualitative research
8.10 Sampling in mixed methods research
8.11 Planning a sampling strategy
9 Sensitive educational research
9.2 What is sensitive research?
9.4 Ethical issues in sensitive research
9.5 Researching powerful people
9.6 Researching powerless and vulnerable people
10.2 Validity in quantitative research
10.3 Validity in qualitative research
10.6 Validity in mixed methods research
10.9 Reliability in quantitative research
10.10 Reliability in qualitative research
10.11 Validity and reliability in interviews
10.12 Validity and reliability in experiments
10.13 Validity and reliability in questionnaires
10.14 Validity and reliability in observations
10.15 Validity and reliability in tests
10.16 Validity and reliability in life histories
Styles of educational research
11 Naturalistic, qualitative and ethnographic research
11.1 Foundations of naturalistic, qualitative and ethnographic enquiry
11.2 Planning naturalistic, qualitative and ethnographic research
11.3 Features and stages of a qualitative study
11.5 Some problems with ethnographic and naturalistic approaches
12 Historical and documentary research in education
13 Surveys, longitudinal, cross-sectional and trend studies
13.2 Some preliminary considerations
13.4 Low response and non-response, and how to reduce them
13.6 Longitudinal, cross-sectional and trend studies
13.7 Strengths and weaknesses of longitudinal, cohort and cross-sectional studies
13.8 Postal, interview and telephone surveys
13.10 Comparing methods of data collection in surveys
14.2 Generalization in case study
14.3 Reliability and validity in case studies
14.4 What makes a good case study researcher?
14.5 Examples of kinds of case study
14.6 Why participant observation?
15.2 Co-relational and criterion groups designs
15.3 Characteristics of ex post facto research
15.4 Occasions when appropriate
15.5 Advantages and disadvantages of ex post facto research
15.6 Designing an ex post facto investigation
15.7 Procedures in ex post facto research
16 Experiments, quasi-experiments, single-case research and internet-based experiments
16.2 Designs in educational experimentation
16.3 True experimental designs
16.4 A quasi-experimental design: the non-equivalent control group design
16.5 Single-case research: ABAB design
16.6 Procedures in conducting experimental research
16.7 Threats to internal and external validity in experiments
16.8 The timing of the pre-test and the post-test
16.9 Examples from educational research
16.11 Internet-based experiments
17 Meta-analysis, research syntheses and systematic reviews
17.3 Research syntheses and systematic reviews
18.3 Principles and characteristics of action research
18.4 Participatory action research
18.5 Action research as critical praxis
18.6 Action research and complexity theory
18.7 Procedures for action research
18.8 Reporting action research
18.9 Reflexivity in action research
18.10 Some practical and theoretical matters
19 Virtual worlds in educational research
19.1 Simulations and virtual worlds
19.2 Theoretical bases of simulations and virtual worlds
19.3 Applications of virtual worlds
19.4 A worked example of virtual world research
19.5 Opportunities and limitations
19.6 Issues and problems in virtual world research
19.7 Using a virtual world and simulations in educational research
19.8 Ethical issues in virtual world research
19.9 Online tools for data collection from virtual worlds
Strategies and instruments for data collection and researching
20.2 Approaching the planning of a questionnaire
20.3 Types of questionnaire items
20.4 Asking sensitive questions
20.5 Avoiding pitfalls in question writing
20.7 Questionnaires containing few verbal items
20.8 The layout of the questionnaire
20.9 Covering letters/sheets and follow-up letters
20.10 Piloting the questionnaire
20.11 Practical considerations in questionnaire design
20.12 Administering questionnaires
20.13 Processing questionnaire data
21.2 Conceptions of the interview
21.3 Purposes of the interview
21.5 Planning interview-based research procedures
21.8 Interviewing minority and marginalized people
21.10 Non-directive, focused, problem-centred and in-depth interviews
21.12 Ethical issues in interviewing
22.3 Characteristics of accounts and episodes
22.4 Procedures in eliciting, analysing and authenticating accounts: an example
22.7 Analysing social episodes
22.8 Account gathering in educational research: an example
22.9 Problems in gathering and analysing accounts
22.10 Strengths of the ethogenic approach
23.3 The need to practise structured observation
23.4 Analysing data from structured observations
23.6 Naturalistic and participant observation
23.7 Data analysis for less structured observations
23.8 Natural and artificial settings for observation
23.9 The use of technology in recording observations
23.10 Timing and causality with observational data
23.12 Some cautionary comments
24.2 Parametric and non-parametric tests
24.3 Norm-referenced, criterion-referenced and domain-referenced tests
24.4 Commercially produced tests and researcher-produced tests
24.6 Software for preparation of a test
24.7 Devising a pre-test and post-test
24.8 Ethical issues in testing
24.9 Computerized adaptive testing
25.2 Strengths of repertory grid technique
25.3 Working with personal constructs
25.5 Some examples of the use of repertory grid in educational research
25.6 Difficulties in the use of repertory grid technique in research
26.3 Why use role-play in research?
26.4 Issues to be aware of when using role-play
26.5 Role-play as a research method
26.7 Important strategies for successful role-play
26.8 Three examples of research using role-play
27 Visual media in educational research
27.2 Photographs and still images
27.5 Ethical practices in visual research
28 approaches to qualitative data analysis
28.2 Data analysis, thick description and reflexivity
28.3 Ethics in qualitative data analysis
28.4 Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS)
29 Organizing and presenting qualitative data
29.2 Seven ways of organizing and presenting data analysis
29.3 Narrative and biographical approaches to data analysis
29.4 Systematic approaches to data analysis
29.5 Methodological tools for analysing qualitative data
30 Coding and content analysis
30.2 What is content analysis?
30.3 How does content analysis work?
30.4 A worked example of content analysis
30.5 Reliability in content analysis
31 Discourses: conversations, narratives and autobiographies as texts
31.2 A conversational analysis
32.6 Interpreting an image: a worked example
33.2 The tools of grounded theory
33.3 Developing grounded theory
33.4 Evaluating grounded theory
33.5 Preparing to work in grounded theory
34 Approaches to quantitative data analysis
34.2 Parametric and non-parametric data
34.3 Descriptive and inferential statistics
34.6 One-tailed and two-tailed tests
35.1 Frequencies, percentages and crosstabulations
35.2 Measures of central tendency and dispersal
35.4 Correlations and measures of association
36.1 Measures of difference between groups
36.6 The Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests
36.7 The Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman tests
37 Multidimensional measurement and factor analysis
37.2 Elementary linkage analysis: an example
37.4 What to look for in factor analysis output
37.6 Examples of studies using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis
37.7 Multidimensional data: some words on notation
37.8 Using the chi-square test in a three-way classification table
37.9 A note on structural equation modelling
37.10 A note on multilevel modelling
38 Choosing a statistical test