Conducting Research in Educational Contexts

by Basit, Tehmina N

• ISBN13: 9780826486899
• ISBN10: 0826486894
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-05-18
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Providing a logical, step-by-step approach to educational research, this handbook is the ideal companion for students embarking on a research project for the first time.

Author Biography

Tehmina N. Basit is a Reader in the School of Education at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. She is involved in supervising and teaching educational research methods to master's and doctoral students. She has previously held posts at Keele, Manchester Metropolitan, and Leicester universities.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. x
List of Tables and Figures	p. xi
Introduction: passionate enquiries	p. 1
Contemplating research	p. 4
Stance of the researcher	p. 6
Structure of the book	p. 7
Getting Started
Research Paradigms and Approaches: choosing models and traditions	p. 13
Research paradigms	p. 14
Research methodologies	p. 15
Approaches to research	p. 18
Designing the Project: preparing the groundwork	p. 35
The role of theory	p. 36
Searching and reviewing the literature	p. 41
Formulating the hypotheses or research questions	p. 46
Selecting the sample	p. 49
Issues in Research: moral, authentic and trustworthy investigations	p. 55
Ethics	p. 56
Validity	p. 63
Reliability	p. 69
Pilot study	p. 71
Gathering Data
Questionnaires: the strength of numbers	p. 77
Formulating the questionnaires	p. 79
Administering the questionnaires	p. 93
Validity and reliability	p. 97
Ethical considerations	p. 98
Interviews: the beauty of verbal interaction	p. 99
Types of interviews	p. 101
Formulating the instruments	p. 108
Interviewers' role and perspective	p. 110
Recording the interview	p. 113
Transcribing the interview	p. 114
Validity and reliability	p. 115
Ethical considerations	p. 116
Observation: the charm of gathering data in situ	p. 118
Kinds of observation	p. 124
Using observation with different methodologies	p. 126
Observer effect	p. 130
Recording the observation	p. 131
Validity and reliability	p. 135
Ethical considerations	p. 136
Documents: exploiting records of social phenomena	p. 138
Existing documents	p. 140
New documents	p. 145
Validity and reliability	p. 155
Ethical considerations	p. 156
Making Sense of Data
Quantitative Data Analysis: seeking breadth and generalizability	p. 159
Variables	p. 161
Kinds of quantitative data	p. 162
Types of tests	p. 164
Analysing questionnaire data	p. 167
Analysing structured interview data	p. 174
Analysing observation data	p. 174
Analysing documentary data	p. 178
Analysing data from experiments and quasi-experiments	p. 178
Qualitative Data Analysis: achieving depth and richness	p. 181
Reading data	p. 183
Stages of analysis	p. 184
Grounded theory	p. 187
Content analysis	p. 194
The use of software	p. 196
Interpreting the data	p. 199
Writing Up: the potency of written argument	p. 202
Reading and thinking	p. 203
The need to write early	p. 204
Planning to write	p. 205
Starting to write	p. 209
How to write	p. 211
Claiming originality	p. 215
Citations and the reference list	p. 216
Editing	p. 217
Dissemination	p. 219
References	p. 221
Author Index	p. 229
Subject Index	p. 232
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