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This book examines important questions about the extent to which policy can be derived from research and the type of evidence that should inform policy. It critiques some of the narrower conceptions of the evidence that might inform policy, then examines the gaps between what can be revealed by research and the political requirements of policy, and the claims of some of the more traditional educational research traditions to inform policy. The overall message is the need for a more subtle understanding of the ways in which different forms of enquiry may inform policy and practice, and the recognition and use of insights provided by a variety of the educational research traditions available. The chapters are as follows: Educational research and the practical judgement of policy-makers / David Bridges, Paul Smeyers and Richard Smith; The importance of being thorough: on systematic accumulations of 'what works' in education research / Alis Oancea and Richard Pring; Educational research and policy: epistemological considerations / David Bridges and Michael Watts; On the epistemological basis of large-scale population studies and their educational use / Paul Smeyers; Epistemology as ethics in research and policy: the use of case studies / John Elliott and Dominik Lukes; Personal narratives and policy: never the twain? / Morwenna Griffiths and Gale Macleod; Action research and policy / Lorraine Foreman-Peck and Jane Murray; Philosophy as a basis for policy and practice: what confidence can we have in philosophical analysis and argument? / James C. Conroy, Robert A. Davis and Penny Enslin; Proteus rising: re-imagining educational research / Richard Smith.