ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the reasons for engaging in research into teaching and learning in history, the progression in knowledge and understanding required for research at the level of an undergraduate dissertation, a Master's degree and a doctoral degree. It considers the stages in the process of 'doing research' which apply at any level, illustrated by examples from a study investigating young children's ability to make deductions and inferences about a range of historical sources. Research, at the very least, refines the thinking of a teacher who undertakes it and so the quality of his/her teaching. The benchmarks relevant to an undergraduate dissertation are probably those which help to identify a research question: the ability to use knowledge and understanding critically to locate and justify a personal position in relation to the subject. At level of personal research, it is important that the research question is very precise and that the scope of your research is very tightly focused and small-scale.
