Hammersley's early research was in the sociology of education, with a particular focus on processes of classroom interaction in secondary schools. He joined the Open University at a time when it was one of the leading centres for the 'new sociology of education',Brooks, C. St John. "Sociologists and education", New Society, 4 September 1980. and was involved in subsequent debates about the character and value of the various kinds of work coming under this heading.Atkinson, P., et al (1988) 'Qualitative research traditions', Review of Educational Research, 58, 2, pp. 231–50.Hammersley, M. "An Ideological Dispute: Accusations of Marxist Bias in the Sociology of Education during the 1970s", Contemporary British History, December 2015.
