Research in Deaf Education

Abstract

This edited volume, Research in Deaf Education: Contexts, Challenges, and Considerations, provides readers with critical foundational information with which to view contemporary research in deaf education. Deaf education as a field is experiencing a high degree of turnover in its researchers, as well as major shifts in how deaf individuals access information and engage with society as a whole. To conduct research in deaf education includes a need to be mindful of the influence of context as well as the challenges of conducting research with a low-incidence and diverse population. Together with a chapter on history, as well as how the population has changed in recent decades, chapters in this book seek to provide readers with important context and strategies for the implementation of a range of research methodologies. Deaf education research utilizes a great range of research methodologies, and while this volume does not address all possible approaches, it does cover diverse research perspectives, from action research to large-scale surveys to multi-level modeling. In addition, several chapters in this volume address issues that are related to research measures themselves, particularly those that incorporate multiple communication modalities in their content or design. The volume concludes with a thematic analysis of the volume as a whole, offering cross cutting perspectives on how deaf education as a field can move forward in a responsive, ethical, authentic, and rigorous manner.