Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-Time Researchers in Education and Social Science

If you are a beginner researcher, the problems facing you are much the same whether you are producing a small project, an MEd dissertation or a PhD thesis. You will need to select a topic; identify the objectives of your study; plan and design a suitable methodology; devise research instruments; negotiate access to institutions, material and people; collect, analyse and present information; and finally, produce a well-written report or dissertation. Whatever the scale of the undertaking, you will have to master techniques and devise a plan of action which does not attempt more than the limitations of expertise, time and access permit. We all learn to do research by actually doing it, but a great deal of time can be wasted and goodwill dissipated by inadequate preparation. This book aims to provide you with the tools to do the job, to help you avoid some of the pitfalls and time-wasting false trails that can eat into your time, and to establish good research habits. It takes you from the stage of choosing a topic through to the production of a well-planned, methodologically sound and well-written final report or dissertation on time. Doing Your Research Project serves as a source of reference and guide to good practice for all beginner researchers, whether undergraduate and postgraduate students or professionals such as teachers or social workers undertaking investigations in Education and the Social Sciences. This second edition retains the basic structure of the very successful first edition whilst incorporating some important new material.