Applying Theory to Educational Research An Introductory Approach with Case Studies

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