Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS

review, I present a brief synopsis of Chapter 2 as an example of the style and content of the other chapters. Chapter 2, ‘The Challenge of Using Multiple Methods to Gather the Views of Children’, by Jill Porter is presented in an easy-to-use style, consistent with the format of the rest of the book. The chapter’s intention is to reinforce the importance of listening to children in schools. Porter emphasises the importance of children’s views in developing an effective school provision programme. This is reinforced in the United Nations Declaration, which recognises that each child should be given the opportunity and support to express themselves and, more importantly, that their opinions are given due consideration. Having established the need for educational professionals to consider the views of children, the author discusses methods of data collection, suggesting that often more than one method might be appropriate in order to generate data that provides answers to the questions being asked. As with the other chapters in the book, Chapter 2 includes an example of a study to illustrate data collection in a real life situation. An exposition of the findings from the study informs the reader of the importance of contextualisation, thus highlighting the social and cultural aspects through which many children view their experience of school. This is the format adopted throughout the book. In conclusion, I would say that the book is a useful resource to those who wish to understand the influence of social, cultural and historical activities on cognition. Researchers, educational practitioners and those undertaking professional development would be able to find something beneficial from some of the ideas discussed in the book. The book illuminates the theoretical and practical implications of a post Vygotskian approach with the intention of enabling alternative child-centred solutions to be implemented within special needs education.