Mike Osborne is Professor of Lifelong Learning, Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, University of Stirling and editor of the Journal of Adult and Continuing Education.Jim Gallacher is a Professor of Lifelong Learning and Co-Director of the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, Glasgow Caledonian University.Beth Crossan is Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, Glagow Caledonian University.

• Part 1 Key issues; Chapter 1 An international perspective on researching widening access, Michael Osborne, Jim Gallacher; Chapter 2 Researching widening access, Peter Scott; Chapter 3 Researching access in a rapidly changing context, Shirley Walters; Chapter 4 Looking through the kaleidoscope, Brenda Morgan-Klein, Mark Murphy; Chapter 5 Discourses of access, David Boud; Chapter 6 Widening access and literacy, Joseph Lo Bianco; Chapter 7 Widening access for the education of adults in the United States, Juanita Johnson-Bailey, Ronald M. Cervero; Chapter 8 E-learning and access, Jo Barraket; Chapter 9 Access as more, Hunter R. Boylan; Chapter 10 After access, Ewart Keep; Part 2 Methodological issues; Chapter 11 Part icipatory paradigms, Ramón Flecha, Jesús Gómez; Chapter 12 Questions of access and Part icipation, Beth Crossan, Michael Osborne; Chapter 13 Biography and narratives, Barbara Merrill, Peter Alheit; Chapter 14 Counting access, Alasdair Forsyth, Andy Furlong; Chapter 15 E-learning, marginalised communities and social capital, Sara Ferlander; Chapter 16 Organisation behaviour, research and access, Chris Duke; Chapter 17 The case study approach to research in adult literacy, numeracy and ESOL, Rob Mark; Chapter 18 Researching widening access, Jim Gallacher, Beth Crossan;

'[This book] has so much to offer its readers in the area of curriculum development ... [it] is essential reading for adult educators, researchers, and for anyone whose interests include adult and higher education.' - Broadcast'I would recommend the book and suggest it should be read by anyone who has an interest in the field as it captures the 'state of play' in debates about issues and research for widening access.' - Mary Stuart, University of Sussex