Educational Research

“Educational research is a structured scientific inquiry into an educational question that provides an answer contributing toward increasing the body of generalizable knowledge about educational concerns” (Hopkins C. A., 1990, pp. 23-24) So when asked, why us educational research the answer is clear. We need and do educational research to provide answers and to contribute more knowledge about our educational concerns. Our text book for this class suggests six reasons for the importance of educational research: Educators are constantly trying to understand educational processes and must make professional decisions. Noneducational policy groups, such as state and federal legislatures and courts, have increasingly mandated changes in education. Concerned public, professional, and private groups and foundations have increased their research activities. Reviews of prior research have interpreted accumulated empirical evidence. Educational research is readily available. Many educators who are not full-time researchers conduct studies to guide their decisions and to serve as efforts in classroom, school, and system accountability. (McMillan, 2006) Educational research is used at the local level to provide knowledge about education for our communities. For example, if the local community college wanted to expand their offerings, educational research could provide them with information about what the community would like to see offered, what the general needs for education in the area are, and any other pertinent data that is needed. Educational research at the state and national level is used to provide knowledge about education that is generally used in policy making, bill passing, budget dictates, and curriculum decisions. So you can see that it plays an important part no matter what level it is used for. Our book describes the functions of research as basic, applied, evaluation, and action.

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