This four-volume set is part of the Fundamentals of Applied Research series and sits alongside Stephen Gorard's major reference collection Quantitative Research Methods in Education. It brings together seminal and cutting edge articles on qualitative research internationally, and shows how the field has developed in influence in recent years. Importantly, this major reference collection reviews the ongoing debates and various issues about qualitative methods and the contribution they make to understanding educational issues. The set also comprises a timely analysis of the contribution which qualitative methods have made and can continue to make to understanding educational issues.