Research in Early Childhood / Edition 1

by Andrea Nolan, Kym Macfarlane, Jennifer Cartmel

Overview

'Andrea Nolan and he colleagues have written a uniquely wise and reader-friendly account of all aspects of researching early childhood'
- Liz Brooker, Reader in Early Childhood, University of London Institute of Education

In this innovative guide to research in early childhood, the research process is presented as a journey and this book is your roadmap. The authors take you step-by-step through the practical considerations and complexities of undertaking research with young children featuring the real-world research journeys of two student researchers. Their authentic stories describe the emotions, challenges and moments of exhilaration involved in completing a research project.

The book gives guidance on all aspects of the research process, including:

- selecting a topic

- ethical considerations

- collecting your data

- analysing your data

- disseminating your findings.

This book will be an invaluable guide to students of Early Childhood completing a research project or writing a thesis or dissertation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857022547
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	05/29/2013
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

Why Become Involved in Research in Early Childhood?
Orientation: 'It's Like Another Language'
Exploring and Theorizing Perspectives
Beginning the Research Journey: Determining Your Point of Departure
Knowing What Has Gone before: Reviewing the Literature
Guiding the Research Journey: Ethical Considerations
Moving along Qualitative methodological pathways
Taking the Quantitative methodological trail
Drawing the journey to a close: Dissemination of the findings
The Journey

Editorial Reviews

'Andrea Nolan and her colleagues have written a uniquely wise and reader-friendly account of all aspects of researching early childhood. Unlike some similar-sounding texts, this is not a dumbed-down account, a 'beginner's guide to writing your research project', but a serious consideration of the whole sequence of undertaking research in the field, which tackles both the big issues and the difficult terminology in a clear and accessible way. It achieves this through the device of accompanying a very disparate group of researchers, from undergraduates to doctoral students and early-career professionals, through the stages of their research journey, from developing their early ideas through to writing up their findings. The featured researchers describe their repeated dilemmas and the decisions they have to make as they design and conduct their studies. These decisions are shown as embedded within much larger constructs about the nature of childhood and the appropriate forms of provision for young children and families - issues which are both political and ethical. The authors describe both the broad issues and the small, individual, decisions which lie within them with a depth of understanding which ensures that using the book can be a pleasure as well as a task for researchers as they set out to construct their own new knowledge about early childhood'

-Liz Brooker

Reader in Early Childhood, University of London Institute of Education

From the Publisher

This is a useful addition to the bookshelf of texts on research into early childhood, and is particularly aimed at a readership of students working towards higher degrees. Each chapter is clearly organised, starting with the key questions that will be dealt with in the chapter, sub-headings to enable the reader to keep track of the narrative and a set of ‘reflection point’ questions for the reader as they finish the chapter…A distinctive strength of the book is the way in which the authors use aspects of students’ reflections on the research enterprise as the students developed their projects. These exemplify the key points that are being made. For two doctoral students, Lara using qualitative and Amy using quantitative methods, we are able to follow them through the whole journey, from choosing a research topic, to their final reflections and discussion of their postdoctoral lives. This gives a refreshing slant on the topics discussed.

Bridget A. Egan