Doing Work Based Research

Dr Geoffrey Elliott is Professor of Post-Compulsory Education at the University of Worcester. He has worked in schools, further and adult education, and has previously held posts in the School of Independent Study at the University of East London, and the Open University where he taught on the Professional Doctorate programme in Education. His research interests are in Leadership, Ethics, and Widening Participation in Higher Education. Geoffrey is President of the Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education, the sponsor of the international peer reviewed journal Research in Post-Compulsory Education which he has edited since its launch in 1996. He has written and co-authored a number of books, including (with Carol Costley and Paul Gibbs) the highly popular Doing Work Based Research: Approaches to enquiry for insider-researchers, also published by Sage. Geoffrey is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), the complaints ombudsman for HE students studying in England and Wales.

′Synthesized in a highly accessible format, the readers are offered clear, practical information worth its weight in gold to anyone seeking clarity about the precise nature of the tasks they have ahead…I cannot recommend the book highly enough and would definitely prescribe its use as an antidote to the insomnia that may affect those expert practitioners but naïve academics embarking upon such a path′ - Management Learning′The collective impact of [this] book in terms of the knowledge, skills and understanding that it can provide the insider-researcher cannot be underestimated...I would recommend this book to any learner, practitioner or manager about to embark on research in their own organisation. It is both an authoratative and highly readable guide to practice and underpinning theory of work-based learning research. I have no doubt its reach and impact will be wide ranging′ Journal of Higher Education, Skills and Work Based Learning ′This book provides an invaluable resource for practitioners engaged in real world research in, for and through the workplace. Practitioners bring to work-based research a wealth of practice based expertise and insight. Yet those new to researching their field of practice also have to attune their mind-sets to the discipline and demands of social scientific research. Costley Elliot and Gibbs′ text achieves an intelligent balance in acknowledging their readers′ expertise and experience in managing the realities of work while confronting them with the challenges and options that the research journey will present. From design to dissemination, from ethics to evaluation, the authors navigate the rich terrain of research methodology and work-based inquiry, alerting the reader to the array of perspectives and choices as well as pitfalls for the unwary. With examples that stimulate and tasks that consolidate, the text can be used from introductory to doctoral levels. A welcome and timely addition to the ′research methods′ literature in a burgeoning field′ - Professor Karen Evans, Institute of Education, University of London ′This is an important contribution to the ever-growing literature on the subject of insider research. Its practical focus provides readers with a substantive guide to considering and enacting research in their own organisations′ - David Coghlan, Trinity College Dublin, author of Doing Action Research in Your Own Organization.

• Key Concepts for the Insider-ResearcherSearch and Review of Relevant Knowledge and InformationResearch Ethics and Insider-ResearchersPrivilege, Power and Politics in Work-Based ResearchGaining Access for the Insider-Researcher: Issues, Practices, Audiences, Ethics and GratitudeLearning Contracts/Agreements and Intellectual CapitalDeveloping a MethodologyCollaborative ResearchA Reflection on Professional PracticeWork-Based Research in ActionThe Development of a Research ProposalPreparing and Evaluating Project Outcomes and Then Assessing the Learning AchievedRecommendations and Presentations Arising from the Research