What does Good Education Research Look Like?

“a powerful, well informed argument for the importance of pluralism… This book will tell young researchers what they need to know about doing educational research; it will encourage experienced researchers to see their own practice in context. It is a profound book that everyone should read." – Professor Jane Gaskell, Dean, OISE, University of Toronto

“This brilliant guide to judging educational research examines the most basic questions about research practice that most people think are settled, and reveals them as problematic… Humorous, sharp, and thoughtful, this readable inquisition explores from differing perspectives ‘what does good education research look like’ in multiple forms including dissertations, journal articles, and grant proposals.” – Sari Knopp Biklen, Laura and Douglas Meredith Professor, Syracuse University, USA

This book explains and critically examines some key debates about the quality and value of education research, and shows how it must meet different demands in different places, times and conditions. A major part of the book provides detailed analyses and guidance to different areas in which education research is judged: from academic theses to the press; from highest level competition for prestigious grants to collaborative work with practitioners.

Lyn Yates asks probing questions in six education research arenas – the thesis, the research grant application, the journal article, the consultancy application, book publishing, and the press:

• Who are the judges here?
• What expectations and networks do they bring to the task?
• What are the explicit and implicit criteria for good research in that area?
• What are the common failings?
• What does good research look like?

The book is an indispensable companion to existing textbooks on research methodology. It provides a clear and provocative discourse about the banalities and disorderliness in which education researchers have to operate.