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The COVID-19 pandemic has become a critical challenge for the higher education sector. Exploring the capacity of this sector to adapt in the state of uncertainty has become more significant than ever. In this paper, we critically reflect on our experience of teaching urban design research methods online during the early COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. This is an exploratory case study with a qualitative approach with an aim to inform resilient practices of teaching in the face of public health emergencies. Drawing on the experience of teaching the Research Methods and Techniques subject during lockdown, we discuss the rapid transition from face-to-face to online teaching and point to the challenges and opportunities in relation to the learning and teaching activities, assessment and feedback, and digital platforms. This paper concludes by outlining some key considerations to inform the development of more adaptive and resilient approaches to online teaching in the context of unprecedented global health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that it is critical to move beyond fixed pedagogical frameworks to harness the productive capacities of adaptive teaching.

COVID-19 immediately and radically necessitated changes in the way we worked as social researchers; not only in terms of fieldwork, but also in terms of collaboration. In this paper, we outline the rationale, processes, and potential of a collective of 14 research teams both inside and outside of academia working together across the UK to synthesise findings on the experiences of over 4,000 families parents and carers living on a low-income during the pandemic. Drawing on an approach based on meta-ethnography, our collective body of work comprises novel evidence and insights generated with a major cohort of families living on a low-income, through which we examine the impacts of the pandemic, and implications for social policy. This paper focuses on the practical, ethical, and methodological learnings and reflections on the processes of research synthesis in the pandemic context, and beyond. We set out the underpinning principles that guided our collaborative efforts before we explore the possibilities and challenges of working together to produce coherent, timely, and relevant findings that were shared with policy makers and those in power. Finally, we emphasise the significant potential of working collaboratively, and stress the importance of continuing to do so in a post-pandemic context.

The revamp of the National Student Survey (NSS) has led to the elimination of the final 'overall satisfaction' question for Higher Education Institutions in England. This paper develops an index approach that can effectively summarise student satisfaction, utilising a 'fuzzy poverty' methodology that assigns weights to dissatisfaction outcomes based on their correlation levels. We show how our dissatisfaction index enables a comprehensive sector-level analysis by combining NSS data with sector-wide data and further show the usefulness by presenting a case study. Our approach can be universally and unbiasedly applied to student surveys globally, while alleviating problems related to the removal of the overall satisfaction question in the UK.

In qualitative doctoral research the methodological approach, and the research design are extremely important when ensuring the rigorousness of the work. This is particularly significant for all researchers, and even more for doctoral students who are still developing their research and analytical skills. This paper aims to support doctoral students in their research journey by highlighting some of the tensions involved in conducting qualitative research by unpicking the experiences of two doctoral students to learn from the concerns, questions and reflections on the use of qualitative methodology in their doctoral research projects. The findings reveal challenges and insights with regards to reflection, educational research and the developing identity of being a researcher. The paper discusses these reflections to support and guide doctoral students as early career researchers when planning and conducting qualitative research in educational settings.

This paper inhabits the increasingly popular space of autoethnographic study. The piece is designed to critique and contextualise the process and usefulness of autoethnography as a way of making meaning. The study centres on how one highly experienced teacher and newly appointed teacher educator is using narrative writing to unpick and locate their skillset in a period of swift change and marked transition. One of the reasons for this choice is the freedom that autoethnography allows. Autoethnography is frequently dismissed as vague and self-indulgent as a method of social research. This paper will propose that autoethnography is a rigorous and powerful research method. It deploys some innovative methods of data collection, analysis and dissemination. The paper's discussion of the literature will naturally help interrogate debates around where autoethnography sits in the intellectual landscape related to qualitative research. The study found that using grounded theory as a research methodology helped arrive at potentially illuminating theories and self-knowledge. These were limited, however, by the underlying risk of indulgence, subjective autobiographical writing and participant bias. The paper also has potential value as a way of helping early career teachers explore critical incidents.

The COVID-19 Psychological Wellbeing Study was designed and implemented as a rapid survey of the psychosocial impacts of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), known as COVID-19 in residents across the United Kingdom. This study utilised a longitudinal design to collect online survey based data. The aim of this paper was to describe (1) the rationale behind the study and the corresponding selection of constructs to be assessed; (2) the study design and methodology; (3) the resultant sociodemographic characteristics of the full sample; (4) how the baseline survey data compares to the UK adult population (using data from the Census) on a variety of sociodemographic variables; (5) the ongoing efforts for weekly and monthly longitudinal assessments of the baseline cohort; and (6) outline future research directions. We believe the study is in a unique position to make a significant contribution to the growing body of literature to help understand the psychological impact of this pandemic and inform future clinical and research directions that the UK will implement in response to COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an account of the topological and its description of contemporary culture and use as a research methodology, a topological lens, generally, and in education research specifically. Some commentary is proffered on the relationships between the topological and the topographical, between relations and locations. A critical account is then provided on each of the papers in the special issue on the topological in education research and the specific contributions of each. The editors of the special issue make the important point that the topological is a spatio-temporal phenomenon, not just a spatial one. The topological does not exist in time and space, but rather constructs both and they change in a conjoint manner. As such, a topological lens rejects a construction of space as static and of time (and the temporal) as simply linear and chronological. The topological has been facilitated and articulated by and through practices of commensuration, datafication and digitalisation, flows and scapes, global connectivities and new relations, mobilities of various kinds and multiple networks. The paper argues that much greater emphasis has been given to the spatial in topological research; that is, there has been some neglect of the temporal in the spatio-temporal character of topologies.

