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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper applying Karl Popper’s approach to the scientific method to educational research. There is a wealth of research in education, much of it virtually worthless. For decades, it seemed that researchers turned to qualitative methods only when they could not fit hypotheses into quantitative approaches, and qualitative studies frequently were not designed well with reference to validity and reliability. The result was that method purists often regarded qualitative educational research as less than “real” science. Today’s educational research is designed much better than in the past. It still could benefit from the application of Karl Popper’s approach to the scientific method, however, which approaches validity and theory verification from a different perspective. Bibliography lists 13 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: CC6_KSeduResPop.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
education is unique among disciplines employing empirical methods in that it so frequently addresses issues that are mutable according to populations, administrative structure, external societal conditions or other qualities.
Well-designed research can stand as relevant for decades, but lesser efforts may or may not be useful in practice at any time. There
is a wealth of research in education, much of it virtually worthless. For decades, it seemed that researchers turned to qualitative methods only when they could not fit hypotheses
into quantitative approaches. Qualitative studies frequently were not designed well with reference to validity and reliability, and method purists often regarded qualitative educational research as less than "real" science.
Todays educational research is designed much better than in the past. It still could benefit from the application of Karl Poppers approach to the scientific method, however. Poppers
Perspective Popper ventured into social observation, discussing "closed" and "open" societies. His observation of the nature of the closed society, made nearly
60 years ago, in many ways can apply to educational systems today. Popper wrote that while closed societies differed between each other, all were characterized by "their magical or
irrational attitude towards the customs of social life, and the corresponding rigidity of those customs" (Popper quoted in McInnes, 2002; p. 72). This perspective could have been applied to
educational systems of even the recent past, when legislators and the public alike began calling for greater demonstrable achievement in the public schools.
Udehn (2002) notes that it "is common to categorize social scientific theories as either individualistic or holistic, and to assume that they are opposites" (p. 479). While common, this
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