ABSTRACT
We live in a research-saturated culture. It seems that every day the media report on ‘research’ emanating from some university or other, often appearing to confi rm the blindingly obvious, or fi nd a link between a hitherto benign foodstuff and cancer. Market research is used to develop and sell us new products, while a writer might claim to be ‘researching my new novel’. The word ‘research’ appears to have a multiplicity of meanings in the political, commercial and academic worlds – some of them trivial, some respected, some even sinister. It is perhaps not surprising that many teachers are cynical about research in general and educational research in particular. Research can be seen as the opposite of action: fi nding more out about a situation rather than doing anything about it. But perhaps this is an unfair characterization. We need to look again at research in general, and at educational research in particular, to ascertain whether it has any value to the development of teaching and learning.