The article is concerned with the research approaches and nature of methodologies and epistemologies used by practitioner-researchers in a range of occupational areas. The authors use the experiences of candidates on a generic Doctorate in Professional Studies who undertake a module on research and development for professional practice. They also bring their experience as tutors and programme leaders and the results from focus groups with their peers in other universities to this current and topical area of the higher education curriculum. Part of the module asks candidates to write an assignment in which they investigate the methodologies and epistemologies used as a practitioner-researcher. A close analysis of ten of these assignments reveals that the methodologies selected for practice-based projects may be as a result of the candidates' personal, professional and disciplinary backgrounds as well as a time imperative and desire for brevity that arises from an immediacy in the situation. The authors also conclude that a range of factors were important to the practitioner-researchers and that these have important epistemological implications. The social-science-oriented approaches introduced on the programme offer tried and tested ways to research, but more practice-based approaches to practitioner-research could be developed further. (Contains 2 figures.)

When researching with or about families in home-based research, there are numerous unexpected ethical issues that can emerge, particularly in qualitative research. This paper is based on reflective accounts of four homed-based research projects, two in the UK and two Australia, which examined ethical dilemmas identified when engaged in home-based research with young children. Using a synergy of ecocultural theory and Foucauldian ideas of Heterotopia as theoretical conceptualisations, the authors employed reflective lenses to guide their approach, and examine dilemmas and complexities when conducting research in the home. We argue that, to address ethical dilemmas, researchers need to problematise and reflect upon the nature of respectful approaches and the ethical implications of their behaviours. We conclude that, although ethical codes are valuable when researching families at home, researchers should plan for and forefront their methodological approaches in ways that are family-centred, whilst also framed by practices that are ethical, respectful and reflective to the situated contexts of family's ecologies and heterotopias.

The challenge of research methods teaching is gaining attention among policy-makers keen to build social science research capacity and, critically, among educationalists keen to enhance the pedagogy. This paper addresses pedagogy, presenting a new conceptual-empirical typology of pedagogy for social science research methods teaching. Taking a sociocultural perspective, pedagogy is seen as encompassing both actions and underlying values. A mix of qualitative methods was used to engage more than 100 methods teachers (plus students) from diverse UK and international contexts. An expert panel method and focus groups helped elucidate pedagogical knowledge. Video-stimulated reflective dialogue added detail to that knowledge. Thematic analysis was used to make sense of teaching practice with individuals and across the dataset. A typology of research methods teaching developed iteratively across this process, proposing the core categories of "approach," "strategy," "tactics" and "tasks." In-depth case studies helped to gain nuance and test the emergent typology "in situ." The paper argues that the typology contributes a dynamic tool for developing practice. It transforms the way we think about teaching and can be applied in any social science research method teaching context, benefitting the pedagogic community by enabling greater focus in planning and reflection.

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The purpose of this review study was to conduct a thematic exploration of prior studies related to the transition between primary and secondary school. The aim of the paper was to discover (1) the extent of earlier research, (2) how earlier research thematises social and emotional issues, and (3) suggestions of those studies concerning how to improve schools. Searches were conducted across four international databases of peer-reviewed research to identify articles published in the last decade on the topic 'transition between primary and secondary school'. Articles related to social and emotional issues were further selected, and thematic analysis was conducted on the selected 29 articles to identify the topical focus. This review study draws attention to the importance of understanding challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school. Overall, the analysed studies indicate that this is an important focus for educational research. Key issues related to support and wellbeing/bullying have emerged, which clarify the importance of further research in this field. The present study may also contribute to increasing awareness among policy makers and school leaders of the challenges related to the transition between primary and secondary school.

The paper provides an overview of the global research on graduate education. The study applied a combination of a bibliometric and social network analysis methods to bibliographic data from Thompson Reuters' Web of Science. More specifically, a keyword search approach was used to retrieve 2,454 articles on graduate education from 1996 until 2020. The set was processed with the VantagePoint software. The paper reports the findings in the form of lists of top scholars, research centres, and countries contributing to research on graduate education. The findings include similar lists of the key funding agencies, contributing disciplines and publication venues, as well as maps representing collaborative activity in the field between institutions, and countries. Finally, the frequency of utilisation of groups of author-supplied keywords is analysed to determine the basic thematic structure of the research on the topic. The originality of the paper consists in the fact that it represents the first attempt to map the landscape of research on graduate education using bibliographic data. It can be used to supplement the results of literature reviews on the topic, which apply a more in-depth content analysis-based approaches to a limited number of papers to determine the thematic structure of the field.

Purpose: The use of online focus groups to explore children and young people's (CYP) perspectives of inequalities in health and associated "sensitive" topics raises important ethical and methodological issues to consider. The purpose of the paper is to discuss lessons learnt from navigating the authors' way through some of the key challenges the authors encountered when researching inequalities in health with CYP through online focus groups. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper, the authors draw on reflections and notes from the fieldwork design, public involvement and engagement (PIE) activities and data collection for their research project. Findings: Collecting data online influenced the authors' ability to develop rapport and relationships with CYP and to provide effective support when discussing sensitive topics. The authors note that building activities to develop rapport with participants during recruitment and data collection and establishing clear support and safeguarding protocols helped navigate challenges of online approaches around effective and supportive participant engagement. Originality/value: The paper highlights that despite ethical and methodological challenges of conducting online focus groups with CYP on potentially sensitive topics, the adoption of practical steps and strategies before, during and following data collection can facilitate the safe participation of CYP and generate useful and valid data in meaningful and appropriate ways.

