What Does Good Education Research Look Like? : Situating a Field and Its Practices

by Yates

• ISBN13: 9780335211999
• ISBN10: 0335211992
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-03-01
• Publisher: Open University Press

Summary

This book explains the debates around education research: Is it high quality? Is it scientific enough? Is it useful? It shows how research in education must meet different demands in different places, times, and conditions. An indispensable companion to textbooks on research methodology, and a clear and provocative argument about the banalities and messiness in which educational researchers must operate.

Author Biography

Lyn Yates is Professor of Education at the University of Technology, Sydney and former president of the Australian Association for Research in Education.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Introduction	1	(10)
Part 1 Political and paradigm disputes, historical change and the field of education	11	(42)
Introduction	13	(40)
1 What does good education research look like? Some beginnings and debates	15	(21)
Claim 1: We can measure 'good education research' by its contribution to learning	17	(3)
Claim 2: Good education research must make sense to/be usable by teachers (or instructors or parents or the lay reader)	20	(2)
Claim 3: Quality education research must be scientifically-based research	22	(10)
Context and timeliness as issues in education debates	32	(3)
What good research looks like - reflecting on the debates	35	(1)
2 History, fashion and academic research in education	36	(19)
The reading wars: why hasn't education research established the magic bullet on literacy?	37	(6)
Gender research: what does 'making progress' look like?	43	(9)
Final comments	52	(1)
Part 2 Arenas of education research: contexts, genres and the rules of the game	53	(160)
Introduction	55	(151)
3 The thesis	59	(25)
What is a PhD?	61	(4)
Who are the judges?	65	(3)
Explicit and implicit criteria	68	(9)
What does good research here look like?	77	(4)
Common problems or failings	81	(2)
Summary: What does good research look like in terms of the PhD?	83	(1)
4 Academic journals	84	(21)
What is a refereed academic journal?	85	(8)
Who are the judges?	93	(3)
Explicit and implicit criteria	96	(5)
What does good research here look like?	101	(2)
Common failings and problems	103	(1)
Summary: What does good research look like in terms of the journal article?	104	(1)
5 Competitive research grants	105	(28)
What are competitive grant schemes?	106	(3)
Who are the judges?	109	(5)
Explicit and implicit criteria	114	(16)
So, what does good research look like in terms of competitive grant schemes?	130	(1)
Common failings	130	(2)
Summary: What does good research look like in terms of the competitive grant application?	132	(1)
6 Commissioned research	133	(24)
What is commissioned research?	135	(7)
Who are the judges?	142	(3)
Explicit and implicit criteria	145	(8)
What do good commissioned research proposals and reports look like?	153	(2)
Common failings	155	(1)
Summary: In the case of commissioned research, what does good research look like?	156	(1)
7 Schools, teachers and other practitioner users	157	(17)
The 'grass-roots' education practitioner arena: some issues in defining the territory	159	(3)
Who are the judges?	162	(5)
Explicit and implicit criteria	167	(3)
What does good research here look like?	170	(2)
Common failings	172	(1)
Summary: What does good research look like for practitioner-users?	173	(1)
8 Book publishing	174	(16)
Some background on publishing houses	175	(4)
Who are the judges?	179	(3)
Explicit and implicit criteria	182	(3)
What does good research look like?	185	(3)
Common failings	188	(1)
Summary: What does good research look like for a book publisher?	189	(1)
9 The press	190	(16)
Who are the judges?	191	(2)
Explicit and implicit criteria	193	(10)
What does good research look like for the press and media?	203	(1)
Common problems or failings	204	(1)
Summary: What does good research look like for the press and media?	205	(1)
10 Situating research practices	206	(7)
Positioning research agendas and research careers	206	(5)
What is good education research?	211	(2)
Notes	213	(3)
References	216	(1)
Index	217