First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This user-friendly text takes a learn-by-doing approach to exploring research design issues in education and psychology, offering evenhanded coverage of quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and single-case designs. Readers learn the basics of different methods and steps for critically examining any study's design, data, and conclusions, using sample peer-reviewed journal articles as practice opportunities. The text is unique in featuring full chapters on survey methods, evaluation, reliability and validity, action research, and research syntheses. Pedagogical Features *An exemplar journal article at the end of each methods chapter, together with questions and activities for critiquing it (including, where applicable, checklist forms to identify threats to internal and external validity), plus lists of additional research examples. *Research example boxes showing how studies are designed to address particular research questions. *In every chapter: numbered chapter objectives, bulleted summaries, subheadings written as questions, a running glossary, and end-of-chapter discussion questions. * Electronic Instructor's Resource Manual with Test Bank, provided separately--includes chapter outlines; answers to exercises, discussion questions, and illustrative example questions; and PowerPoints.

Understanding Education Research, 2nd Edition is designed to help students learn to read educational research articles carefully, systematically, and critically. Readers will learn how to categorize titles, decode abstracts, find research questions, characterize research arguments, break down methods and procedures, explore references, apply analysis strategies, and interpret findings. This textbook and quick reference guide allows students to easily develop the skills they need to become research literate and the 2nd edition has been updated throughout to offer simple guidelines for qualitative, quantitative, and statistical approaches and up-to-date information on complex and confusing methodologies.

If you’re studying education much of what you do is informed by educational research but how do you interpret it effectively? How do you judge whether results are valid or relevant? This is the perfect guide to engaging with educational research. It explores how to read journal articles critically; what key academic terms really mean; different approaches to educational research, how they are used and what they aim to uncover, and how high quality findings can be meaningful for teaching and learning. Supported by examples that demonstrate the use (and misuse) of research in education, this is your essential guide to understanding and effectively using research.

When learning how to read, analyze, and design one's own research, it is useful to review examples of similar research. Understanding and Evaluating Qualitative Educational Research uses published research articles to teach students how to understand and evaluate qualitative research in education. Each example within a category of qualitative research - ethnography, grounded theory, phenomenology, case study, action research, narrative, and mixed methods - is accompanied by commentary from the editor regarding why the particular approach was used and how and why the various aspects of the example relate back to the approach taken. This commentary guides students in learning how to read, analyze, and create their own qualitative research studies. Included in the text is a series of "Issues and Concepts" that are at the forefront of the changing field. This text gives students in qualitative educational research a well-rounded and practical look at what qualitative research is, along with how to read, analyze, and design studies themselves.

Now in its second edition, Foundations of Education Research defines, discusses, and offers applications for the central components of educational research, providing both novice and experienced researchers with a common ground from which to work. Fully updated throughout, the second edition adds a glossary of terms, additional examples, and includes a discussion of similarities and differences in education research. Eight concise, accessible chapters cover conceptual framework, epistemology, paradigm, theory, theoretical framework, and methodology/method. This unique primer demystifies jargon and makes the theoretical components of research accessible, giving students the tools they need to understand existing education research literature and to produce theoretically-grounded work of their own. Each chapter begins with perspectives from both novice and experienced researchers, whose guiding questions assist researchers engaging with theory for the first time and those looking to improve their understanding of the fundamentals. Practice exercises, examples, and suggested reading lists at the end of each chapter offer students resources they can apply to their own research and thinking in concrete ways. A perfect accompaniment to standard research courses, this book is designed to help students achieve a deeper understanding of what is expected of them and ideas about how to achieve it.