Teaching and learning research in higher education, often referred to as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), is still relatively novel in many academic contexts compared to the mainstay of disciplinary research. One indication of this is the challenges those who engage in SoTL report in terms of how this work is valued or considered credible amongst disciplinary colleagues and in the face of institutional policies and practices. This paper moves beyond the literature that describes these specific challenges to investigate how 23 experienced SoTL researchers from five different countries understood the notion of credibility in relationship to their SoTL research and how they went about developing credibility for their work. Semistructured interviews were facilitated and analyzed using inductive analysis. Findings indicate that notions of credibility encompassed putting SoTL research into action and building capacity and community around research findings, as well as gaining external validation through traditional indicators such as publishing. SoTL researchers reported a variety of strategies and approaches they were using, both formal and informal, to develop credibility for their work. The direct focus of this paper on "credibility" of SoTL work as perceived by experienced SoTL researchers, and how they go about developing credibility, is a distinct contribution to the discussions about the valuing of SoTL work.

This paper primarily discusses the methodology of a case study into interactions and working practices of an elearning team, on and offline. Although several ethnographies have been published on online learning, there are apparently none involving communities developing courses. This is a unique insight, bringing a new view of course and staff development. The e-learning team develops courses in the Faculty of Medical Sciences Graduate School in a UK higher education institution. Interactions occur online and offline, the team's workplace "setting". The ethnography is to inform future staff development by analysing interaction outside the team with the subject specialists, generally time-poor clinicians and research scientists who have varied experience of e-learning, but are required to provide course content and to teach their subjects in online distance learning courses. Records kept by team members were enlarged upon via weekly interviews and collated by a team member who developed a narrative, subsequently coded into content themes. The main themes were technology, pedagogy and communication. Conversation analysis provided theories on methods useful in staff development for later action research. Consideration was also given to issues of power within the interactional relationships. The paper discusses challenges and strengths of this collaborative self-ethnography as a research methodology in this e-learning setting. It was concluded that collaborative self-ethnography is a highly suitable research methodology for this type of study.

This paper argues that an Arts-Based Research (ABR) methodology, drawing on the Ethnofiction work of filmmaker Jean Rouch, can facilitate new ways of researching mathematics, science and education more generally by: (i) making past learning experiences more accessible and (ii) considering the affective engagement of the audience as interrogator of research to open up myriad understandings of research data. Here, dissemination and impact are positioned as 'inside' the research process, rather than 'informed by' or directed by the outcome of research. The paper discusses the research film "Performatics: Performing stories of mathematical identity through filmed drama Performatics" https://vimeo.com/147449932, and a scene "which shows" Claire (a postgraduate student studying quantitative analysis), in a scene entitled 'Sum Anxiety', as she dramatizes an experience from the secondary school mathematics classroom. A moment, which Claire expresses as pivotal in negatively affecting her as a mathematics learner; an experience still viscerally felt.

This paper reports on the novel methodology used in a participatory project called 'Inside the History of Learning Disabilities.' Through engaging learning-disabled people as co-researchers with valuable insider knowledge and expertise to share, the project sought to disrupt hegemonic discourses around both the history of 'learning disabilities', and of the lived experience of learning disabilities today. The overall objective was to make an important contribution to the growing field of interdisciplinary and emancipatory research about learning disabilities. The year-long project used a bespoke, two-step methodology in addressing this objective, combining archival research with a series of participatory focused workshops. Traditional methods and academic expertise in archival research and textual analysis were combined with less orthodox approaches to elicit insider knowledge about learning disabilities, which was then expressed in a range of ways. These expressions provide preliminary indications of how emancipatory and transformational research aims may be met. The paper makes a contribution to the discourse around new and emerging action research methodologies which seek to promote social justice. It describes away to not only recognise and challenge the oppression and exclusion encountered by disabled people, but to advocate for appreciation of disability and the insider-knowledge learning-disabled people have.

Background: Working together and co‐production with public advisors have become popular among health researchers. This practice extends to doctoral researchers who involve public advisors at different stages of their research or throughout their doctoral journey. Objective: A doctoral researcher and two public advisors jointly evaluated public involvement in doctoral research. Methods: Using the established public involvement evaluation framework by Gibson and colleagues, public advisors and a doctoral researcher mapped and evaluated their experiences of public involvement in doctoral research. The four‐dimensional framework allowed the authors to reflect on (1) the strength of the public voice, (2) the number of ways in which public advisors had an opportunity to get involved, (3) whether the discussion was about the public or organisation's (doctoral researcher, university or funder) concerns and (4) if the organisation changed or resisted feedback. Results are presented in a diagrammatic and narrative way. Results: Public advisors saw themselves as having a stronger voice in doctoral research than the doctoral researcher perceived. All agreed that there existed multiple ways for public advisors to be involved. Public advisors' feedback was taken on board, but it was also limited due to restrictions of what the doctoral programme allowed. Conclusion: Public advisors ensured that the doctoral research was more relevant to the public. The ongoing involvement also shaped the doctoral researcher's thinking and views. Patient and Public Involvement: Two public advisors were involved throughout the 3 years of this doctoral research. They co‐evaluated this involvement and are co‐authors of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Centre for Psychosocial Research in Cancer conducts world-leading research and service evaluations to support well-being and quality of life amongst those affected by cancer. This paper reflects on how we adapted our research management and study methods during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the implications for ongoing research practice. We use four case studies to consider the benefits and challenges of adapting to remote approaches to research and evaluation delivery: maintaining high ethical standards and data security in evaluation projects with remote approvals; recruiting for and running online discussion groups to inform intervention development; designing and delivering an in-person intervention via video conferencing; and adapting a longitudinal qualitative study to focus on newly emerging issues. We reflect on how we can maintain quality and rigour when conducting remote research and evaluation, and how this can affect our experience as researchers. We also consider possible implications of the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic for the funding and design of future research and evaluations.

