Louis Cohen - Research Methods in Education

This book has proved an invaluable resource for research projects during my PGCE course and currently for my MA in Education. It provides detailed coverage on methodology and is a comprehensive and accessible guide to conducting ethical research. In my opinion, it is an excellent resource for the novice as well as the more experienced; a must have for all budding researchers!

Marianne Lane, Theology and Religious Studies Teacher, Clitheroe, Lancashire and Secondary

PGCE in Religious Studies Graduate, University of Cumbria, UK

Cohen et al will remain a favoured and key text on all programmes in education. It is still the key text for all education students and researchers. The authors should be praised for updates that have improved the text. The book not only covers research methods but the research process.

Dr. Richard Race, Senior Lecturer in Education, Roehampton University, UK

This seventh edition of Research Methods in Education is a very comprehensive, well written and illustrated key text for anyone involved in research within and outside of education. It is a major resource for both the novice and professional researcher. The addition of new material in topics such as mixed methods research, visual media and internet sources, brings this text right up-to-date.

Dr. Pauline Joyce, Director of Academic Affairs at the Institute of Leadership,

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Ireland

This is a must-read for beginners, if they are seeking up-to-date content, straightforward explanations, easy-to-follow examples, and fewer statistical jargons and mathematical formulas! Most striking is how useful this book is for teaching introductory courses and for those interested in self-study because it is really grounded in educational research.

Mingming Zhou, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, National Institute of Education,

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

This 7th edition of Research Methods in Education is bigger and better than ever. Its coverage is comprehensive and authoritative, yet also coherent and lucid. It draws on a wide range of empirical examples and lively illustrations of complex concepts that engage the readers attention. It highlights current debates about different paradigms and methods, and its account of research ethics and politics is thought-provoking. It represents a landmark in publishing about educational research methods, and I thoroughly recommend it to students and instructors alike.

Patrick Danaher, PhD, Associate Professor (Education Research), Program Coordinator (Doctoral Programs), Associate Dean (Research) and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Education,

University of Southern Queensland, Australia

This text is truly a superb introduction to ALL paradigms of educational research. I recommend it without reservation to professors of research in the US and elsewhere. It does what few other texts of a similar nature do by providing a balanced and rigorous treatment of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Important emphases on critical educational research, ethics, virtual worlds, cross-cultural research, and many other essential and innovative areas also make the book stand out. I will certainly use it, and I strongly urge others to do so.

David F. Hemphill, Associate Dean and Professor, College of Education, San Francisco State University, USA

This rewritten, expanded and updated seventh edition of the long-running bestseller Research Methods in Education encompasses the whole range of methods currently employed by educational research at all stages. It offers plentiful and rich practical advice, underpinned by clear theoretical foundations, research evidence and up-to-date references.

Chapters new to this edition cover:

causation, critical educational research, evaluation and the politics of research, including material on cross-cultural research, mixed methods and participatory research

choosing and planning a research project, including material on sampling, research questions, literature reviews and ethical issues

meta-analysis, research syntheses and systematic reviews

virtual worlds and internet research

using and analysing visual media and data in educational research

organizing and presenting qualitative data, content analysis, coding and computer analysis, themes, narratives, conversations and discourses and grounded theory

understanding and choosing statistical tests, descriptive and inferential statistics, multi-dimensional measurement and factor analysis.

Research Methods in Education is essential reading for both the professional researcher and students of education at undergraduate and postgraduate level, who need to understand how to plan, conduct, analyse and use research.

Louis Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Education at Loughborough University, UK.

Lawrence Manion was former Principal Lecturer at Didsbury School of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

Keith Morrison is Professor and Registrar at Macau University of Science and Technology, formerly at Durham University, UK.

Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and

Keith Morrison

With contributions from

Richard Bell, Stewart Martin,

Gary McCulloch and Carmel OSullivan

This seventh edition published 2011

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2011 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, Richard Bell, Stewart Martin, Gary McCulloch and Carmel OSullivan

The right of Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion, Keith Morrison, Richard Bell, Stewart Martin, Gary McCulloch and Carmel OSullivan to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data