ABSTRACT

This thoroughly updated and extended eighth edition of the long-running bestseller Research Methods in Education covers the whole range of methods employed by educational research at all stages. Its five main parts cover: the context of educational research; research design; methodologies for educational research; methods of data collection; and data analysis and reporting. It continues to be the go-to text for students, academics and researchers who are undertaking, understanding and using educational research, and has been translated into several languages. It offers plentiful and rich practical advice, underpinned by clear theoretical foundations, research evidence and up-to-date references, and it raises key issues and questions for researchers planning, conducting, reporting and evaluating research.

This edition contains new chapters on:

  • Mixed methods research
  • The role of theory in educational research
  • Ethics in Internet research
  • Research questions and hypotheses
  • Internet surveys
  • Virtual worlds, social network software and netography in educational research
  • Using secondary data in educational research
  • Statistical significance, effect size and statistical power
  • Beyond mixed methods: using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to integrate cross-case and within-case analyses.

Research Methods in Education is essential reading for both the professional researcher and anyone involved in educational and social research. The book is supported by a wealth of online materials, including PowerPoint slides, useful weblinks, practice data sets, downloadable tables and figures from the book, and a virtual, interactive, self-paced training programme in research methods. These resources can be found at: www.routledge.com/cw/cohen.

part 1|108 pages

The context of educational research

chapter 1|28 pages

The nature of enquiry

Setting the field
ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 2|20 pages

Mixed methods research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 3|17 pages

Critical educational research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 4|11 pages

Theory in educational research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 5|8 pages

Evaluation and research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 6|22 pages

The search for causation

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

part 2|176 pages

Research design

chapter 7|33 pages

The ethics of educational and social research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 8|9 pages

Ethics in Internet research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 9|12 pages

Choosing a research project

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 10|8 pages

Research questions

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 11|29 pages

Research design and planning

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 12|26 pages

Sampling

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 13|17 pages

Sensitive educational research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 14|40 pages

Validity and reliability

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

part 3|184 pages

Methodologies for educational research

chapter 15|36 pages

Qualitative, naturalistic and ethnographic research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 16|11 pages

Historical and documentary research

ByJane Martin

chapter 17|27 pages

Surveys, longitudinal, cross-sectional and trend studies

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 18|14 pages

Internet surveys

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 19|16 pages

Case studies

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 20|36 pages

Experiments

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 21|13 pages

Meta-analysis, systematic reviews and research syntheses

ByHarsh Suri

chapter 22|17 pages

Action research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

part 4|172 pages

Methods of data collection

chapter 24|35 pages

Questionnaires

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 25|36 pages

Interviews

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 26|21 pages

Observation

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 27|23 pages

Tests

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 28|7 pages

Using secondary data in educational research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 29|13 pages

Personal constructs

ByRichard Bell

chapter 30|22 pages

Role-play and research

ByCarmel O’Sullivan

chapter 31|13 pages

Visual media in educational research

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

part 5|214 pages

Data analysis and reporting

chapter 32|14 pages

Approaches to qualitative data analysis

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 33|11 pages

Organizing and presenting qualitative data

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 34|18 pages

Coding and content analysis

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 35|16 pages

Discourses

Conversations, narratives and autobiographies as texts
ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 36|12 pages

Analysing visual media

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 37|11 pages

Grounded theory

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 38|14 pages

Approaches to quantitative data analysis

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 39|14 pages

Statistical significance, effect size and statistical power

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 40|23 pages

Descriptive statistics

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 41|26 pages

Inferential statistics

Difference tests
ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 42|16 pages

Inferential statistics

Regression analysis and standardization
ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 43|21 pages

Factor analysis, cluster analysis and structural equation modelling

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 44|8 pages

Choosing a statistical test

ByLouis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison

chapter 45|8 pages

Beyond mixed methods

Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to integrate cross-case and within-case analyses
ByBarry Cooper, Judith Glaesser