Getting started with educational research

Getting started with educational research is a short introduction to the research process and offers help with questions and methods.

Book review: Doing research in education – Theory and practice

This review is about the book "Doing research in education". A fabulous resource and introduction to doing research in education.

The “I” in Fibromyalgia at the PGFes2016

This is my contribution to the Postgraduate Research Festival, the PGFes2016, at the University of Kent.

Identity boxes

In this post I describe what identity boxes are, how I developed the idea and why identity boxes can be used in research.

Simulation of cognitive dysfunction

This is a brief simulation of what cognitive dysfunction and brain fog feel like.

Teacher training placements

A brief outline of intended research in relation to the placements within teacher training.

How to create a research poster

Nowadays more and more emphasis is placed upon the impact of research. In many cases research students are even required to create a research poster as part of their thesis and enquiry submissions. However, how do you create a research poster?

The Mosaic approach according to Clark and Moss

Alison Clark and Peter Moss developed their own way of carrying out research with children – the Mosaic approach. The idea behind the Mosaic approach is that researchers collect data through a wide range of means. These are what Clark and Moss consider "individual tiles". It is then the researcher's task to put these individual pieces together to form one big picture, just like many little tiles are formed into one big mosaic.

Epistemology

Methodology and methods are only part of the story of choosing a research framework. The way you go about collecting and interpreting data is strongly influenced by how you interpret knowledge and truth. This is about the epistemology. In simple terms, epistemology is the theory of knowledge and deals with how knowledge is gathered and from which sources. In research terms your view of the world and of knowledge strongly influences your interpretation of data and therefore your philosophical standpoint should be made clear from the beginning.

Action research or case study?

When planning for a practice-based enquiry or small-scale study you will most often be confronted with the choice between an action research or case study approach. Here is a simplified exploration to get you started.

Methodology and methods – what are they?

When preparing a practice-based enquiry or research you will need to ask yourself how you will answer your research question or test your hypothesis. The methodology and methods section of a proposal or write-up lays out these ground rules and approaches you take.

Systematic reading to prepare a literature review

If you read a great range of articles you may find that you cannot remember who said what when and where. Therefore, a systematic approach to reading and taking notes is necessary. It may be helpful to apply the "CaMLISd" grid.

Sarah Pink: Doing Sensory Ethnography

Pink's understanding of ethnography is broader than that of a study relating to the culture or society of humans. Really, ethnography in Pink's view is a phenomenological study of life world and in the book she offers ways of accessing this life world through a range of channels. Pink suggests including the human senses at all levels of research. This book offers great justification for a less conventional approach to research; an approach where openness to what happens is paramount.

Invisible illness and academic identity

A brief outline of intended research in relation to the invisible illness fibromyalgia and its impact on academic identity.