This thoroughly updated and extended eighth edition of the long-running bestseller Research Methods in Education covers the whole range of methods employed by educational research at all stages. Its five main parts cover: the context of educational research; research design; methodologies for educational research; methods of data collection; and data analysis and reporting. It continues to be the go-to text for students, academics and researchers who are undertaking, understanding and using educational research, and has been translated into several languages. It offers plentiful and rich practical advice, underpinned by clear theoretical foundations, research evidence and up-to-date references, and it raises key issues and questions for researchers planning, conducting, reporting and evaluating research. This edition contains new chapters on: Mixed methods research The role of theory in educational research Ethics in Internet research Research questions and hypotheses Internet surveys Virtual worlds, social network software and netography in educational research Using secondary data in educational research Statistical significance, effect size and statistical power Beyond mixed methods: using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to integrate cross-case and within-case analyses. Research Methods in Education is essential reading for both the professional researcher and anyone involved in educational and social research. The book is supported by a wealth of online materials, including PowerPoint slides, useful weblinks, practice data sets, downloadable tables and figures from the book, and a virtual, interactive, self-paced training programme in research methods. These resources can be found at: www.routledge.com/cw/cohen.
The Landscape of Qualitative Research, Third Edition, attempts to put the field of qualitative research in context. Part I provides background on the field, starting with history, then action research and the academy, and the politics and ethics of qualitative research. Part II isolates what we regard as the major historical and contemporary paradigms now structuring and influencing qualitative research in the human disciplines. The chapters move from competing paradigms (positivist, postpositivist, constructivist, critical theory) to specific interpretive perspectives, feminisms, racialized discourses, cultural studies, sexualities, and queer theory. Part III considers the future of qualitative research." "This text is designed for graduate students taking classes in social research methods and qualitative methods as well as researchers throughout the social sciences and in some fields within the humanities.
Now in its third edition, this successful book introduces students to the area of social science theory and research known as social constructionism. Using a variety of examples from everyday experience and from existing research in areas such as personality, sexuality and health, it clearly explains the basic theoretical assumptions of social constructionism. Key debates, such as the nature and status of knowledge, truth, reality and the self are given in-depth analysis in an accessible style. Drawing on a range of empirical studies, the book clearly defines the various different approaches to social constructionist research and explores the theoretical and practical issues involved. While the text is broadly sympathetic to social constructionism, it also adopts a critical perspective to the material, addressing its weaknesses and, in the final chapter, subjecting the theory itself to a more extensive critique. New to this edition: Extended coverage of the relationship between 'mainstream' psychology and social constructionism and how the two fields can engage with each other. An exploration of the rise and popularity of neuroscience and the challenge it poses to social constructionism. New material on the field of psychosocial studies. Updated coverage of existing key issues such as age and sexuality, and inclusion of more recently emerging issues (e.g. status and role of affect). Updated discussion of key social constructionist contributors, with revised references. Updated chapter on research methods, including more on narrative and critical narrative analysis, and personal construct methods. The third edition of Social Constructionism extends and updates the material covered in previous editions and will be an invaluable and informative resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students across the social and behavioural sciences.