The chapters in this book outline the history and scope of educational research. They also discuss many of the major issues at stake in current debates, and exemplify the contrasting perspectives to be found in the literature.

This is the companion volume to Educational Research in Action (edited by Roger Gomm and Peter Woods). It is one of two course readers for The Open University course E824 Educational Research Methods.

PART ONE: THE NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
History of Educational Research
Qualitative Research Traditions
Self-Doubt and Soft Data
Social and Technical Trajectories in Ethnographic Fieldwork
Objectivity in Educational Research
Subjectivity and Objectivity
An Objective Inquiry.
PART TWO: DOING EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
How to Think About Causality
Increasing the Generlizability of Qualitative Research
Problems of Sociological Fieldwork
A Review Of The Methodology Of Hightown Grammar
Primary Teachers Talking
A Reflexive Account of Longitudinal Research
PART THREE: EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
Educational Theory
What is an Educational Practice?
Action Research
The Politics of Method
From Leftist Ethnography to Educative Research
On the Teacher as Researcher