SAGE Research Methods

This handbook presents and critiques predominant and emergent traditions of Educational Action Research internationally. Now a prominent methodology, Educational Action Research is well suited to exploring, developing and sustaining change processes both in classrooms and whole organisations such as schools, Departments of Education, and many segments of universities. The handbook contains theoretical and practical based chapters by highly respected scholars whose work has been seminal in building knowledge and expertise in the field. It also contains chapters exemplifying the work of prominent practitioner and community groups working outside universities.

This outstanding textbook provides a comprehensive overview of qualitative approaches to educational research, drawing upon a broad range of real-life examples to describe and illustrate the methods through which educational data may be analyzed. The reader is then shown how these methods work and how their outcomes may be interpreted. Qualitative Research in Education presents a thorough explanation of the complexities of educational research and demonstrates the importance of placing this knowledge within cultural, linguistic and sociological contexts.

This book explores ways to adapt research methods from other disciplines to the special education context and provides the reader with a framework for critically analyzing and conducting research in areas where people with disabilities live, learn and work. Identifying people with disabilities as heterogenous cultural groups, and including such disabilities as blindness, learning difficulties and deafness, the authors discuss the implications for planning, conducting and writing research. Topics examined include: the development of research questions; identification of special education populations; sampling issues; appropriate quantitative and qualitative techniques; interpretation issues in data analysis; and directions for future research such as early intervention and school-linked services.

The Handbook of Educational Evaluation brings together the experience of top evaluation leaders around the world to present and discuss the core methods and applications of educational evaluation, particularly as they relate to subsequent policy- and decision-making in all educational contexts. The volume is shaped by core guiding questions that seek to understand issues such as change in educational evaluation, evidence-based research, the relationship between evaluation and audit cultures, stakeholders in educational evaluation, accountability and assessment, and, ultimately, what the obligations and responsibilities of educational evaluators are in any given setting or context.

The SAGE Handbook for Research in Education stimulates and encourages students, faculty, and educational practitioners, including individuals in education, government, and the private sector who conduct applied and policy-oriented educational research, to place the pursuit of ideas at the epicentre of their research-from framing meaningful problems to identifying and addressing key challenges to the reporting and dissemination of their findings. As well as supporting readers to place the pursuit of ideas as the keystone of exemplary inquiry, the Handbook draws on the perspectives of scholars representing diverse fields within the field of education-from pre-kindergarten to elementary and secondary school to higher education-as well as qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches to inquiry. The chapters are punctuated throughout by the voices of authors who wrestle with the formidable challenges of framing and conducting and reporting meaningful inquiry. New to the Second Edition: -The Handbook has been re-conceptualized into three parts: Part One.Exploring Ideas: Embracing Inquiry and the Craft of Framing Meaningful Problems; Part Two, Pursuing and Sharing Ideas: The Design and Conduct of Inquiry and the Communication of Results; and Part Three, Engaging Ideas: Reflections of Scholars. -Section II has been completely revised to include new chapters focused on formulating meaningful problems. -Eleven new chapters have been added on the following topics: developing and framing meaningful problems; reviewing literature and formulating problems; research design in qualitative/quantitative/mixed methods; integrating education inquiry across research traditions; writing, voicing, and disseminating research; using historical methods; appropriate scaffolds for new researchers; conducting research on leadership and change in education; and the arc of research. -Chapters by the following scholars have been added: Laura Dunek, Marybeth Gasman, Michael R. Harwell, Erica Rosenfield Halverson, Richard Halverson, Elfrieda H. Hiebert, Carolyn Kelly, Karen Seashore Louis, Ronald C. Serlin, and William G. Tierney.