This book examines the philosophical, historical, political and social contexts of research and the implications of these for the collection and analysis of data. Researching Education looks at the theory and practice of researching education and examines the philosophical, historical, political and social contexts of research and the implications of these for the collection and analysis of data. Scott and Usher argue that while power is ever present in the construction of research texts, this is inevitable as research imposes a closure of the world through representations and thus is always and inevitably involved with and implicated in the operation of power. The authors provide a theoretical framework against previously compiled research can be judged to stimulates further study and consider key questions: What is legitimate knowledge? What is the relationship between the collection and analysis of data? How does the researcher's presence in the field impact on their data? This new edition has been completely revised to reflect new insights into education research and educational research methodology and the impact of recent political initiatives. Researching Education is invaluable reading for educational and social researchers as well as postgraduate and doctoral students.