MA Education: Dissertation Part 1 Module Reading List

Key Texts (we recommend that you purchase at least three of these texts)

Burton, N., Brundrett, M. and Jones, M. (2014) Doing Your Education Research Project, 2nd Edition, London: Sage.

Curtis, W., Murphy, M. and Shields, S. (2014) Research and Education, Abingdon: Routledge.

Kara, H. (2012) Research and Evaluation for Busy Practitioners: A time-saving guide, Bristol: The Policy Press.

Punch, K.F. (2014) Introduction to Social Research – Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, 3rd edition, London: Sage.

Punch, K.F. (2009) Introduction to Research Methods in Education, London: Sage.

Ridley, D. (2012) The Literature Review: A step-by-step guide for students, 2nd edition, London: Sage.

Additional Recommended Reading (not exhaustive – feel free to source others)

Anderson, G. and Arsenault, N. (1998) Fundamentals of Educational Research. 2nd Edition London: Falmer

Aull Davies, C. (2008) Reflexive Ethnography, Abingdon: Routledge.

Banas, P. A. and Dennis, J. R. (1971). Practical problems in questionnaire design. Academy of Management Proceedings

(00650668), pp. 55-58.

Basit, T. N. (2010) Conducting Research in Educational Contexts. London: Continuum

Basit, T. N. (2003) Manual or Electronic: the Role of Coding in Qualitative Data Analysis, Educational Research, vol. 45,

pp. 143-154

Bassey, M. (1990) On the Nature of Research in Education Research Intelligence vol. 37

Bell, J. (2010) Doing Your Research Project. 5th Edition Milton Keynes: Open University Press

Blaikie, N. (2000) Designing Social Research, Cambridge: Polity Press.

Blaxter, L. Hughes, C. & Tight, M. (2006) How to Research. 3rd Edition Buckingham: Open University

Burton, D. and Bartlett, S. (2004) Practitioner Research for Teachers. London: PCP

Burton, D. and Bartlett, S. (2009) Key Issues for Education Researchers. London: Sage

Baumfield, V. Hall, E. Wall, K. (2008) Action Research in the Classroom. London: Sage.

Becker, H. (2008) Writing for Social Scientists (2nd edn). Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Brace, I. (2004). Questionnaire design: how to plan, structure, and write survey material for effective market research.

London: Kogan Page.

Bradburn, M. N. (2004). Asking questions: the definitive guide to questionnaire design – for market research, political

polls, and social and health questionnaires. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Briggs, A. and Coleman, M (eds) (2007) Research Methods in Educational Leadership and Management. 2nd Edition. London: Sage

Byrne, D. (2002) Interpreting Quantitative Data. London: Sage

Birley, G. and Moreland, N. (1998) A Practical Guide to Academic Research. London: Kogan Page

Clough, P. and Nutbrown, C. (2007) A Students Guide to Methodology. Second Edition. London: Sage.

Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007) Research Methods in Education. 6th Edition London: Croom Helm

Don, A. Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D. and Christian, L. M. (2009). Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored

Design Method (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

Elliott, J. (2005) Using Narrative in Social Research. London: Sage

Field, A. (2009) Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Flick, U. (2002) An Introduction to Qualitative Research. London: Sage

Fraser, S. et al (2004) Doing Research with Children and Young People. London: Sage

Gendall, P. (1998). A framework for questionnaire design: Labaw revisited. Marketing Bulletin (01136895), 9, 28-39.

Gibson, W.J and Brown, A. (2009) Working with Qualitative Data, London: Sage

Gillham, B. (2008) Developing A Questionnaire (2nd edn). London: Continuum.

Gillham, B. (2000) The Research Interview. London: Continuum.

Greig, A., Taylor, J. and Mackay, T. (2007) Doing Research with Children (Second Edition), London: Sage.

Hague, P. (1993). Questionnaire design. London: Kogan Page.

Hopkins, D. (2008) A Teacher’s Guide to Classroom Research. 4th Edition. Buckingham: Open University Press

Kinnear, P. R. and Gray, C. D. (2000). SPSS for Windows made simple. Hove, East Sussesx: Psychology Press.

de Laine, M. (2000) Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research, London: Sage.

Lee, R.M. (2000) Unobtrusive Methods in Social Research, Buckingham: Open University Press.

Lietz, P. (2010). Research into questionnaire design. International Journal of Market Research, 52(2), 249-272.

Local Government Data Unit, Wales. A guide to questionnaire design. Available at:
https://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/Documents/Publications/adviceandguidance/CPS15010_Questionnaire_Design_FINAL_eng.pdf (gives

a useful discussion and examples of the different types of questions).

Mason, J. (2002) Qualitative Researching, London: Sage.

Munn, P. & Drever, E. (1995) Using Questionnaires in Small-Scale Research. SCRE.

Muijs, D. (2004). Doing quantitative research in Education with SPSS. London: Sage Publications.

Oppenheim, A. N . (1992). Questionnaire design, interviewing and attitude measurement. New York: Pinter Publications.

Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS survival manual: A step-by-step guide to data analysis (4th ed.). UK: Open University Press.

Presser, S. (2004). Methods for testing and evaluating survey questionnaires. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

Ritchie, J. and Lewis, J. (2003) (eds) Qualitative Research Practice, London: Sage.

Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research (2nd edn). Oxford: Blackwell.

Roscoe, A. M., Lang, D. And Sheth, J (1975). Follow-up methods, questionnaire length, and market differences in mail

surveys. Journal of Marketing, 39(2), 20-27.

Roulston, K. (2010) Reflective Interviewing: A guide to theory and practice, London: Sage.

Rourke, D. P. O. Questionnaire design. Survey Research Laboratory Seminar Series. Available at

https://www.srl.uic.edu/seminars/Qdesign/QDESIGN.pdf (gives a useful list of good and bad examples of questions).

Salkind, N. (2000) Statistics for People who (think they) Hate Statistics. London: Sage

Sanchez, M. E. (1992). Effects of questionnaire design on the quality of survey data. Public Opinion Quarterly, 56, 206-217.

Savin-Baden, M. and Howell Major, C. (2013) Qualitative Research: The essential guide to theory and practice, Abingdon:

Routledge.

Silverman, D. (2005) Doing Qualitative Research. 2nd Edition London: Sage

Yin, R. (2009) Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 4th edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Academic journals that may be relevant (not an exhaustive list!)

• British Educational Research Journal

• British Journal of Sociology of Education

• Cambridge Journal of Education

• Educational Action Research

• Educational Research

• Educational Review

• Educational Studies

• Ethnography and Education

• Gender and Education

• Globalisation, Societies and Education

• Higher Education Research and Development

• International Journal of Inclusive Education

• International Journal of Lifelong Education

• International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education

• International Journal of Research and Method in Education

• Journal of Education Policy

• Journal of Further and Higher Education

• Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management

• London Review of Education

• Oxford Review of Education

• Policy and Practice in Higher Education

• Research Papers in Education

• Studies in Continuing Education

• Studies in Higher Education

Education organisations that may be useful for your research (or developing you as an education researcher)

• BERA – British Educational Research Association – https://www.bera.ac.uk/

• NFER – National Foundation for Education Research – https://www.nfer.ac.uk/

• BESA – British Education Studies Association – https://educationstudies.org.uk/

• BSA – The British Sociological Society – https://www.britsoc.co.uk/

• The Sutton Trust – Improving social mobility through education -https://www.suttontrust.com/home/