The BERA/SAGE Handbook of Educational Research
- Dominic Wyse - UCL Institute of Education, University College London, UK
- Neil Selwyn - Monash University, Australia
- Emma Smith - University of Warwick
- Larry E. Suter - University of Michigan
Research Methods in Education
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) has worked with SAGE to develop a high quality research methods handbook for students studying education and related areas. The book is published in two volumes and over 1,000 pages, so a substantial resource by any scale. The contributions are listed thematically in six parts, progressing from a background to research enquiry, through planning research, approaches or design, acquiring data, analysis and lastly reporting, disseminating and evaluation. Over 50 authors are included, many highly eminent in their fields. This handbook makes a valuable and authoritative contribution to the research endeavour for all those working or studying in the field of education.
This handbook is very timely. Its structure and contents will be of great interest to British Educational Research association members, surely, but also to a much more broad audience. The editors aim to help education researchers craft thorough, theoretically sound research methods and approaches to counteract some of the ways ideologies trump evidence in relation to educational policy decisions. Chapters in various sections delineate steps in the research process, offering deep dives into data collection and analysis. The volume’s contents will be of interest to those embarking on new projects, from practicing researchers to those just learning about education research.
This Handbook, so well conceptualized and now realized by Wyse, Selwyn, Smith and Suter offers an authoritative and thoughtful set of insights, ideas, approaches and understandings about research. The Handbook illustrates the importance of educational research whilst also making clear that pushing the boundaries and working at the cutting edge is crucial for educational development and meaningful change. In the range of authors and topics examined through the Handbook, new insights into shaping what we know, how we know it and why it counts immediately comes to the fore. This Handbook offers the methodological support essential to answering the important questions in education today.
Bringing together an array of the best known and respected authors in the field, The BERA/Sage Handbook of Educational Research provides a comprehensive compendium of educational research approaches, and represents an outstanding and timely contribution to the discipline. Ambitious in its breadth and depth, this collection addresses all stages of the research journey from design to dissemination, a rich variety of different research methods, and the different theoretical debates informing methodologies. This Handbook will be an indispensable manual for new educational researchers, and a stimulating resource for established researchers.
In this collaboration between a professional society, the British Educational Research Association, and a publisher, SAGE, we have a comprehensive Handbook of Educational Research that speaks to issues of research conceptualization and philosophical underpinnings, methodological rigor—both qualitative and quantitative—and application to policy and practice. The educational researcher seeking one source for advice (albeit in two volumes!) is likely to find it here. The graduate student pursuing a career in academia, policy or practice is likely to find the Handbook remarkably useful and accessible. The Handbook is, as well, a response to those critics of educational research who claim it’s fraught with methodological weakness, pointy headed intellectualism, or both.
"Rare is the work that is accessible enough to serve as an introduction and in depth enough to serve as a reference source for seasoned professionals. The handbook does both, and is deserving of a place on the bookshelf of every educational research professional. This book is recommended for academic libraries"
Although relevant to those at any stage of their career, this Handbook will be of particular value to new and emerging researchers, including doctoral students. As a student in the final stages of doctoral thesis writing, one of us found the combination of theory and practice backed up by real world examples pertinent to each stage of their research. Reading this Handbook, the reader begins to appreciate how educational research has developed as a discipline historically, academically and practically.
Anybody who is currently carrying out educational research will benefit from the material in this Handbook.
