Mixed methods research becomes more utilized in education research every year. As this pluralist paradigm begins to take hold, it becomes more and more necessary to take a critical eye to studies making use of different mixed methods approaches. An area of education research that has yet struggled to find a foothold with mixed methodology is…

Responds to Elliot Eisner's claim (Phi Delta Kappan, v. 65, p. 447-52) that educational research often affects educational practice subtly rather than overtly. Also argues, like Eisner, that educational research often is too indebted to social science language and too removed from practical applications. (JW)

Investigates the development of gerontological knowledge and its translation to practice. Discusses design, relevance, and dissemination of theory, and offers suggestions to practitioners for implementing research theories. Encourages both researchers and practitioners to make attitudinal changes to eliminate communication barriers. (University of…

Suggests that where institutions such as universities agree with gatekeepers that proposed sensitive and critical research would be inappropriate researchers must create autonomous positions from which to conduct their research. (Author/AM)

If they are to develop more effective social intervention strategies, social scientists must pay attention to social causality in their research. This will lead to more credibility for the social sciences and more support for research funds. Social causality is defined as a social process that produces a change in some dependent variable. It…

It is concluded, on the basis of this study, that respondents who are poor and/or of racial or ethnic minority backgrounds require unconventional rules of survey procedure. (Author/AM)

Fred N. Kerlinger has been hailed as having contributed to the transformation of the way that behavioral scientists and educators read research reports, design and execute research, and draw conclusions about research. In 1960 he introduced the notion that educational research is fraught with mythology. Three of the research myths that he…

Reforms of educational practice arise from attractiveness of new ideas rather than from research findings because researchers import frameworks from other disciplines rather than using actual classroom phenomena as a basis for conceptual apparatuses and methods. (JW)

Defining research as systematic, self-critical inquiry open to public criticism and/or empirical test, the author considers the relevance of scientific, historical, and educational research to practice. He asserts that teachers must be involved in educational research and that researchers must justify themselves to practitioners, not practitioners…

A survey experiment of a national sample of social workers revealed that although respondents distinguished between studies with good and bad research designs, their judgements of research quality and implications for their own practice were significantly influenced by whether the findings were positive or negative. (Editor/JT)

Social science research does not fit well, either in its execution or in its results, with the organizational structure and the time requirements for decision making in the federal administrative system. Different organization of research for procedural questions and policy issues could eliminate this ill-timing. (Author/KR)

Provides a detailed introduction to the variety of purposes for which evaluation research may be used and to the range of methods currently employed in the practice of that field. Uses specific examples, where appropriate, to provide concrete illustrations of both the goals of evaluation researchers and the methods used. (Author)

Although substantial efforts have been made in social science research in rural areas, the assembled data often has not been extensively utilized by decision makers. This paper proposes a collaboration between researchers and decision makers and suggests guidelines for enhancing research utilization. (DS)

Presents several significant issues in science policy for the field of aging. Discusses the relationship between the public, funding agencies, and researchers as well as the setting of priorities, the independence of scientists, and the translation of research into policy and practice. (Author)

This chapter examines, from four perspectives, the ways in which educational research, development, and evaluation activities in the United States are organized, controlled, and supported, and considers whether research can be properly used to shape educational policy and practice. First, the size and historical development of the research and…