The Nature of Research: Inquiry into Academic Contexts (Routledgefalmer Research)

Increasingly, new academics are entering higher education without conventional research training and without a clear idea of what research actually involves. This is particularly true of academics who enter from having spent time in a profession including many in the newer disciplines. In addition, institutions of higher education which do not have a tradition of research are increasingly competing for research funding. The Nature of Research looks at this background and discusses what is wrong with academic research and discusses what is wrong with academic research today, what needs to change for it to survive, how to allow new kinds of research to flourish, directions for future action and how academic research can teach us to live in today's complex and uncertain society. The aim of the book, then, is to provide a stimulus to thinking about the nature and role of research with a view to considering what might be appropriate in the next century. Since research is so central to university life, looking at research will tell us much about what the university of the future might be like. "Academic research is in crisis. Governments have taken over the research agenda. Academics are having to 'publish or perish', often before work is ready. Professionalism may be sacrificed in the pursuit of research grants and publications. Research, it seems, has lost its authority to define for society what knowledge is and how to get it. And at the same time, critical questioning of research agendas is considered taboo." "This book questions those taboos of academic research, and argues that research priorities need to be reordered to address the concerns of today's society. Angela Brew suggests that the academy can and must reclaim the research agenda by developing new forms of research, which will provide a new justification for its existence." "This book will be of great value to academics in all disciplines who are new to research or wanting to establish a research culture, and to all postgraduates involved in research."--Jacket Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 The practice of research......Page 24 What is research?......Page 26 Research and scholarship......Page 39 Following rules......Page 57 Knowledge......Page 72 Problems and questions......Page 85 New knowing......Page 100 Research in context......Page 116 Research as a commodity......Page 118 Research and learning......Page 137 Research and teaching......Page 151 Research as discourse......Page 164 Research and the future......Page 181 References......Page 197 Index......Page 205 What Is Wrong With Research Today?this Book Argues That Research Priorities Need To Be Reordered To Address The Concerns Of Today's Society. Angela Brew. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [188]-195) And Index.