This handbook intends to be a practical guidebook for the development and implementation of the research process in the field of education. It offers a comprehensive description of its quantitative and qualitative methods, among others.

It is a book intended for University students of the Degrees in Pre-school and Primary School, Pedagogy and Psychology, as well as for students of the Master’s Degree in Psycho-pedagogy and Teacher Training, and for School counsellors.

This book offers some elemental guidelines on educational research and its implementation. It presents its basic features through explanations and examples that provide clarity and simplicity on this intricate area. Thus, it tries to link educational research with its practical applications as a starting point, in order to plan and implement inclusive actions that encourage improvements on the quality of education.

The book also includes clear guidelines and detailed instructions on how to develop and communicate educational research projects, research memories, research articles, and contributions at Congresses and other professional events.

Mª Isabel Gómez-Núñez, Mª Ángeles Cano-Muñoz and Mª Soledad Torregrosa have training as educational researchers and counselors; they all teach subjects related to these areas of knowledge. This handbook seeks to link the educational research with its practical applications from the standpoint of education professionals; the experience of the authors, both teaching in school centers at different stages of educations and carrying out research projects, has remarkably contributed to achieve it.

EXTRACT OF THE INDEX

1. Research on educational orientation. Historical evolution, paradigms and characteristics of educational research
2. Scientific approach in education. Fundamental concepts and perspectives. Inductive, deductive and hypothetical-deductive methods
3. Fundamental elements in the educational research process. Stages and features
4. Quantitative methods. Characteristics, experimental designs, reviews and limitations. Experimental method. Quasi-experimental method. Ex-post-facto method. Descriptive method. Instrumental method
5. Qualitative methods. Characteristics, processes, modalities, data collection and analysis techniques. Narrative/biographical research. Instructive ethnography. Case study. Research/action. Evaluative research. Other perspectives 
6. Assessment of the educational research process. Key processes and considerations. Credibility, transferability, dependency, value-neutrality
7. Memory in a research project and its communication. Features and guidelines
8. Quality management in education. Criteria for promoting quality through existing management systems. Improvement in education: the counselor as an agent of change. Educational research and innovation