A one-stop shop for anyone undertaking educational research for the first time, this text focuses on the development and application of key skills necessary for successful research. Packed with useful exercises, checklists and case studies, this book will allow the reader to apply their skills across a range of essays, presentations and reports. Using digestible language to explain complex terminology and processes simply, the authors explore working with and presenting data and the software options available to students, including NVivo, SPSS and Excel. The text will help students to: Understand the language of educational research Frame their research questions and design their research Judge the quality of educational research Explore and justify research approaches and procedures (methods) Analyse and present their data

A one-stop shop for anyone undertaking educational research for the first time, this text focuses on the development and application of key skills necessary for successful research.

′Mike Lambert′s book is a useful source of information, helping to create and shape your research methods project. The book contains detailed chapters with easy to follow guidelines, tips and suggestions ensuring help at every step of the way from start to finish′ Alexander Miesen, student, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences In this basic guide, step-by-step advice is presented in a clear way and chapters take the reader through the entire process, from planning and doing research, to writing it up. Each stage is covered, with detailed help on choosing a topic, drawing up research questions, doing the literature review, choosing and designing research methods, the ethics of doing research, analyzing data, and collating and presenting findings. Features in the text include: - explanations of key research terms - activities (with answers) - progress sheets - case studies This is an ideal text for undergraduate students undertaking their first ever research project, postgraduates pursuing Masters awards and teachers carrying out action research.

`A welcome and helpful addition to the shelves of tutors and students working on masters programmes. It will be most beneficial supporting students on programmes where there is a substantial research training component. It offers important exemplars of using computer software in qualitative analysis′ - Educational Review `This book is aimed at Master′s students who are engaging in educational research for the first time. [It] provides teacher-researchers with the additional information they need so they can go on to read further and more in depth, having more confidence in the accessibility of such studies. I found it does this well, and is an ideal point of reference for those who are just embarking on a Master′s degree. A useful glossary is provided, giving detailed but ′readable′ explanations of key terms and phrases′ - Primary Practice Doing Educational Research offers a hands-on guide for students engaged in educational research. It provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the key qualitative and quantitative methods necessary for those commencing research for the first time. Through a detailed yet concise explanation, the reader is shown how these methods work and how their outcomes may be interpreted. Providing all the essentials for the first-time researcher, the book includes: · a variety of examples and case studies to illustrate how the methods and techniques can be used in `real-life′ contexts · practical guidance on time management planning research projects and writing reports. · a broad coverage - including qualitative and quantitative methodologies, data analysis using computer software, ethical issues and the writing-up and presentation of data. This engaging book has been written by a team of leading researchers with over sixty years of cumulative experience. It has a student-friendly structure which will make it accessible and popular with undergraduates and postgraduates. It will be an invaluable resource for both students and researchers, helping them to undertake effective research in education.

The book breaks the educational research process down into manageable steps with easy-to-understand explanations and concrete examples.Designed to support educators at all levels to feel confident that they can undertake sound and ethical research, it is a popular text in research methods courses in New Zealand and widely used internationally.

Every educational research project has challenges and obstacles that need to be managed and overcome. This book uses real case studies employing a wide range of research methodologies and drawn from educational contexts across Europe to explore these challenges offering flexible and universal guidance that you can apply to your own research. Published in partnership with EERA, this book is: · Realistic and informed: It explores a range of perspectives on educational research, from planning to data collection to international collaboration · Challenging: It integrates a holistic and critical view on the process of educational research · Culturally aware: It covers a variety of research projects from different countries and encourages you to challenge dominant perspectives in education This is the first major English language textbook for postgraduate and postdoctoral education researchers that represents and explores the range of research traditions that exist throughout Europe and what they mean in practice.

If you are a trainee teacher or experienced practitioner new to research, or are simply wondering how to get started on your education research project, this practical book will be your guide. The authors offer simple steps to ensure that you ask the key questions in the most effective way possible. The book guides you through the entire research process: from clarifying the context and conceptual background, to presenting and analysing the evidence gathered. Supported by examples, checklists and diagrams, this fully revised and updated edition includes a wealth of information on: Research design Evidence gathering techniques Practitioner research Ethics Data analysis techniques. This book will be valuable to anyone begining a research or a professional or a professional or school development project, whatever stage they are at within the teaching community, from training for QTS, higher degree, or in need of evidence-backed decisions for the strategic development of their school.

Conducting Educational Research: Guide for Completing a Major Project provides concise, accurate guidance through the entire research process, from developing and focusing research questions, to searching the existing literature, to selecting the most appropriate research design, measurement, and analyses, to interpretation and communication of outcomes. Each chapter represents a step in the process and begins by with a concise overview of the topic. Each chapter includes features and activities that ensure the researcher is asking the right questions and producing a quality project.

This book will help you to plan, design and conduct quality research within the specific context of education and educational studies. An impressive cast of contributors discuss the reality of conducting research in different educational settings and provide practical advice for both undergraduate and postgraduate students and early career researchers doing research in education. The book discusses key philosophical issues such as understanding research paradigms, ethics and selecting appropriate methodologies but remains grounded in the practical experience of the researcher. It has comprehensive coverage of the whole research process from start to finish, is easy to navigate and helps develop key skills such as: Time management Creating good research questions and hypotheses Constructing the literature review Structuring a project Writing a proposal Managing data Analysing data Writing for specific audiences Packed full of learning features and showcasing a wide range of voices and opinions this book is an ideal guide for anyone conducting research in education or educational studies.

“An Orphan’s Heart” is the real-life story of Ellen Rodgers, who with the broken spirit of an orphan and the soul of a gypsy, travels far and wide searching to ease the loneliness that fate has burrowed into her heart. She travels by wagon-train from her empty home in Mississippi to a promising life in Alabama. Not finding happiness there, she ventures back to Mississippi only to realize “you can never go home again.” Following a great adventure of a young woman traveling alone across the rugged Deep South in the 1880′s, she finds her way to Texas and begins her new life as a wife and mother, only to have everything ripped from her in a shattering turn of events.