Applying Theory to Educational Research: An Introductory Approach with Case Studies - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0470972351 ISBN 13: 9780470972359

Publisher: Wiley, 2011

Synopsis

Applying Theory to Educational Research provides educational researchers with an accessible introduction to the process of selecting and applying theories in their work. * Offers an innovative and accessible approach to educational research by providing practical examples of the application of theory * Gives 'hands-on' accounts for the researcher and practitioner * Explains and discusses complex ideas in the light of experience in using and applying them * Covers the application of major theorists such as Bourdieu, Foucault, Weber, Derrida, and Vygotsky For beginning researchers, theory can be one of the most stimulating yet intellectually daunting aspects of academic work. Applying Theory to Educational Research provides new educational researchers with a uniquely accessible introduction to the process of selecting and applying theories in their own work. Written by a team of leading educationalists writing from the perspective of new researchers, clearly structured chapters introduce individual theorists and their ideas, present their applications and limitations, and provide extensive references and suggestion for further reading. Major theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Max Weber, Jacques Derrida, and Lev Vygotsky are included, along with many more recent educational theorists. Throughout the text, helpful hints and signposts are provided to alert readers to the potential pitfalls of applying theory. Innovative and illuminating, Applying Theory to Educational Research offers a wealth of practical insights that will point the way for novice researchers struggling to navigate an often daunting intellectual obstacle course.

About this title

Review:

It is impossible to be in and of world with any degree of functional success, without recourse to theory. Managing day to day life, let alone engaging in the relatively esoteric pursuit of research, demands some reasonably coherent framework of reference within which to make sense of experiences and perceptions. We need theories – plausible explanations for what’s going on – to live and research by. When it comes to research students, my experience is that they either fear or embrace theory. In sharing lived experiences of using theory, this book will help to reassure the timid and excite the confident.
― Pat Sikes , Professor in Qualitative Inquiry, University of Sheffield, UK

Applying Theory to Educational Research offers a theoretically informed and thoroughly readable text for beginner researchers in the field of education. The book is grounded in the authors’ own research interests through which concepts and ideas of some of the key theorists in education are explored. A key strength of the text is the way in which it makes difficult and potentially daunting theoretical ideas and frameworks accessible. This innovative and student–friendly text will be an invaluable resource for all those new, and not so new, to the research process in the field of education.
―Rosalyn George, Professor of Education and Equality, Goldsmiths University of London, UK

From the Back Cover:

For beginning researchers, theory can be one of the most stimulating - yet intellectually daunting - aspects of academic work. Applying Theory to Educational Research provides new educational researchers with a uniquely accessible introduction to the process of selecting and applying theories in their own work. Written by a team of leading educationalists writing from the perspective of new researchers, clearly structured chapters introduce individual theorists and their ideas, present their applications and limitations, and provide extensive references and suggestion for further reading. Major theorists such as Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Max Weber, Jacques Derrida, and Lev Vygotsky are included, along with many more recent educational theorists. Throughout the text, helpful hints and signposts are provided to alert readers to the potential pitfalls of applying theory.

Innovative and illuminating, Applying Theory to Educational Research offers a wealth of practical insights that will point the way for novice researchers struggling to navigate an often daunting intellectual obstacle course.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0470972351
• ISBN 13: 9780470972359
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416
• Editor: Adams Jeff, Cochrane Matt, Dunne Linda