Hardbound. Over the last three decades there have been marked developments in the field of measurement in education and psychology. Advances in Measurement in Educational Research and Assessment presents the developments that have occurred and puts them into perspective. It discusses the continuing challenge to improve measurement both for research and for the assessment of student performance and learning in schools, and looks at the substantial advances that are likely to continue to occur in the future. The volume specifies procedures that have been developed to cover a wide range of situations in both research and the assessment of student learning. Although emphasis is placed on the use of the Rasch model, it is recognized that there is a range of different strategies that might be employed for successful measurement, that there are many unresolved issues, and that progress is still being made in this field.

During the past decade new approaches to educational measurement have become more widely recognized and the use of computer programs has been developed to make sound use of the procedures and techniques associated with item response theory. However, the implications of these developments for research methodology have not yet been fully recognized. This Encyclopedia will address not only these changes for which the extent of developments are currently becoming evident but will also look forward to the major advances in the methods employed in empirical research which will arise from the use of improved measurement and scaling procedures.

The Encyclopedia is divided into three sections. The first section seeks to provide a broad coverage of topics related to the methods of educational inquiry. This section includes articles that trace the history of educational research and the methods of both humanistic and scientific research which are linked by a key article on research in education: epistemological issues. Other general articles consider the methods of evaluation and policy-oriented research. The contribution of critical theory is also discussed.

The second section includes articles on research methodology and statistical analysis, with consideration given to increasing both the strength of inferences from evidence and the confirmation of hypotheses and models developed from theory. The procedures employed in both the humanistic and scientific approaches, as well as in a wide range of techniques employed in the statistical analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data are also presented.

The third section contains articles on measurement for educational researchand covers the fields of measurement theory, achievement testing, attitude measurement and the applications of measurement in research. The focus of this section is towards the improvement of measurement for educational research.

Articles include updated and revised material from the International Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd Edition (described by Choice as being "a premier reference work when judged on virtually every criteria applied to a reference work") together with newly commissioned material.

Hardbound. Issues in Educational Research presents an overview of the many controversial questions arising today in educational research, that depend on the nature of the problem and the extent to which research has previously been undertaken in an area. These issues are addressed by different scholars, each from their own particular orientation. They are presented in juxtaposition so that researchers, teachers, policy makers, administrators and students can examine the different views being advanced and discuss their meaning with respect to different situations. The volume is divided into three sections: an introduction to the field; diverse approaches; and finally the key issues facing educational research today, worldwide. The editors argue the case for a unified view of the field of educational research.