Few educators pay attention to educational research results because the research is removed from the realities of the classroom, relies almost exclusively on tests of statistical significance, and is usually the result of the publication requirements of universities. Cites 10 more reasons for poor research and advises typical research pitfalls to…

This article examines what science offers general and special educators who teach reading. It reviews scientific findings about reading and their practical implications and considers some broader ways that science may be useful to educators. Suggestions for educators interested in becoming more astute consumers of research are provided. (Contains…

This paper identifies the general shifts in curriculum research from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Information is drawn from periodic reviews or summaries of the research literature. A comparatively larger number and variety of individual studies have been reported, but places to publish state-of-the-art curriculum reviews have become more…

Patent protection is important in bringing technology arising from government-sponsored research and nonprofit organizations to fruition. This is an area of vital interest to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare since it is the largest single source of funding for such research in the United States, and a substantial portion of its…

Discusses the character of the field study and its place in the scientific venture, notes the characteristic attitude toward the relationship between data and hypotheses held by the field researcher, addresses the requirements of educational policy research, and explores the fit between these and the field study's character. (Author/JM)

A CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN MUSIC EDUCATION SPONSORED BY THE USOE AND THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WAS HELD IN COLUMBUS, OHIO, FEBRUARY 26 THROUGH MARCH 4, 1967. THE CONFERENCE WAS DEVELOPED BECAUSE OF CONCERNS ABOUT THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF RESEARCH IN MUSIC EDUCATION. THE PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES FOR THE…

One reason the field of education research is so vague is that there is no specific methodology that belongs to such research. Policy makers and people who appropriate funds would get a clearer idea of what research can contribute to an understanding of schools, colleges, students, and teachers if the research community were clearer about what it…

The art of relating educational research to public policy is still primitive. Educational policy is formed mainly by tradition and the political pressure of interest groups, while educational researchers study questions determined by the scientific community. Educational research has not noticeably influenced policy because trained researchers…

Responding to the problem of a lag between research advances in rehabilitation and their dissemination and utilization, the Task Force on Research Utilization (H.E.W., 1966), studied the gap and proposed the creation of a new kind of professional "change agent." Out of a later conference at the University of Florida came a very similar suggestion.…

The state of information about research in communications is presently in chaos, and only careful systems analysis and publication of clearinghouse-type information can cure the jumble of project topics now under study in the field. The whole system of communications research requires meticulous monitoring, managing, continuous updating with…

This paper explores the psychological significance of preserving privacy, the ways in which different kinds of research may threaten privacy, the requirements for minimizing or counteracting such threats, and the conditions under which research representing a certain degree of invasion of privacy can nevertheless be justified. (Author/AM)

The utility of the Wilms study for policy making in vocational education is critically examined. A set of criteria for examining research for policy is presented and then applied to the Wilms study with the conclusion that because of its weaknesses the report cannot be taken seriously for policymaking although it has done a service to the…

In response to H. Lee Swanson's paper, "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities," this counterpoint addresses the role of basic versus applied research, limitations of the procedure proposed by Swanson for establishing external validity and proving the metatheory, and limitations of metatheoretical research with regard to developing…

In rebuttal to H. Lee Swanson's paper, "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities," this article emphasizes that a bias toward applied research in learning disabilities is appropriate, that explanatory theories may not provide control over the phenomena explained, and that the field's orientation toward social consensus rather than…

This response to H. Lee Swanson's paper, "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities," argues that the field's development from social consensus has positive consequences and that the field is a "prenormal' science. A megatheory is suggested, incorporating metatheoretical aspects of the learning-disabled's information processing…