Data collection in qualitative research is intended to capture the participant experience in relation to defined phenomena. Whilst attention is given to the different ways of gathering qualitative data, the presence of the researcher is a common feature. However, the researcher does not hold an inert position in the data collection process and may influence the type and level of data obtained. This paper highlights and explores the issue of researcher presence by suggesting a strategy to distance the researcher from the data collection frame via self-governing focus groups. Developed in a study examining vocational student experience in further education, a data collection method is proposed which aims to reduce the influencing factor of the researcher. A self-administered structured question schedule replaces the interviewer to promote authentic access to the participant voice in an environment which is familiar, comfortable and safe. Consideration is given to the construction of the question schedule and recording procedure which aims to stimulate inclusive and unhindered contributions, as well as maintaining the research focus. The analysis of contributions indicates that by standing back, the researcher can see authentic customary social processes which reveal a meaning of the phenomena for the participants.

This paper outlines the research design, methodology and methods employed in research conducted in the context of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and focuses on the Heads of e-Learning (HeLs) perspective about Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) by campus-based UK institutions. This paper aims to expand on the research design and the research methodology that was followed as part of this research, making a justified argument for mixed methods approaches in e-learning contexts. The background of this research and its research questions is outlined first to provide the context of this research. Following a review of the literature on TEL that informed this research, this paper provides an explanation of the researcher's worldview before discussing the chosen research design. The status of the findings and their generalisability based on the chosen methodology are then discussed. The research findings show that most universities represented in the survey offered various staff development opportunities to their academic staff in the effective use of TEL and that examples of innovative use of technology are evident in some areas in all participating institutions. Staff's digital skills and competencies coupled with a pedagogical underpinning as well as a supportive institutional culture were found to be the enablers for the effective implementation of TEL, according to the HeLs' expert informed responses. The paper is summarised and concluded making a case for the adoption of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) in e-learning settings.

In this paper, we examine the use of creative methods for understanding the experience of young adults aged between 16 and 30 years over a year following a cancer diagnosis. Exploring the renegotiation of identity, the narrative, longitudinal research design of the study demonstrated the unfolding process of the narrative work between participants and researcher. We used a combination of visual, spoken and reflexive psychosocial approaches to understand emergent narratives, many of which do not always find symbolisation in language. Our methodological approach focused on the difficult and sometimes 'unspeakable' nature of the young adults' narratives, demonstrating the importance of different modes of communication in articulating complicated relations with uncertain futures. In this respect the links between narrative, social action and the imagining of possible futures are precarious. In this paper, we explore how untellable issues were explored, and the challenges of doing so.

The central theme of this paper is about providing opportunities for the participants to discuss sensitive issues in a safe environment with the researcher and group, actively listening and making meaning from their creative efforts. It introduces a creative research method used to provide a medium for adults to discuss a sensitive issue. The participants took part in focus groups and also created craft-based models as a means to share their thoughts and feelings. Creating and describing the model provided a safe distance and took pressure off the creators, it also led to rich, deep data as participants were able to share thoughts and emotions without reticence. The sensitive issue used as an example in this paper was mental health as it affected teaching and learning. The whole process of making the model and the subsequent discussion was recorded. The conversation during the creative process and the reaction of the group to the model were also considered as data and the researcher drew all this together into a narrative which encapsulated the process. Meaning making in such a constructed way can be subject to bias but a reflexive approach and being an outsider researcher for all focus groups reduced these limitations. This approach to data handling added depth and made the creative process accessible whilst unpicking metaphors and making explicit links to relevant theory. Analysis of the narratives provided themes related to the thoughts and feelings of the participants about how mental health impacts on teaching and learning. The teacher trainees all considered the stigma still associated with this sensitive topic and commented on the barrier to learning that this could present. The group all acknowledged a lack of awareness and training to deal with this particular barrier and sought awareness raising that was targeted to teacher trainees and the needs of adult learners.

Working as women in academia may still be regarded as 'complex and fraught with myths, gross generalisations and mixed emotions' (Barakat, 2014, p. 1). In this paper, we articulate the collaborative autoethnographic process in which we have been engaged over some time and through which we have challenged generalisations, explored emotions and illuminated further our complex identities as women in academia. Sharing and making visible our collaborative autoethnographic conversations and writing to other readers is risky and exposes us to possible censure. We realise that we are susceptible to being disparaged for being self-indulgent -- a common criticism of autoethnography -- yet we contend that our conversations and writing are both self and socially luminous as we connect our 'selves' with the UK higher education context. The paper's main focus is the collaborative autoethnographic process in which we have been engaged. Examples from our conversations and writing are included in order to demonstrate the power of this process and its potential and wider relevance for research.

