module specification

This module aims:
• To develop students understanding of research as disciplined enquiry;
• To introduce students to a range of influential examples of qualitative research in education and to evaluate them with reference to their design, methodological orientation, enactment and findings;
• To outline the character, purposes and applicability of quantitative and positivist research methodologies in relation to qualitative methods;
• To support students in reading and critically assessing research based studies both in terms of their findings and their processes;
• To examine the relationship between forms of educational research and their bearing on policy;
• To provide students with some initial guidance in methods of qualitative research as foundation for thinking about their Final Year Dissertation.

A comparative review of positivist, interpretivist and critical research paradigms; understanding of their philosophical rationale along with the possibilities and limitations they present; recognition of how each paradigm translates into research design and practices. LO1,LO3

A critical survey of educational research and identification of its historical and current concerns and key themes.  Critical discussion of the relationship between research, policy and professional practice, including topical notions surrounding research-informed practice. LO5

Research design, practice and ethics. LO2,LO6,LO7

Approaches to reading and interpreting published research. LO1,LO2,LO3,LO4,LO5,LO6,LO7

Students will learn in lectures, seminars and tutorial groups.  They will report and reflect on their progress through the module by posting literature reviews that will form part of the assessment of the module.  Sessions will also build in opportunities for peer review.  There will also be a continuing emphasis on academic literacies through the reading, writing and information literacy strategies.  Students will be explicitly guided through reading and study strategies to enable them to confident users of the research material presented to them; there will be a continuation of the “write to learn” strategy found in the course writing strategy.  Explicit connections will be made with other modules in which research challenges are presented.

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
1) Demonstrate an increasing fluency with published, peer-reviewed educational literature, especially that from journal sources, as part of their developing academic literacy;
2) Describe the territory addressed by educational research and the particular methods employed by some of the contributory disciplines of Education Studies;
3) Demonstrate an informed understanding of positivist, interpretivist and critical research paradigms and be able to identify these in the design and transaction of published research;
4) Discuss and critique specific pieces of educational research in terms of its methodological orientation and processes;
5) Identify critical linkages between research findings and their contribution to policy formation;
6) Frame clear research questions and match them with methods suited to answering those questions and, by implication, identifying those that are not suited;
7) Demonstrate a critical fluency and literacy appropriate to students entering their final year of study and about to embark on their own research project.

Assessment of this module will be as follows:
1. Summative assessment on theoretical paradigms and research strategies (2,500 words); weighting: 40%; Week due 14
2. Summative assessment  on proposed research topic for level 6 dissertation  (3,000 words)

Core Texts

Archer, L; Hollingworth, S and Mendick, H  (2010) Urban Youth and Schooling. Maidenhead: Mc GrawHill. Open University Press

Adams, J; Cochrane, M; and Dunne L eds (2012)  Applying theory to educational research: an introductory approach to case studies. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell

Bassey, M (2007) ‘On the kinds of research in educational settings’ in Hammersley, M (ed) Educational Research and Evidence based-practice. London: Sage

Bryman, A (2012) ‘The main preoccupations of qualitative researchers’. In Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 399-405

Burr, V (2003) ‘What is Social Constructionism’ In Social Constructionism. 2nd edition. Hove: Routledge

Hammersley, M (2003) ‘Can and Should Educational Research be Educative?’ Oxford Review of Education, 29: 1, pp3-25
Lichtman (2013) Qualitative Research in Education. London, Sage
O’Reilly, K. (2009) ‘Interpretivism’, In Key Concepts in Ethnography, London: Sage.

Goodson, I. and Sikes, P. (2001) Life History Research in Educational Settings, Buckingham, Open University Press (Chapter 4)

Hammersley, M (2003) ‘Can and Should Educational Research be Educative?’ Oxford Review of Education, 29: 1, pp3-25

Hammersley, M. and Atkinson, P. (2007) ‘What is ethnography’ (pp1-14), in Ethnography: Principles in Practice (Third Edition), London,

O’Reilly, K. (2009) ‘Interpretivism’, In Key Concepts in Ethnography, London: Sage.

O’Reilly, K. (2009) Key Concepts in Ethnography, London: Sage

O’Reilly, K. (2009) ‘Case Study’. In Key Concepts in Ethnography, London: Sage.

Punch, K (2009) Introduction to Research Methods in Education. London: Sage (See Chapter 7, Case Study, Ethnography; Chapter 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3  methods of data collection.

Other Research Methods Books

Atkins, L and Wallace, S (2012) Qualitative Research in Education. London Sage

Flick, U (2014) An Introduction to Qualitative Research . London: Sage

Other books
Ball, S. (ed.)(2004) The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Sociology of Education, London: Routledge
Burton, D., and Bartlett, S. (2009) Key Issues for Educational Researchers, London: Sage.
Delaney, C. (2008) Investigating Culture: An Experiential Introduction to Anthropology, Oxford: Blackwell
Fevre, R., and Bancroft, A. (2010) Dead White Men and Other Important People: Sociology’s Big Ideas, London: Palgrave Macmillan
Hammersley, M., and  Atkinson, P. (2007) Ethnography: Principles in Practice,(Third Edition), London: Routledge
Kellett, M., (2010) Rethinking Children and Research, London: Continuum
May, T. (2003) Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process, (Third Edition), Buckingham: Open University 
Plummer, K. (2005) Documents of Life 2, London: Sage
Hughes, J., and Sharrock, W. (1997) The Philosophy of Social Research, Harrow: Pearson Longman
Useful Journals
Gender and Education
History of Education
British Journal of the Sociology of Education
Education and Social Justice
European Journal of Cultural Studies
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 
Journal of Curriculum Studies
Journal of Education Policy
Language Awareness
Multicultural and Multilingual Development