'Nigel Kettley has written a courageous, scholarly and easy to read wake up call for publicly-funded education research. If the argument in this book were widely accepted, and it should be, it would lead to a revolutionary and highly ethical improvement in the use of evidence for explanations.' Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education Research, University of Birmingham, UK

'Kettley has written a provocative and challenging tour de force about theory building in education research. An essential resource for teachers of research methods and new researchers alike, this book also invites established researchers to interrogate the foundations of their practice as an important contribution to the development of an often contested field of enquiry.' Zane Ma Rhea, Senior Lecturer, Monash University, Australia

If like me, you sometimes wonder whether many of our colleagues actually realise that research involves finding things out, and that we have an ethical responsibility to do that as well as we can, then you will find this book reassuring... This is a further wake-up call for publicly funded education research, and I hope many people will read it, and use it in their methods development activities.

Educational Review, 63:4