This paper discusses ethical issues surrounding Netnography, an innovative methodology, relatively unusual in Education research. It explores the ethical approach developed for a study of UK mother perspectives on primary school homework found on open-access parenting websites, reviewing issues considered at the project's outset and examining researcher decisions around the ethical stance. Using the concept of 'negotiated ethics', ethical obstacles were deliberated, to develop an appropriate ethical position and procedure which answered challenging issues arising from the methodology, research aims and particular field. Building on an existing proposition that the internet is a hybrid of space and text, the paper reveals how this conceptualisation, accompanied by an understanding of contributors to forum interaction as a type of participant-publisher, was a prerequisite for establishing the ethical grounds. The paper recommends tailoring ethics procedures to the nuanced contexts of individual online projects, their methodologies, topics and fields.

Examines Burt's contributions to typographical research on spacing words and texts; use of serifs, and the effects of typefaces, typesizes, and line-length on reading comprehension. In spite of Hearnshaw's (1979) favorable assessment and the wisdom of Burt's sentiments, many of his conclusions were not supported by data. (JAC)

Purpose: This paper identifies the need to expand the range of research methodologies considered suitable for high-calibre property research publications in the top property journals, particularly concerning the critical "bigger" property research issues going forward. This is important for early career researchers (ECRs), as the ECRs develop the suitability of the research methodologies used by the ECRs in expanding the ECRs' property research agendas. Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on a thorough understanding and extensive experience of the range of property research methodologies available today to publish in the top property journals. This depth of understanding is supported by extensive discussions with leading property industry professionals, as well as reviewing the property research, track record of several leading property researchers from the UK. Findings: A broader range of research methodologies is needed in property research today to fully capture the challenges of the critical property research questions going forward. These methodologies need to go well beyond the finance paradigm that has dominated property research in recent years. Practical implications: Many of the key property research questions going forward need to be addressed by a range of methodologies for richer and deeper insights into resolving these property issues. This particularly relates to the important research issues for the property industry which require a "bigger picture" analysis of these issues, with the research presented in a manner which is accessible and relevant to property industry professionals. Originality/value: This paper addresses the need to expand the research methodologies used in property research today. This is a key issue for property researchers going forward, as many of the important property research questions cannot be addressed from just within the traditional finance paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of international interest in teachers' literate identities and practices, this paper addresses the under-researched area of teachers' writing identities. It examines the multimodal interactive discursive practices at play in the writing classroom of a teacher in the UK who, in order to support the pupils, consciously positions herself as a writer in this context, seeking to model engagement through demonstrating writing in whole-class sessions and composing alongside pupils in groups. Drawing on previous empirical work which explored the fluid identities performed and enacted by this teacher (Cremin & Baker, 2010), the paper, examining video material, affords detailed analysis of the multimodal interactive discourses indexed in demonstration writing and writing alongside. It maps specific instances of discursive practice onto a model for conceptualising teachers' writing identities: a teacher-writer, writer-teacher identity continuum. It reveals on-going conflict between the teacher's intended discourse positions/identities and the recognition (Gee, 2005) and acceptance of these attempts by the pupils. The paper, in contributing new understandings about the microscopic, fluid and conflictual dimensions of identity positioning in these particular practice contexts, highlights the importance of the embodied discoursal voice of the pedagogue. Additionally, it offers a new analytic tool for understanding how teacher behaviour opens and constrains identity positions and argues that multimodal interaction in teaching writing deserves increased methodological attention.

With the push for evidence-informed policy and practice, schools and policy makers are now increasingly encouraged and supported to use and enagage with research evidence. This means that consumers of research will now need to be discerning in judging the quality of research evidence that will inform their decisions. This paper evaluates the quality of evidence behind some well-known education programmes using examples from previous reviews of over 5,000 studies on a range of topics. It shows that much of the evidence is weak, and fundamental flaws in research are not uncommon. This is a serious problem if teaching practices and important policy decisions are made based on such flawed evidence. Lives may be damaged and opportunities missed. The aim of this paper is to show how widespread this problem is and to suggest ways by which the quality of education research may be improved. For example, funders of research and research bodies need to insist on quality research and fund only those that meet the minimum quality criteria. Journal editors and reviewers need to be cognizant of fundamental flaws in research and reject such submissions. One way to do this is to encourage submission of the research design and research protocol prior to acceptance, so acceptance or rejection is based on the design and not on the outcomes. This helps prevent publication bias and biased reporting. Individual researchers can improve quality by making it their moral responsibility to be truthful and transparent.

International comparative ethnographic studies of ECEC (Early Childhood Education and Care) are difficult to conduct but worth the effort. Comparative studies featuring thick description and polysemic interpretations can challenge taken-for-granted assumptions, expand the menu of the possible, expose the provincialism of national approaches, and illuminate the global circulation of ECEC practices and ideas. Based on reflections on four major comparative international studies I have led, in this paper I describe effective strategies for conducting comparative ethnographic research in ECEC settings, explicate the rationale for doing so, and provide examples of how this approach can impact research, practice, and policy. Issues I address include the rationale for selecting countries for comparison, the formation of a research team, and distributing interpretive voice and power.

