Stephen Gorard

Research design is of critical importance in social research, despite its relative neglect in many methods resources. Early consideration of design in relation to research questions leads to the elimination or diminution of threats to eventual research claims, by encouraging internal validity and substantially reducing the number of alternative explanations for any finite number of research 'observations'. This new book: discusses the nature of design; gives an introduction to design notation; offers a flexible approach to new designs; looks at a range of standard design models; and presents craft tips for real-life problems and compromises. Most importantly, it provides the rationale for preferring one design over another within any given context. Each section is illustrated with case studies of real work and concludes with suggested readings and topics for discussion in seminars and workshops, making it an ideal textbook for postgraduate research methods courses. Based on the author's teaching on the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre "Masters in Research Methods" at the University of Birmingham, and his ongoing work for the ESRC Researcher Development Initiative, this is an essential text for postgraduate researchers and academics. There is no book like Research Design on the market that addresses all of these issues in an easy to comprehend style, for those who want to design research and make critical judgements about the designs of others.

Research design is of critical importance in social research, despite its relative neglect in many methods resources. Early consideration of design in relation to research questions leads to the elimination or diminution of threats to eventual research claims, by encouraging internal validity and substantially reducing the number of alternative explanations for any finite number of research 'observations'. This new book: discusses the nature of design; gives an introduction to design notation; offers a flexible approach to new designs; looks at a range of standard design models; and presents craft tips for real-life problems and compromises. Most importantly, it provides the rationale for preferring one design over another within any given context. Each section is illustrated with case studies of real work and concludes with suggested readings and topics for discussion in seminars and workshops, making it an ideal textbook for postgraduate research methods courses. Based on the author's teaching on the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre "Masters in Research Methods" at the University of Birmingham, and his ongoing work for the ESRC Researcher Development Initiative, this is an essential text for postgraduate researchers and academics. There is no book like Research Design on the market that addresses all of these issues in an easy to comprehend style, for those who want to design research and make critical judgements about the designs of others.

Based on the views of teenagers across Europe and in the Far East, this book argues that we need to reconsider how we judge schools and what they are for. It shows that the treatment of pupils in schools makes more difference to teenagers' views on society, and on what it means to be fair, than it does to differences in attainment.

Based on the views of teenagers across Europe and in the Far East, this book argues that we need to reconsider how we judge schools and what they are for. It shows that the treatment of pupils in schools makes more difference to teenagers' views on society, and on what it means to be fair, than it does to differences in attainment.

Issues concerning the supply of teachers are of perennial concern to both policy-makers and researchers in the world of education. This trenchant and wide-ranging study not only provides major new research findings but also a re-interpretation of extant data. Combining qualitative and (very extensive) quantitative research, Teacher Supply provides a rigorous and iconoclastic treatment of issues relating to the recruitment, quality, training, and retention of teachers throughout the developed world and offers important recommendations for the future.

Can you add up the number of students in your classroom? Can you tell which of two test scores is the larger? Can you programme a video or DVD recording using a 24-hour clock? If so, then this book will show you how everyday numbers like these can also be used to make your research more powerful, and enable you to spot the abuses of number that are as common in research as they are in everyday life. This book illustrates how numbers can be used routinely and successfully for research purposes - without you ever having to consider confidence intervals, probability densities, Gaussian distributions, or indeed any of those complicated and generally useless things that appear in treatises on statistics. This no-nonsense guide should prove essential reading for all educational and social science researchers.

This engaging book sheds light on the ways in which adults in the twenty-first century interact with technology in different learning environments. Based on one of the first large-scale academic research projects in this area, the authors present their findings and offer practical recommendations for the use of new technology in a learning society. They invite debate on:why ICTs are believed to be capable of affecting positive change in adult learningthe drawbacks and limits of ICT in adult educationwhat makes a lifelong learner the wider social, economic, cultural and political realities of the information age and the learning society.Adult Learning addresses key questions and provides a sound empirical foundation to the existing debate, highlighting the complex realities of the learning society and e-learning rhetoric. It tells the story of those who are excluded from the learning society, and offers a set of strong recommendations for practitioners, policy-makers, and politicians, as well as researchers and students.

