This paper reports some methodological approaches to the analysis of argumentation discourse developed as part of the two-and-a-half year project titled "Enhancing the Quality of Argument in School Science" supported by the Economic and Social Research Council in the United Kingdom. In this project researchers collaborated with…

Since the report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher education (1997) on university teaching in the UK, there has been increasing emphasis on the professionalization of university teaching. Following the expansion of higher education, and widening student diversity there is even more of a need for teachers to teach well. Pedagogical…

Policy makers and researchers may have different agendas as to what constitutes "evidence". This paper reviews some of the issues currently debated in the UK and elsewhere about researchers' understandings of how social research can usefully inform the policy-making process, and their techniques for making it available. Using examples…

The Mass-Observation Archive at the University of Sussex sends regular "directives" to its panel of volunteer correspondents around the UK asking them to reflect on various issues relating to the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. Two directives from the 1980s and 1990s relate to libraries, books and reading habits. These sets of…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the literacy difficulties experienced by people with physical disabilities, and the factors that prevent them from improving their literacy skills. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 individuals with physical disabilities who defined themselves as having literacy difficulties. Four…

There has been considerable interest recently in the teaching of skills to undergraduate students. However, existing methods for collating data on how much, where and when students are taught and assessed skills have often been shown to be time-consuming and ineffective. Here, we outline an electronic research skills audit tool that has been…

This book offers an analysis and summary of school effectiveness research. The book reviews the history and "state of the art" knowledge in the field, with a look at the international research base; reviews those research practices in terms of design, data collection, and data analysis; and outlines some creative new directions for the…

Ethnographers have traditionally encountered problems in conducting qualitative research in elite settings. The powerful, in this case, the administrative and political elite in the United Kingdom, have considerable constitutional, legal, and cultural resources that enable them to deflect or channel any research in which they are the objects of…

A study examined the feasibility of measuring employment in high-technology sectors at the regional level. First, the effect of definition of the term "high-technology" on survey results was considered along with potential effects of using 2- and 3-digit classifications of technology occupations from the Nomenclature of Economic…

This paper reviews research on processes linking low incomes, deprived neighborhoods, and adverse outcomes for British children, identifying gaps and limitations in existing datasets and research strategies. Four domains are examined: education, health and psychological outcomes, crime and related behavior, and items linked to transitioning to…

Reports research concerning the definition of variables by pupils ages 12 to 14 during investigative work. Findings suggest that an increase in the complexity of an investigation lowers the ability to identify relevant variables and substantive concepts intrude on the ability to define the appropriate dependent variable and to control variables.…

Explores ways in which researchers gathered and analyzed data from time-log diaries kept by further education instructors in order to illuminate the social conditions of teaching. Describes the process of refinement of diaries and the combination of qualitative and quantitative data. (Contains 40 references.) (SK)

Describes a project in a social work agency designed to train and encourage social workers to apply single-case evaluation designs. Twenty-one social workers applied the designs in 83 cases, demonstrating considerable commitment. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used, and a large number of cases involved nonbehavioral interventions.…

In this paper I describe and discuss the way that a book I had written on a five-year longitudinal study of school science teaching was received by the pupils and teachers it featured. By and large the pupils' reception was positive. However, one group of teachers was deeply hurt by the book. I trace this mainly to my failure to consider…

This paper is about Ph.Ds, practitioner-centred research and action learning. The aim of this paper is to help develop a framework for those completing doctorates based on action learning. The paper explores relationships between the personal learning of action learning participants and the public knowledge associated with conventional research.…