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to discuss the "Q-Step in the Community" programme, part of the Q-Step Centre based in the Sociology Department at Manchester Metropolitan University, designed to help address the skills gap in quantitative methods (QM) that is evident across parts of the UK higher-education sector. "Q-Step in the Community" is a data-driven work-based learning programme that works in partnership with local organisations to provide placement opportunities for final year undergraduates and postgraduates. Students conduct a quantitative research project, which is typically identified by the placement provider. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use quantitative and qualitative feedback from students and placement providers, along with our own reflections on the process to evaluate the placement programme. Data were collected through a focus group and email interviews with placement providers, along with a questionnaire, which was distributed to "Q-Step in the Community" alumni. Findings: Data-driven work-based learning opportunities allow students to develop and demonstrate their quantitative skills and support networking opportunities whilst also developing valuable soft-skills experience of the workplace that develops their career-readiness. In addition, those opportunities provide valuable research for placement providers, which support their sustainability and enhance their service delivery. Research limitations/implications: The research focusses solely on one programme at one university offering quantitative data driven work-based learning opportunities at undergraduate and post-graduate level. It is not possible to make valid comparisons between those who do a placement with those who do not. Originality/value: Views of key stakeholders in the process have been sought for this research, which can be useful to consider for others considering developing similar programmes for their students.

Institutional ethnography (IE) is a feminist approach to research focusing on the organising power of texts and language. This paper explores "how" to analyse texts in IE while considering the importance of reflexivity and accountability to feminist research. Based on a five year study of UK university audit processes, I developed a three-part IE text analysis approach which sits on a spectrum of closeness to the text(s) under analysis: (i) text -- close analysis of one text or a small array of texts; (ii) process -- mapping across a textually-mediated process and (iii) discourse -- identifying a textually mediated discourse. Additionally, I make three analytic points about how texts organise: the importance of reader interpretation (researchers and users of texts); the strategic multi-layered translation work done by readers to fit into institutions and anticipate readerships; and, the importance of non-readers who can make mythologised understandings of texts material through writing future texts.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to focus on a designed research methodology to distil existing research findings from an esrc/ahrc funded japan/uk network on location-based virtual reality experiences for children in order to generate new knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: The structured co-production methodology was undertaken in three stages. These were: (1) a collaborative workshop which produced a series of collage narratives, (2) collaborating with a non-human entity in the form of a digital coded tool to reconfigure the workshop responses and mediate the hierarchy of roles, (3) the co-production of a zine as a collaborative reflection method, which shared via postal service enabled a dialogue and exchange of round Robin interventions by the network members. Findings: The analysis of the data collected in this study highlighted five themes that could be used by other researchers on a wide range of projects. These were: (1) knowing through making, (2) the importance of process, (3) beyond linear representations, (4) agency of physical materials and (5) agency of digital code. Research limitations/implications: The context of the study being undertaken during the first phase of the global pandemic, revealed insight into a method of co-production that was undertaken under emergency remote working conditions. The knowledge generated from this can be applied to other research contexts such as working with researchers or participants across global borders without the need to travel. Originality/value: The research provides an innovative rethinking of co-production methods in order to generate new knowledge from multidisciplinary and multimodal research.

The nature of learning is being augmented by new digital tools, particularly by mobile devices and the networks and structures to which they connect people. In this paper I examine some longitudinal research "threads" that have pervaded my work over the last two decades: (i) the powerful perspectives on learning and development put forward by Vygotsky, (ii) an evolutionary educational design research approach, and (iii) notions surrounding the temporal nature of learning. Specifically, this paper explores these threads through narrative "snap shots" of my research, from the past and present, in order to propose some preliminary thoughts on the nature of what I am calling Augmented Contexts for Development; an extension of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development that takes into account the characteristics of 21st Century mass media structures, agency and practices. There appears to be a generality uncovered by my proposed visualisation/augmentation oriented approach; learners are supported as they co-create temporal contexts where the time field of attention becomes detached from the perceptual field and unfolds itself in time, thus augmenting development and learning. Future work into Augmented Contexts for Development will have as a goal the desire to investigate the means by which digital technology and media can be used to mediate formal and informal learners meaning making as they independently navigate or unfold their attention in relation to temporal dimensions. (Contains 1 table, 4 footnotes and 4 figures.)

The Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 3 Evaluation was a four year project across England exploring the concept of Learning to Learn in 33 primary and secondary schools. The project was funded through the UK based Campaign for Learning. One of the key aims of the project was to ensure that the locus of control in terms of development remains with the schools, who decided on the focus of innovation relevant to them under the umbrella heading of Learning to Learn. A team from the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching at Newcastle University then supported and facilitated the teachers in the systematic evaluation of their experiences. As a result we believe that this process supported meaningful professional development about teaching and learning. This paper exemplifies this process through two professional enquiries into pupil talk in the classroom and how it supported learning. The projects were carried out by teachers in two schools, one secondary (11-18 years) and one primary (4-11 years). Both schools decided that encouraging pupil talk about learning best fit with their priorities and the project aims of exploring Learning to Learn. The paper describes the different research methods and findings of the teachers' research, focusing on the decision making which occurred and how the process of the research has impacted on their professional development. Conclusions are drawn about how the philosophy of Learning to Learn can be as easily applied to the process of professional enquiry through action research and teachers' learning, as to the more traditional domain of students' learning and how this might contribute to the development of a successful Learning to Learn school culture. (Contains 10 figures and 2 endnotes.)

Arguably an essential element of a doctoral study is to establish and acknowledge a philosophical worldview. As part of this, researchers need to engage with and challenge their assumptions about the nature of being, the nature of knowledge, and what can be known. Only then can methodological designs, approaches to data analysis, and relationships between researchers and participants be established and situated within a particular research paradigm. Contextualised within a PhD study concerning teacher pedagogic practice, this paper describes the process of abandoning a positivist worldview in favour of interpretivism. The paper describes the process of developing an ethnographically inspired methodology combining practice theory [Kemmis, S., and P. Grootenboer. 2008. "Situating Praxis in Practice." In "Enabling Praxis: Challenges for Education," edited by S. Kemmis, and T. Smith, 37-64. Rotterdam: Sense] and constructivist grounded theory [Charmaz, K. 2006. "Constructing Grounded Theory. A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis". London: Sage] to study teacher pedagogic practice. The methodological framework is shared to enable others to use it to provide fresh opportunities to look at specific educational settings in order to explore, understand and enhance teacher practice.

