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.

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.

There is now a great need for people within education (both students and teachers) to engage critically with research and it is supported by the Department for Education, Ofsted and the teaching community. This books shows how to read journal articles critically, how to assess the robustness of research claims and the relevance of the results.

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.

W. Newton Suter argues that what is important in a changing education landscape is the ability to think clearly about research methods, reason through complex problems and evaluate published research. He explains how to evaluate data and establish its relevance.

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.

Assuming no prior knowledge, Educational Research by R. Burke Johnson and Larry Christensen offers a comprehensive, easily digestible introductory research methods text for undergraduate and graduate students. Readers will develop an understanding of the multiple research methods and strategies used in education and related fields; how to read and critically evaluate published research; and the ability to write a proposal, construct a questionnaire, and conduct an empirical research study on their own. Students rave about the clarity of this best seller and its usefulness for their studies, enabling them to become critical consumers and users of research.

There is virtually no way to complete one's education without encountering a research report. The book that has helped demystify qualitative and quantitative research articles for thousands of readers, from the authors of the best-selling Proposals that Work, has been revised. This edition is completely reorganized to separate quantitative and qualitative research with four new distinct sections (research reports, quantitative research, qualitative research, and research reviews. The authors presume no special background in research, and begin by introducing and framing the notion of reading research within a wider social context. Next they offer insight on when to seek out research, locating and selecting the right reports, and how to help evaluate research for trustworthiness.

Stats, stats, stats. It seems everything written about education today is full of stats. With this book, nimble-minded number cruncher and award-winning researcher Gerald Bracey takes your hand and walks you through the process of figuring out the meaning behind the figures. You don't need to be a math whiz to follow Bracey because he writes with clarity and humor, explicitly defining statistical terminology in easy-to-understand language and even offering you thirty-two specific principles for assessing the quality of research as you read it.

This book combines a teaching text with exemplary reports of research and a literature review by international scholars.