This book raises important questions about the extent to which policy can be derived from research and about the kind of evidence which should inform policy. * Challenges contemporary orthodoxies and offers constructive alternatives * Critiques the narrower conceptions of evidence which might inform policy advanced by the 'what works' movement * Investigates the logical gaps between what can be shown by research and the wider political requirements of policy * Examines the different educational research traditions e.g. large population studies, individual case studies, personal narratives, action research, philosophy and 'the romantic turn' * Calls for a more subtle understanding of the ways in which different forms of enquiry may inform policy and practice * Discusses the recognition and utilisation of the insights offered by the rich variety of educational research traditions available to us