This substantially revised text emphasizes evidence-based inquiry and provides a comprehensive, highly accessible, and student-friendly introduction to the principles, concepts, and methods currently used in educational research. This text provides a balanced combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and enables students to master skills in reading, understanding, critiquing, and conducting research. Many examples and article excerpts are used throughout the text to demonstrate and highlight best practices in educational research. Evidence-based inquiry is emphasized in two ways: (1) Introductory chapters focus on the added importance of data-driven decision-making, (2) Methodological chapters (9, 10, 12-15) provide explicit guidelines for conducting empirical studies. New to This Edition: Substantial revision of all chapters with greater depth of coverage to present the most current and useful content available in educational research. A new chapter that covers mixed-method, secondary analysis, and action research. Both mixed-method and secondary analysis studies are becoming more frequent, and many students find themselves conducting action research. This chapter provides an introduction to these three approaches. Four new complete research articles that facilitate student understanding of different types of studies and provide examples to critique. Expanded coverage of experimental validity and randomized designs, including statistical conclusion and construct validity. Coverage of contemporary topics that students need to know because of their increased usage in the literature, including web-based surveys, logistic regression, and SEM. New instructional aids, including expanded application exercises at the end of each chapter and new Misconceptions verses Evidence boxes to show the utility of research. Substantial revision of Chapter 4 to reflect changes in ERIC so that students can use this popular database effectively. Greater emphasis on contemporary evaluation designs. New appendix on writing research articles to assist students in communicating their research. Marginal icons and keywords are included to guide readers to pertinent articles in the Research Navigator database. Instructor's Manual/Test Bank, PowerPoint(TM) Presentations, and Companion Website (www.ablongman.com/mcmillanschumacher6e) coordinated by the authors are available to adopters. Package this text with MyLabSchool-a powerful set of online tools that bring the classroom to life! Visit www.mylabschool.com for more information!