Amidst major new initiatives in research that are beginning to address the pedagogic dimension of building capacity in social science research methods, this paper makes the first move to apply the lens of inclusive pedagogy to research methods pedagogy. The paper explores the ways in which learning social science research methods is hard and may be anxiety-provoking, which has sometimes led to a deficit discourse in which learners are positioned as ill-prepared and fearful. Learners can then be blamed for being hard to teach when an inclusive pedagogical lens would support a more asset-based discourse. Nonetheless, the authors argue that without traditional deficit-based solutions of the remedial class, special needs label or special teacher within the methods learning environment, methods teachers have developed their own responses. These pedagogic responses, elicited from the authors' research using methods of expert interviews, focus groups and video-stimulated dialogue, address challenges associated with the learner, the learning material and the teacher's context. The paper differentiates between practical solution-focused strategies and more holistic approaches. The authors illustrate how methods teachers reach out to diverse learners and they conclude that data and standpoints are used in inclusive teaching to make connections and to support learning.

In March 2004, Stephen Ball and others presented a symposium at the conference of the British Educational Research Association (BERA) on the necessity of theory in educational research. Like Ball, I have observed that theory, not just social theory, is a difficult space and one that divides researchers (those comfortable with theory and those less so), within educational research. It is an aspect of educational research training that rarely receives the attention essential for "quality" educational research. In the context of the contemporary research assessment exercises, it is worth reflecting on the relationship between research informed by social theory and expectations of quality and impact. In this paper I revisit the argument made by Ball and others for the necessity of theory, and discuss its role in framing research questions, informing analysis, and promoting reflexivity on the significance and relevance of research. I illustrate this process by discussing the ways theory can assist in the generation of research agendas and questions. I conclude the paper with an example of how a team of educational researchers from Australia, UK and New Zealand have made use of social theory to inform an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded project investigating the recontextualisation of health knowledge in schools. (Contains 1 endnote.)

Web-enabled technology is now being applied on a large scale. In this paper we look at open access provision of teaching and learning leading to many users with varying patterns and motivations for use. This has provided us with a research challenge to find methods that help us understand and explain such initiatives. We describe ways to model the research and identify where pressures and contradictions can be found, drawing on a reflective view of our own practice in performing the research. Open educational resources are defined as technology-enabled educational resources that are openly available for consultation, use and adaptation by users for non-commercial purposes (UNESCO, 2002). OpenLearn is one of the largest of such initiatives and is committed to the provision of open educational resources for all. It is being developed by The Open University and is primarily sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. It provides users with over 4,200 hours of higher educational material drawn from Open University courses. Other learning tools such as discussion forums, video conferencing, and knowledge mapping software are also available to the user. In this paper we aim to introduce OpenLearn and outline some of the main research issues surrounding such an initiative. We seek to explore theoretical and practical approaches that can provide suitable tools for analysis. Activity theory is seen as a suitable approach for macro analysis and its use is illustrated in terms of the complexity of large scale research. Activity theory, besides informing research perspectives, can be turned in upon the research process itself allowing us to consider the challenges and context of the research. By using activity theory in this way and illustrating from a range of practical approaches we demonstrate and illustrate a useful research approach.

This paper explores some of the critical debates in social science research methods education and is set out in three parts. The first section introduces the importance and relevance of research methods to the social sciences. It then outlines the problems and challenges experienced in the teaching and learning of research methods, which are particularly acute in the case of quantitative methods. The second part of the paper provides an overview of the policy activity and pedagogic solutions presented in response to the context introduced in the first part. This section explains how the practice of research method teaching is changing and accounts for the trends of using pedagogies informed by constructivist learning theory and embedding methods in the substantive curriculum. The third section identifies three critical debates emanating from the two previous sections. First an appraisal of applicability of constructivist pedagogies, second the case for holistic curriculum design across a whole degree programme, and third, an analysis of the relevancy of efforts to strengthen the nexus between research and teaching.

There is continuing concern about the paucity of social science graduates who have the quantitative skills required by academia and industry. Not only do students often lack the confidence to explore, and use, statistical techniques, the dominance of qualitative research in many disciplines has also often constrained programme-level integration of more quantitative material. However, whilst the topic of statistical literacy is relatively well researched within the more general educational literature, the evidence-base with respect to the effectiveness of teaching and learning of quantitative research methods in the social science remains somewhat limited. This paper describes the development, integration and evaluation of a series of student-led inquiry-based quantitative workbooks within a sociology/social policy undergraduate degree. It outlines how the workbooks were constructively aligned within a "methods spine" and offers some insight into quantitative teaching and learning generally. The paper also discusses some of the opportunities and challenges of taking both an aligned and IBL approach to the teaching of quantitative methods. In doing so it adds to growing evidence that 'problem-based pedagogies' tend to increase educational gain over and above more didactic approaches to learning and teaching. It highlights three key findings: programme-level approaches to curriculum design can be crucial in improving quantitative skills, particularly where they are tailored to student needs; a general indifference to quantitative methods is likely to be due to a process of disenfranchisement that happens before and during students' engagement with university; and, meaningfully engaging students as partners in the process of designing, integrating and evaluating curricula can help to overcome some of the barriers associated with the learning and teaching of quantitative skills.

