The SAGE Handbook for Research in Education

Book excerpt: The SAGE Handbook for Research in Education: Pursuing Ideas as the Keystone of Exemplary Inquiry, edited by Clifton F. Conrad and Ronald C. Serlin stimulates and encourages students, faculty, and educational practitioners, including individuals in Pre K–16 education, government, and the private sector who conduct applied and policy-oriented educational research, to place the pursuit of ideas at the epicenter of their research—from framing meaningful problems to identifying and addressing key challenges to the reporting and dissemination of their findings. As well as supporting readers to place the pursuit of ideas as the keystone of exemplary inquiry, the Handbook draws on the perspectives of scholars representing diverse fields within the field of education—from pre-kindergarten to elementary and secondary school to higher education—as well as qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches to inquiry. The chapters are punctuated throughout by the voices of authors who wrestle with the formidable challenges of framing and conducting and reporting meaningful inquiry.