Higher education (HE) research often draws on a range of qualitative research approaches. However, some methods developed in other fields are underutilised in HE research, even though they could be of great use for answering particular kinds of research questions, or for involving students more actively in the research process. In this article, we…

In the field of higher education there are few places reserved for philosophical exploration, and this, this author argues, can limit and distort the cartography. Higher education research tends to be framed as the empirical process of collecting and analysing qualitative or quantitative data. But this conception of research leaves little space…

Identifies five methods of phenomenographic research in early work at Gothenburg University (Sweden): discursive; experimental; naturalistic; hermeneutic; and phenomenological. Argues that phenomenography is a productive form of research, even if the degree of methodological reflection applied by phenomenographers to their work is found wanting.…

Raises concerns about using interview data in phenomenological research, arguing such data are more related to discourse and the interviewee's perception of what is appropriate to say in the context than to "ways of experiencing," which is the object of study in phenomenography. Also argues that in important respects, discursive…

As more digital data become publicly available new opportunities for researchers in education are arising. Researchers may be unaware of the existence and usefulness of such data even though these are freely available. In this article the use of one such source of information is described and its potential for research into research education…