Student evaluations of quantitative methods courses in political science often reveal they are characterised by aversion, alienation and anxiety. As a solution to this problem, this paper describes a pedagogic research project with the aim of embedding quantitative methods by stealth into the first-year undergraduate curriculum. This paper describes the development and evaluation of new teaching and learning materials using active learning pedagogies. The learning activities were designed to develop introductory-level quantitative skills and create a positive first impression of quantitative methods by clearly communicating their value and relevance. The paper demonstrates how the study of psephology--electoral and polling data--can be used to embed quantitative methods within the substantive political science curriculum. This involved devising effective ways of not only teaching psephology but also recreating the experiences of 'being a psephologist' as a learning experience in a way that develops quantitative skills and embeds quantitative methods. This study illustrates how quantitative methods can be successfully embedded into the substantive curriculum and explores a range of relevant debates for pedagogical practice and curriculum design.

This article explores the impact of the 'hostile environment' on racialised migrant women's experiences of pregnancy and childbirth in England, arguing that the 'hostile environment' functions as a technology of 'stratified reproduction.' First coined by Shellee Colen, the concept of stratified reproduction describes the dynamic by which some individuals and groups may be supported in their reproductive activities, while others are disempowered and discouraged. This paper locates the stratified reproduction produced by the 'hostile environment' as intertwined with wider gendered and racialised discourses around British citizenship which have been 'designed to fail' racialised residents of the UK. Drawing on interviews with racialised migrant mothers in the north of England, this paper analyses how the proliferation and intensification of immigration controls interacts with gender, race, class, and other social regimes to differentially allocate the resources necessary for a safe and healthy pregnancy and childbirth, and how this is experienced materially by pregnant migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential contribution of engagement between accounting education researchers and practitioners. Drawing from a case where researchers and practitioners worked together to improve student employability, the paper examines researcher:practitioner engagement from both sides by exploring the potential benefits of participating in a collaborative process. Drawing from the existing literature, the paper notes the implications for accounting education of a perceived gap between accounting research and practice. Next, the paper examines how greater engagement might address this gap and make a contribution to accounting education research. Then, drawing from data accumulated by working with a group of accounting practitioners over a five-year period, the paper reports on the benefits identified by the practitioners of engaging in a collaborative process. Having examined engagement from the perspective of both researchers and practitioners, the paper concludes by discussing the implications of the engagement process for researchers and for future research.

The paper explores how computer-mediated communication offers space for academics to think and make sense of their experiences in the qualitative research encounter. It draws on a research study that used email interviewing to generate online narratives to understand academic lives and identities through research encounters in virtual space. The paper discusses how email can provide a site where the self can be viewed reflexively and re-negotiated through a process of interaction. The paper demonstrates that the asynchronous nature of email helps to facilitate this, by allowing participants to contribute to research in their space and according to their own preference in time. However, it also argues for the construction of more collaborative approaches to research that acknowledge the right of participants to use the temporal nature of space and time that email offers to construct, reflect upon and learn from their stories of experience in their own manner, and not merely to the researcher's agenda. It concludes by recognizing the importance of email as a research tool for capturing the complexity of social interaction online.

This paper considers the likely shape of the next UK Research Excellence Framework (REF). It explores some of the recommendations from the 2016 Stern Review (those concerned with "outputs") and their envisaged impact on the exercise. Drawing on lessons learnt from the previous round of the REF, and some wider commentary, the paper considers some of the problems emergent from REF2014, whether they can be mitigated, and whether new problems might emerge in REF2021. Prominently, the issues of "burden" and "gaming" are explored. Although there are some grounds for optimism, much more detail will be needed before we can be reasonably confident about achieving a less burdensome and a more accurate evaluation of research "quality" within universities across the UK.

This paper aims to interrogate the potential and challenges in interdisciplinary working across disciplinary boundaries by examining a longitudinal partnership designed to research student experiences of digital technologies in undergraduate medicine established by the authors of this paper (one from Education and the other from Medical Education). The paper is situated in current methodological trends including the changing value of replicability and evidence-based methods and increases in qualitative and mixed methods studies in medical education, whilst education research has seen growing encouragement for randomized controlled trials and large-scale quantitative studies. A critical analysis of the partnership interactions is framed by Holland's positional and imagined identities, negotiated across "figured" worlds and the concept of epistemic games that guide knowledge construction. We consider social, political and cultural challenges; and how "in-between" sites of knowledge were established where the academic identity of each was shaped by engaging with the other and new theoretical, methodological and ethical understandings were co-constructed. The paper concludes that despite the ongoing challenges, "bottom-up" partnerships can contribute to a growth in interdisciplinarity which might itself be understood as a boundary object. Interdisciplinarity necessitates improvisation and boundary crossing and can, therefore, always be considered a matter of negotiation, creativity and collaboration.

This paper explores ethical challenges encountered when conducting research about, and telling, the stories of individuals who had died before the research began. Cases were explored where individuals who lived alone had died alone at home and where their bodies had been undiscovered for an extended period. The ethical review process had not had anything significant to say about the deceased 'participants'. As social researchers we considered whether it was ethical to involve deceased people in research when they had no opportunity to decline, and we were concerned about how to report such research. The idea that the dead can be harmed did not help our decision-making processes, but the notion of the dead having limited human rights conferred upon them was useful and aided us in clarifying how to conduct our research and disseminate our findings.