Researching Education from the Inside

Download or read book Researching Education from the Inside written by Patricia J. Sikes and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2008 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Researching Education from the Insidefocuses on research projects that are undertaken by people who already have an attachment to the institutions or social groups on which their investigations are based. They can, therefore, be considered to be ‘insiders’. In some cases their insider positioning is primarily important because it gets them access to the particular people and/or the phenomena that they want to investigate. At other times, however, aspects of their own ‘insidership’ will, in itself, come under scrutiny. Insider researchers need to consider five distinct stages that can lead to ethical dilemmas, namely: Entering the field, Being in the field, Leaving the field, Writing, and Disseminating the results. This book covers these stages whist considering important issues such as: Access, Choice of research methods, Field relationships, Involvement of informants, Confidentiality and anonymity, Interpretation of findings including validity and reliability. Failure to properly consider these key factors can lead to disastrous consequences for any research but it can be a special problem for insider investigators. These vital issues are discussed by an impressive range of contributors in this ground-breaking book, making it an invaluable resource for anyone participating in Insider Research.