ABSTRACT
In previous chapters we have stressed that empirical educational research must be involved with both empirical and theoretical development. We have also suggested that, at different stages of the research, one or other of these spheres may move into the foreground of attention and the other may be temporarily backgrounded. This is also the case in our consideration of the research process. In this chapter and in Chapter 5 we are moving into the (empirical) field, as it were. Therefore, whilst we will try not to lose sight of the theoretical problem, we shall be foregrounding issues relating to the empirical setting and its management. In particular, we shall be focusing mainly (but not exclusively) on operational issues relating to the measurement of indicator variables rather than on their theoretical conceptual development. This is a pragmatic choice. In order to survey a range of approaches to research we shall need to draw on a wide empirical field. Unfortunately, we do not have the space to develop these empirical resources in to a theoretically adequate level.
