How can educational research make a greater impact on educational practice? "Problem-Based Methodology: Research for the Improvement of Practice" explains why educational research has contributed so little to the understanding and resolution of educational problems, and how, with a different methodology, its contribution could be significantly greater. The book offers an alternative problem-based methodology (PBM) which is better matched than either empiricist, critical or interpretive approaches to the generic features of educational problems, to the way practitioners seek to resolve those problems, and to the normative requirements of any practical activity. In addition, PBM incorporates a politics of inquiry which shows how researchers and practitioners can reach warranted agreements about the nature of problems and solutions, through dialogue that is simultaneously critical and collaborative. Two original school-based studies illustrate this new approach to educational and social research.