This case study focuses on issues and dilemmas I faced when collecting data on a social networking site that enabled sociability, communication, and collaboration among teachers. To understand teacher online participation, I used an eclectic mixed-methods design with three phases to collect qualitative and quantitative data. This design allowed me…

Could the research you read be fundamentally flawed? Could critical defects in methodology slip by you undetected? To become informed consumers of research, students need to thoughtfully evaluate the research they read rather than accept it without question. This second edition of a classic text gives students the tools they need to apply critical…

Data collected from surveys can result in hundreds of variables and thousands of respondents. This implies that time and energy must be devoted to (a) carefully entering the data into a database, (b) running preliminary analyses to identify any problems (e.g., missing data, potential outliers), (c) checking the reliability and validity of the…

This case study describes the research carried out in partial fulfilment of the degree of doctor of education. The study was qualitative in nature with a phenomenological interpretive paradigm. My primary objective is to share my experience of combining life story and grounded theory research. My main objectives for undertaking the research were…

Systematic, practical, and accessible, this is the first book to focus on finding the most defensible design for a particular research question. Thoughtful guidelines are provided for weighing the advantages and disadvantages of various methods, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods designs. The book can be read sequentially or…

Survey sampling is fundamentally an applied field. The goal in this book is to put an array of tools at the fingertips of practitioners by explaining approaches long used by survey statisticians, illustrating how existing software can be used to solve survey problems, and developing some specialized software where needed. This book serves at least…

Although International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement-pioneered international large-scale assessment (ILSA) of education is now a well-established science, non-practitioners and many users often substantially misunderstand how large-scale assessments are conducted, what questions and challenges they are designed to…

This case study presents an overview of methods used to carry out an exploratory mixed-methods ethnographic study of video bloggers, or vloggers, on YouTube. Vlogs can be used as a multimedia data source for researchers who wish to explore topics such as digital culture or self-expression in social media environments. A combination of online…

Newly updated and revised, this popular text provides a solid introduction to the foundations of research methods, with the goal of enabling students and professionals in the field of applied linguistics to become not just casual consumers of research who passively read bits and pieces of a research article, but "discerning" consumers able to…

In recent years, the concept of teachers as researchers in both special and mainstream school settings has become part of our everyday language. Whilst many educational practitioners will see the need for research within their setting, many may not be familiar with the technical elements they believe are required. "Creating Meaningful Inquiry in…

Clear, coherent and trusted, this book is the perfect guide to the main social research methods in use today. The much anticipated Third Edition of Clive Seale's bestselling title further expands its coverage to provide an authoritative introduction to all of the social research methods used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data. Written by…

This book is intended to explain principles of qualitative research to potential researchers and to provide them with a set of tools, and guidelines for critical thinking as they carry out such research. The chapters are organized around the elements of the research process which require decisions. Following an introductory chapter, Chapter 2…

This manual is intended for managers of training and institutional development programs. Its objective is to provide clear and practical advice for those who conduct impact evaluations. Impact evaluation is distinguished from other types of evaluation by the area of the program on which it focuses, the assessment of the extent to which a program…

This document provides the description, summary, and evaluation of methodological procedures and results for the field test of the 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96). Chapter 1 describes the background, purposes, and scheduled procedures of the NPSAS:96 and the unique purposes of the field test. The NPSAS is a…

Approaches to sampling are suggested for use by states in reporting more effectively on the completers and leavers in vocational education programs. Following an introductory chapter, six others outline the proposed plan for followup studies. Chapter 2, a task outline for a proposed ongoing sampling survey, divides the first three of the followup…