This article presents a review of five chapters in "Part III, Section F: Inquiring into Curriculum" of "The SAGE Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction" (F. M. Connelly, M. F. He, J. I. Phillion, Eds.; Sage Publications, 2008). These chapters ["Part III: Curriculum in Theory. Introductory Essay" (William H. Schubert. pp. 391-398); "Curriculum…

Responds to Eisner's discussion of the nature of research and the place of qualitative research. Advocates increased emphasis on the true experiment in educational research to provide evidence of the usefulness of educational practices. (SLD)

Explores the nature of educational research, replying to Knapp's comments on the role of qualitative research. Suggests that the "true" experiment is very hard to conduct in educational research and discusses what validity means in the educational research context. (SLD)

Asserts that the reductionistic methodology used by M. Wang, G. Haertel, and H. Walberg in their study does not do justice to the educational phenomena they wish to illuminate. In addition, these authors have too simple a view of the relationship between educational research and educational practice. (SLD)

Asserts that reviews like that of M. Wang, G. Haertel, and H. Walberg are stimulating and useful in thinking about educational research, but they are nearly useless in thinking about educational policy and practice. It is not clear what is meant by "knowledge base," and the finding about proximal and distal variables is simplistic. (SLD)

A set of concerns related to home education that is infrequently studied, namely, the content and direction of research in education, is examined. Issues surrounding home education have not been given adequate attention. A sample of home education researchers was gathered by compiling a list of authors who had published in the "Home School…