This engaging book sheds light on the ways in which adults in the twenty-first century interact with technology in different learning environments. Based on one of the first large-scale academic research projects in this area, the authors present their findings and offer practical recommendations for the use of new technology in a learning society. They invite debate on:why ICTs are believed to be capable of affecting positive change in adult learningthe drawbacks and limits of ICT in adult educationwhat makes a lifelong learner the wider social, economic, cultural and political realities of the information age and the learning society.Adult Learning addresses key questions and provides a sound empirical foundation to the existing debate, highlighting the complex realities of the learning society and e-learning rhetoric. It tells the story of those who are excluded from the learning society, and offers a set of strong recommendations for practitioners, policy-makers, and politicians, as well as researchers and students.

“This excellent book promises much and delivers a whole lot more. It provides a description of the practicalities of combining evidence from a variety of data collection modes in order to enrich our responses to educational research questions. This is achieved with thoroughness and clarity and even some wit. There are outstanding teaching materials here…. This is the best book on educational research methods published in this country for decades.” Professor Charles Desforges, University of Exeter "In this timely and important contribution, Stephen Gorard and Chris Taylor help us move beyond the wasteful schism of 'qualitative versus quantitative' research by offering sound basic theorising and extensive practical illustration of the combining of research methods... I see their book as essential reading for anyone concerned for effective educational and social research."Professor Peter Tomlinson, University of LeedsThere is growing interest in the possibilities of combining research approaches in education and social sciences, as dissatisfaction mounts with the limitations of traditional mono-method studies and with the schism between quantitative and qualitative methods. This book argues the case for combining multiple research methods, and provides much-needed practical guidance for researchers who want to use this mixed-methods approach. The authors believe that all research has an over-arching logic and that, within this, the fruitful combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is possible. They develop the idea of the ‘new’ education and social researcher, for whom the combination of approaches is a representation of a diverse skills base, rather than a matter of ideological or theoretical allegiance.The book outlines and evaluates methods that are currently used, and looks at combining different methods across and within studies, including complex interventions, Bayesian approaches, new political arithmetic, triangulation, life histories and design studies. It offers a radical, new and very simple way of working with numbers.Drawing on examples across the social sciences, this book is key reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Education and social science courses with a research element, as well as academics and professionals undertaking research projects.

This clever scheme builds on Gorard's previous book, Quantitative Methods in Educational Research (June 2001). He has revised the original book in the light of experience and feedback, and then reworks it so that it includes more social science examples. Four chapters are entirely new. 'I am very impressed with the first book. I liked the accessible style, the fresh writing, the no-nonsense approach to research methods, which stressed the craft aspect of the job. The best part of the book is the clear examples which often draw from the author's experience in research. The new book is entirely feasible as it is possible to extend many of the insights of the first to a more general social science context.' Peter John, Politics & Sociology, Birkbeck College, University of London

Choice and selection are now cornerstones of education policies wherever these have been shaped by market economics. Now, as never before, schools can face uncertain futures, because their survival is determined by external factors such as admission policies and parental preferences. Because of the link between schooling, and housing and other public sector services, the implications of increasing choice extends well beyond education. Schools, Markets and Choice Policies brings together the findings of the most comprehensive research ever conducted into choice in secondary education, and provides in-depth context, analysis and discussion. In assessing the impact of choice policies not only upon the education system itself, but also upon wider society, it provides valuable insights into economic and social segregation. A groundbreaking contribution to the debate on the role of choice and market economies in education, this book is essential reading for anyone involved in determining or implementing education policy at all levels.

Lifelong learning is a key government strategy - both in the UK and internationally - to promote economic growth and combat social exclusion. This book presents a highly innovative study of participation in lifelong learning and the problems which need to be overcome if lifelong learning policies are to be successful. It: provides a systematic analysis, based on innovative empirical research, of the social and economic realities which actually determine patterns of participation in lifelong learning; shows what the factors are that shape people's participation, or their decision not to participate; offers new insights into the processes of lifelong learning, which have important implications for the development of more effective policies.

A changing climate for educational research; sampling - the basis for all research; collecting secondary data - the idle researcher; simple analysis - index wars and other battles; surveying the field - questionnaire design; simple non-parametric statistics - minding your table manners; experimental approaches - a return to the gold standard; elementary parametric statistics - what do they signify?; progress via regression - introducing correlations.