Education researchers use surveys widely. Yet, critics question respondents' ability to provide high-quality responses. As schools increasingly use student surveys to drive local policy making, respondents' (lack of) motivation to provide quality responses may threaten the wisdom of using questionnaires for data-based decision making. To better…

Short comparative interrupted times series (CITS) designs are increasingly being used in education research to assess the effectiveness of school-level interventions. These designs can be implemented relatively inexpensively, often drawing on publicly available data on aggregate school performance. However, the validity of this approach hinges on…

This article explores epistemological awareness and instantiation of methods, as well as uninformed ambiguity, in qualitative methodological decision making and research reporting. The authors argue that efforts should be made to make the research process, epistemologies, values, methodological decision points, and argumentative logic open,…

This article is intended to spark a discussion between two research communities--scholars who study learning and scholars who study educational organizations. A secondary purpose is to encourage researchers to look beyond schools to examine learning in other types of educational organizations. The authors outline a framework to guide research on…

In this article, the author provides an overview of existing literature addressing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), and queer issues in higher education. She argues that although colleges and universities are the source of much critical and postmodern writing about LGBT and queer topics, scholarship on LGBT/queer people and…

The technical complexities and sheer size of international large-scale assessment (LSA) databases often cause hesitation on the part of the applied researcher interested in analyzing them. Further, inappropriate choice or application of statistical methods is a common problem in applied research using these databases. This article serves as a…

The author suggests that we apply recent research knowledge to improve our conceptualization, measures, and methodology for studying the effects of teachers' professional development on teachers and students. She makes the case that there is a research consensus to support the use of a set of core features and a common conceptual framework in…

Projects three possible outcomes to the criticisms of objective, quantitative educational research by antinaturalists, interpretivists, and critical theorists during the 1980s, referred to as the "Paradigm Wars." Argues for a pragmatic rapprochment of the paradigms based on the moral obligations of educational research. (FMW)

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which concerns the effect of observation upon what is observed, is proper to the field of quantum physics, but has been mistakenly adopted and wrongly applied in the realm of naturalistic observation. Discusses the misuse of the principle in the current literature on naturalistic research. (DM)

This article examines the dilemmas and challenges of objectivity, presentism, and voice and agency I have encountered as an African-American historian of education whose research focuses on the education of Black people. A perplexing problem has been how to conduct good and "respectable" research while identifying with the African-American…

Examines the ethical considerations involved in publishing the names of teachers, schools, and districts participating in research studies. Concludes that teacher/collaborators who forego the protection of anonymity may be vulnerable to recrimination from colleagues and administrators. (FMW)

Criticizes an earlier essay that questioned the validity of contemporary educational research practices, especially those involving experimentation. Argues that research using experimentation is valid and can lead to new and generalizable knowledge. (FMW)

Asserts that teacher research can provide a missing dimension to the knowledge base for teaching. Discusses critical issues of institutionalization and methodological rigor that make it difficult for teachers to conduct research studies and for the university community to acknowledge the value of teacher research. (FMW)

Discusses the functions of educational research. Examines differences between decision-oriented research and conclusion-oriented research. Urges researchers to improve the quality of their writing. (FMW)

Examines parallels in the study of child-care effects and the study of school effects. Finds striking similarities in the methodological and conceptual advances in both areas. Argues that child-care researchers and school-effects researchers would benefit by monitoring progress in one another's fields. (FMW)