Table of Contents

Introduction

Part One: The nature of research

Research as a tool
The research process
Paradigms, methods and knowledge
Doing research as a beginning researcher
Ethics in early childhood research
Indigenous research

Part Two: Analysis and design

Design issues
Quantitative designs and statistical analysis
Qualitative designs and analysis
Equity and research design
Mixed-method designs
Designing to scale: When size matters

Part Three: The research process in action

Surveys and questionnaires: An evaluative case study
Interviewing young children
Interviewing adults in an Indigenous community
An ethnographic approach to researching young children's learning
Action research
Direct observation
Case study
Quasi-experimental research

Appendix 1: Getting our terms right
Glossary
Index

About the Author

Professor Glenda Mac Naughton is Director of the Centre for Equity and Innovation in Early Childhood at the University of Melbourne, Australia

Sharne A. Rolfe is Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Australia

Iram Siraj-Blatchford is Professor of Early Childhood Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK