The philosophy that guided the writing of this book has two parts.
First, the research involves a process of interconnected activities instead of the application of isolated and unrelated concepts and ideas. Educators conduct research by following a general sequence of procedures - from the initial recognition of a research problem to the writing of the final research report. This means that understanding the sequence or order of activities is crucial in research. Thus, the book begins with specific chapters dedicated to each step of the research process and the inclusion of concepts and ideas within this process.

Second, the educational researcher nowadays needs a significant number of approaches to study complex educational issues in our society. We can no longer, as educators, rely solely on experiments or survey research to approach our research problems. At each step of the research process, this book will present both quantitative and qualitative approaches. In all chapters of the book, the differences and similarities between qualitative and quantitative research will be highlighted. In the final part of the book, eight distinct quantitative and qualitative research designs or procedures that constitute the repertoire of the educational researcher in quantitative, qualitative, and combined research applications are presented.

- Provides balanced coverage of quantitative and qualitative research.
- Helps students learn how to start conducting research.
- Helps students learn how to read and evaluate research studies.

Significant changes are included in this edition, such as the coverage of quantitative issues in individual case research and meta-analysis. More advanced statistical procedures that are examined in the literature. The bibliography has been extensively updated compared to previous editions. References to software and websites have been updated. The evaluation criteria for each type of research design have been updated to include indicators of higher and lower quality for specific criteria.