Theories and Frameworks
From Vidiawiki
Contested Principles
The NRC via Shavelson and Towne (2002) and Feuer, Towne, and Shavelson (2002) have publicly announced their belief that the field of educational research should be guided by scientific principles. Furthermore, they assert that science, research, inquiry, and scholarship are synonymous. In their book, Scientific Research in Education (2002), Shavelson and Towne outline the six scientific principles which they (and by extension the NRC) believe should underlie all scientific inquiry:
1. Pose significant questions that can be investigated empirically
2. Link research to relevant theory
3. Use methods that permit the direct investigation of the question
4. Provide a coherent and explicit chain of reasoning
5. replicate and generalize across studies
6. Disclose research to engage professional scrutiny and critique
Though the authors state multiple times that this move towards scientific research does not aim to privilege some methodologies over others, the limitations placed on questions (principle 1) inevitably seems to have that effect. Due to the current political climate and research funding trends, the research community is naturally divided in their opinions of the ethical and professional implications of moving towards the privileging of scientific inquiry over other types of research.
The divided opinions that exist were engaged in a spirited dialogue between the authors of the report and various educational researchers. This dialogue illustrated the contested principles that exist within educational research, principles that were highlighted with the publication of the NRC report.
These responses to the NRC Report on Scientific Research in Education illustrate a vital and important conversation within educational discourse. While the principles asserted within the report may be contested. such contestation provides gaps, slippages within the discourse to crique and challenge, moving educational research into new and complicated terrain.
