Research
Featured Projects
These websites present specific research projects. The projects may have ended and the sites may no longer be regularly updated, but the data and findings remain of interest into the future.
RaPAL Projects
Resilience: Stories of Adult Learning (2016)
Other
Research organisations (UK)
The Learning and Work Institute (L&W)
An independent policy, research and development organisation dedicated to lifelong learning, full employment and inclusion. As well as recent research reports, the website holds an archive of reports from the two organisations which merged to form Learning and Work in 2016 - Inclusion and NIACE.
The National Research and Development Centre for adult literacy, language and numeracy (NRDC)
Established as part of the government’s Skills for Life strategy, the NRDC no longer exists; however, the website holds a useful archive of over 150 publications including research reports, research reviews and policy analyses published between 2002 and 2015.
Research organisations (International)
British Association for Literacy in Development (BALID)
BALID promotes adult and family literacy and numeracy in the context of international development.
Lancaster Literacy Research Centre
The Centre always has research projects on the go. The website publicises upcoming talks and a research network for PhD students and early career researchers. Based in the UK but international in scope.
Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults (LESLLA)
The home of a growing body of research on adults learning to read and write for the first time in their lives in another language.
Journals
The RaPAL Journal
Our partly peer-reviewed journal bridges research and practice, combining academic contributions with reflective and creative works by practitioners and learners. Access the most recent issues through our Members area or browse earlier issues in our Catalogue for free.
ProLiteracy's open access research journal
Free Resources from the International Literacy Association
Sample issues and a collection of open-access articles from the three subscription journals published by the ILA (Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Reading Research Quarterly, and The Reading Teacher).
Published by NATECLA, the UK's national forum and professional organisation for ESOL teachers, Language Issues, like the RaPAL Journal, is partly peer-reviewed and bridges research and practice (subscription required).
Books
Research Methods in Education By Louis Cohen, Lawerence Manion and Keith Morrison (2017)
The eighth edition of this well-established 'go-to' textbook for research students and academic undertaking educational research has been updated and extended. The book has five main parts: the context of educational research, planning educational research, styles of educational research, strategies for data collection and researching and data analysis.
Interpreting Qualitative Data By David Silverman (2019)
Approachable, clear and friendly, this book equips you with the tools to tackle key issues faced by qualitative researchers and establish good practice in your own research. The sixth edition is accompanied by online resources including videos and a downloadable workbook.