Doing Work Based Research: Approaches to Enquiry for Insider-Researchers

With the growth of practitioner research, this book leads the way by addressing key issues faced by ′insider researchers′ – those doing research projects in the organizations and communities in which they themselves work, or where they are already familiar with the setting.

The authors explore the implications of these research contexts, and discuss approaches and methodologies that researchers in these contexts might adopt, with a particular focus on ethics - one of the key concerns for students undertaking a research project of this type.

This book is for anyone undertaking a research project based on work practice, including postgraduate, undergraduate and doctoral students. Students on work-based programs or modules including education, healthcare and business courses, whose research projects are often undertaken in workplace settings, will find it particularly useful.

Dr Geoffrey Elliott is Professor of Post-Compulsory Education at the University of Worcester. He has worked in schools, further and adult education, and has previously held posts in the School of Independent Study at the University of East London, and the Open University where he taught on the Professional Doctorate programme in Education.

His research interests are in Leadership, Ethics, and Widening Participation in Higher Education. Geoffrey is President of the Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education, the sponsor of the international peer reviewed journal Research in Post-Compulsory Education which he has edited since its launch in 1996. He has written and co-authored a number of books, including (with Carol Costley and Paul Gibbs) the highly popular Doing Work Based Research: Approaches to enquiry for insider-researchers, also published by Sage.

Geoffrey is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA), the complaints ombudsman for HE students studying in England and Wales.