Offers a solutions-focused approach to tackling disadvantage in schools. Based on evidence from large-scale research that includes analysis of the National Pupil Database for England 2006-2021, fieldworld in India and Pakistan and international studies. Provides a working definition of educational disadvantage that is relevant across different international contexts.

This book presents the doctoral dissertation process as not just a way of getting a qualification or even a method of learning how to do research better, but as a substantial and significant piece of research in its own right. The book will inspire current and prospective PhD scholars to take up ambitious and large-scale study projects, dedicating this most important time to a worthy piece of research. This edited collection provides real and outstanding examples of multiple research design methodologies which will allow doctoral researchers to develop a wide set of research skills, leading to the development of a high-quality academic thesis from which peer reviewed research papers and books can emerge. Each main chapter presents the summary of a doctoral thesis, followed by focused aspects from the projects where the contributors highlight the development of a research design, the process involved in executing the design, and present selected findings with their implications. Each chapter concludes with the researchers' experiences of learning through this journey and the implications of the process for the development of the discipline and their own career. Ideal reading for doctoral students and supervisors, this book is a source of encouragement and motivation for new researchers seeking to challenge general perceptions in the social sciences that PhD or other doctoral research projects must be small-scale rather trivial studies, but can instead produce robust findings that have real-world implications.

Offers a solutions-focused approach to tackling disadvantage in schools. Based on evidence from large-scale research that includes analysis of the National Pupil Database for England 2006-2021, fieldworld in India and Pakistan and international studies. Provides a working definition of educational disadvantage that is relevant across different international contexts.

This book presents the doctoral dissertation process as not just a way of getting a qualification or even a method of learning how to do research better, but as a substantial and significant piece of research in its own right. The book will inspire current and prospective PhD scholars to take up ambitious and large-scale study projects, dedicating this most important time to a worthy piece of research. This edited collection provides real and outstanding examples of multiple research design methodologies which will allow doctoral researchers to develop a wide set of research skills, leading to the development of a high-quality academic thesis from which peer reviewed research papers and books can emerge. Each main chapter presents the summary of a doctoral thesis, followed by focused aspects from the projects where the contributors highlight the development of a research design, the process involved in executing the design, and present selected findings with their implications. Each chapter concludes with the researchers' experiences of learning through this journey and the implications of the process for the development of the discipline and their own career. Ideal reading for doctoral students and supervisors, this book is a source of encouragement and motivation for new researchers seeking to challenge general perceptions in the social sciences that PhD or other doctoral research projects must be small-scale rather trivial studies, but can instead produce robust findings that have real-world implications.

The Trials of Evidence-based Education explores the promise, limitations and achievements of evidence-based policy and practice, as the attention of funders moves from a sole focus on attainment outcomes to political concern about character-building and wider educational impacts. Providing a detailed look at the pros, cons and areas for improvement in evidence-based policy and practice, this book includes consideration of the following: What is involved in a robust evaluation for education. The issues in conducting trials and how to assess the trustworthiness of research findings. New methods for the design, conduct, analysis and use of evidence from trials and examining their implications. What policy-makers, head teachers and practitioners can learn from the evidence to inform practice. In this well-structured and thoughtful text, the results and implications of over 20 studies conducted by the authors are combined with a much larger number of studies from their systematic reviews, and the implications are spelled out for the research community, policy-makers, schools wanting to run their own evaluations, and for practitioners using evidence.

The Trials of Evidence-based Education explores the promise, limitations and achievements of evidence-based policy and practice, as the attention of funders moves from a sole focus on attainment outcomes to political concern about character-building and wider educational impacts. Providing a detailed look at the pros, cons and areas for improvement in evidence-based policy and practice, this book includes consideration of the following: What is involved in a robust evaluation for education. The issues in conducting trials and how to assess the trustworthiness of research findings. New methods for the design, conduct, analysis and use of evidence from trials and examining their implications. What policy-makers, head teachers and practitioners can learn from the evidence to inform practice. In this well-structured and thoughtful text, the results and implications of over 20 studies conducted by the authors are combined with a much larger number of studies from their systematic reviews, and the implications are spelled out for the research community, policy-makers, schools wanting to run their own evaluations, and for practitioners using evidence.

The social and economic status of women is a major challenge currently faced in Pakistan, which is passing through intense political turmoil. On the one hand, Pakistan has a relatively liberal media policy that raises concerns about women's situation in society. On the other hand, there are reports that 90% women are subject to domestic violence, for example. If the mass communication media is largely liberal and increasingly international, what social factors and ideologies might still present barriers to women's progress? This book presents an investigation on very popular Urdu women's magazines and their readership, to find out what images of Pakistani life and values the digests promote, who reads them, and whether there is evidence that this vision influences the readers for good or ill. This book is also recommended to postgraduate students and teachers who are interested in robust research design approaches.