Paul Connolly – författare

When Matildas star Sam Kerr was just a kid, when the inaugural A-League Women''s season was still years away, and when a World Cup on Australian soil was a fanciful idea, a mob of mature Melbourne women threw caution, asthma inhalers and orthopaedic inserts to the wind and formed a team to play in the lowest division of the metropolitan league. 

Were the Mighty ''Bras, as this Brunswick Zebras team became known, the unheralded catalyst for the change of fortunes in women''s football? No-one can say for sure. What''s certain, however, is that this motley team of footballing novices became (their results notwithstanding) a roaring and enduring success.

As their coach, author Paul Connolly, documents in this hilarious and heartwarming memoir, the Mighty ''Bras fell in love with a game; a love more intense for its late blossoming and the knowledge that injury, pregnancy, or perhaps even osteoporosis, could end it in a second. More importantly, these footballing novices discovered that their seemingly whimsical adventure turned out to be so much more, and forged lasting friendships and a sense of community that made all the bumps, bruises and calamitous losses worthwhile.  

This book provides a refreshing and user-friendly guide to quantitative data analysis in education for students and researchers. It assumes absolutely no prior knowledge of quantitative methods or statistics. Beginning with the very basics, it provides the reader with the knowledge and skills necessary to be able to undertake routine quantitative data analysis to a level expected of published research.

Rather than focusing on teaching statistics through mathematical formulae, the book places an emphasis on using SPSS to gain a real feel for the data and an intuitive grasp of the main concepts and techniques involved. Drawing extensively upon up-to-date and relevant examples, the reader will be encouraged to think critically about quantitative research and its potential as well as its limitations in relation to education.

Packed with helpful features, this book:

The book will therefore appeal not only to undergraduate and postgraduate students but also to more established and seasoned educational researchers and lecturers and professors who have tended to avoid or shy away from quantitative methods.

This book provides a refreshing and user-friendly guide to quantitative data analysis in education for students and researchers. It assumes absolutely no prior knowledge of quantitative methods or statistics. Beginning with the very basics, it provides the reader with the knowledge and skills necessary to be able to undertake routine quantitative data analysis to a level expected of published research.

Rather than focusing on teaching statistics through mathematical formulae, the book places an emphasis on using SPSS to gain a real feel for the data and an intuitive grasp of the main concepts and techniques involved. Drawing extensively upon up-to-date and relevant examples, the reader will be encouraged to think critically about quantitative research and its potential as well as its limitations in relation to education.

Packed with helpful features, this book:

The book will therefore appeal not only to undergraduate and postgraduate students but also to more established and seasoned educational researchers and lecturers and professors who have tended to avoid or shy away from quantitative methods.

Boys'' underachievement in education has now become a global concern, taxing the minds of governments across the Western world. Boys and Schooling in the Early Years represents the first major study of its kind to focus specifically on young boys and achievement. It makes a powerful argument for the need to begin tackling the problem of boys'' lower educational performance in the early years.

This book includes one of the most detailed and up-to-date analyses of national evidence regarding gender differences in educational achievement - from the early years through to the end of compulsory schooling. Together with original and in-depth case studies that vividly capture the differing experiences and perspectives of 5-6 year old boys, the book sets out the nature of the problems facing them in education and highlights a number of practical ways in which these issues can begin to be addressed.

This is essential reading for all those working in the early years, who are concerned about boys'' lower levels of achievement, and want to know what they can do about it.

Boys'' underachievement in education has now become a global concern, taxing the minds of governments across the Western world. Boys and Schooling in the Early Years represents the first major study of its kind to focus specifically on young boys and achievement. It makes a powerful argument for the need to begin tackling the problem of boys'' lower educational performance in the early years.

This book includes one of the most detailed and up-to-date analyses of national evidence regarding gender differences in educational achievement - from the early years through to the end of compulsory schooling. Together with original and in-depth case studies that vividly capture the differing experiences and perspectives of 5-6 year old boys, the book sets out the nature of the problems facing them in education and highlights a number of practical ways in which these issues can begin to be addressed.

This is essential reading for all those working in the early years, who are concerned about boys'' lower levels of achievement, and want to know what they can do about it.

The use of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), most commonly a medical sciences research tool, is a hotly debated topic in Education. This book examines the controversial aspects of RCTs in Education and sets out the potential and pitfalls of the method.

Drawing on their own extensive experience of running RCTs, and their work at the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation (CESI) at Queen’s University, Belfast, the authors provide a thorough practical introduction to the use of randomised controlled trials in education. Using real data sets, chapters equip the reader with all of the key knowledge and skills required to design, run, analyse and report an RCT.

Coverage includes:

·         Step-by-step guidance on analysing data

·         How to assess the reliability and validity of results

·         Advice on balancing the demands of various stakeholders

Essential reading for postgraduate and more experienced researchers, as well as teachers and educationalists seeking to increase their knowledge and understanding of the use of such methods in education.

The use of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), most commonly a medical sciences research tool, is a hotly debated topic in Education. This book examines the controversial aspects of RCTs in Education and sets out the potential and pitfalls of the method.

Drawing on their own extensive experience of running RCTs, and their work at the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation (CESI) at Queen’s University, Belfast, the authors provide a thorough practical introduction to the use of randomised controlled trials in education. Using real data sets, chapters equip the reader with all of the key knowledge and skills required to design, run, analyse and report an RCT.

Coverage includes:

·         Step-by-step guidance on analysing data

·         How to assess the reliability and validity of results

·         Advice on balancing the demands of various stakeholders

Essential reading for postgraduate and more experienced researchers, as well as teachers and educationalists seeking to increase their knowledge and understanding of the use of such methods in education.

The use of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), most commonly a medical sciences research tool, is a hotly debated topic in Education. This book examines the controversial aspects of RCTs in Education and sets out the potential and pitfalls of the method.

Drawing on their own extensive experience of running RCTs, and their work at the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation (CESI) at Queen’s University, Belfast, the authors provide a thorough practical introduction to the use of randomised controlled trials in education. Using real data sets, chapters equip the reader with all of the key knowledge and skills required to design, run, analyse and report an RCT.

Coverage includes:

·         Step-by-step guidance on analysing data

·         How to assess the reliability and validity of results

·         Advice on balancing the demands of various stakeholders

Essential reading for postgraduate and more experienced researchers, as well as teachers and educationalists seeking to increase their knowledge and understanding of the use of such methods in education.

One man''s remarkable tale of endurance and survival—vivid, disturbing, but ultimately uplifting, as the beaten child, once told he was rubbish and would never be worth anything, becomes a man with the heart to love, live, and embrace the future

As Paul Connolly struggled to leave behind his painful, humiliating childhood in the notorious St. Leonard''s children''s home, the ghosts of his past would not let go. The pedophiles and sadists had damaged so many kids. Some had died, from suicide or heroin. Others, like Paul, had emerged, battered and illiterate, to try to find a place in the world. When a fall from a roof shattered his boxing ambitions, he survived in a brutal underworld of routine violence, before eventually building a career as a celebrity fitness trainer, working with the stars of fashion and film. After Against All Odds became a surprise bestseller, everything changed for Paul. He found himself speaking at the House of Lords, appearing on TV and getting involved in projects with abused kids and illiterate adults. But a rare heart infection almost killed him, and the old demons still haunted him. Four years later, Paul has made a new world for himself, centered on his young family and a successful training business that mends broken bodies, builds confidence, and changes lives for the better.