Whether the goal is to identify and describe trends and variation in populations, create new measures of key phenomena, or describe samples in studies aimed at identifying causal effects, description plays a critical role in the scientific process in general and education research in particular. Descriptive analysis identifies patterns in data to…

The authors argue for a significant shift in how clinical psychology researchers conduct construct validation and theory validation tests. They argue that sound theory and validation tests can best be conducted on measures of unidimensional or homogeneous constructs. Hierarchical organizations of such constructs are useful descriptively and…

We engage in a metalogue based on eight papers in this issue of "Cultural Studies of Science Education" that review the state of conceptual change research and its possible affect on the teaching and learning of science. Our discussion addresses three aspects of conceptual change research: theoretical, methodological, and practical, as we discuss…

The paper opens by characterizing recent discourse about empirical educational research as the "new Babel"-critics, using different theoretical vocabularies and making different deep assumptions about the nature of social life, are failing to communicate with each other. After locating some of the critical positions on a left-right continuum, the…

Arthur Jensen replies to the critique by Steven Selden. He points out that scientists' choices of subject matter are subjective, but heritability of intelligence is no longer argued among experts. (MD)

This article considers the emerging method of design experimentation, and its developing use in educational research. It considers the extent to which design experiments are different from other, more established, methods and the extent to which elements of established methods can be adapted for use in conjunction with them. One major issue to be…

This paper argues that the introduction of the scientific method in the very rich environments of the natural sciences or human sciences may disguise the process and create difficulties for students because of the multiplicity of variables involved, whereas the variables present in a mathematical context can be readily manipulated and their…

This article describes the experiences of a former astronomer who is making the transition to astronomy education research as an international graduate student in the United States. The article describes the author's encounters with education research, its methodologies, and his changing research interests as he progresses through the graduate…

Meehl's taxometric method was developed to distinguish categorical and continuous constructs. However, taxometric output can be difficult to interpret because expected results for realistic data conditions and differing procedural implementations have not been derived analytically or studied through rigorous simulations. By applying bootstrap…

Critiques Arthur Jensen's concept of a "reality principle" in educational research from the March 1984 "Phi Delta Kappan." Emphasizes that objectivity and ideology are complementary, not contradictory, aspects of educators' work. (MD)

This article discusses sensory perception. The author reorganizes a previous conception of the interaction between sense organ and physical object and suggests how educational researchers study the perception of physical objects. (DF)

In a previous study (Watson, 1960), college students were told that a three-number string ("2, 4, 6") conformed to a rule and that they had to guess the rule by proposing other three-number strings; they were then told whether each guess was right or wrong. However, it was suspected that, since the subject's hypothesis was falsified by…

Summarizes teacher effectiveness literature and explores teaching-as-science and teaching-as-art, attempting to choose the best metaphor to describe the profession. The science-process metaphor has a better chance for improving teaching, though becoming a classroom scientist or researcher may be a difficult and lengthy process. Includes 24…

The shift of focus from teachers to curriculum has left supervision as a field struggling to find its place within its own professional organization. This article searches for a proper definition of supervision, highlighting scientific, developmental, and democratic approaches and exploring problems of perspective and common ground. Includes 48…

The author of a former paper (EC 600 327) responds to commentaries on her analysis of curriculum-based assessment and direct instruction in special education. The response focuses on the ideological basis of mechanistic thought in the study of human behavior, the shift toward holistic education, and use of scientific methodology. (JDD)