Research in Early Childhood

′Andrea Nolan and her colleagues have written a uniquely wise and reader-friendly account of all aspects of researching early childhood. Unlike some similar-sounding texts, this is not a dumbed-down account, a ′beginner′s guide to writing your research project′, but a serious consideration of the whole sequence of undertaking research in the field, which tackles both the big issues and the difficult terminology in a clear and accessible way. It achieves this through the device of accompanying a very disparate group of researchers, from undergraduates to doctoral students and early-career professionals, through the stages of their research journey, from developing their early ideas through to writing up their findings. The featured researchers describe their repeated dilemmas and the decisions they have to make as they design and conduct their studies. These decisions are shown as embedded within much larger constructs about the nature of childhood and the appropriate forms of provision for young children and families - issues which are both political and ethical. The authors describe both the broad issues and the small, individual, decisions which lie within them with a depth of understanding which ensures that using the book can be a pleasure as well as a task for researchers as they set out to construct their own new knowledge about early childhood′-Liz Brooker Reader in Early Childhood, University of London Institute of Education

• Why Become Involved in Research in Early Childhood?Orientation: ′It′s Like Another Language′Exploring and Theorizing PerspectivesBeginning the Research Journey: Determining Your Point of DepartureKnowing What Has Gone before: Reviewing the LiteratureGuiding the Research Journey: Ethical ConsiderationsMoving along Qualitative methodological pathwaysTaking the Quantitative methodological trailDrawing the journey to a close: Dissemination of the findingsThe Journey