Six papers explore applications/implications of the unity thesis in discrete areas of educational research. The unity thesis argues that knowledge is all of a piece and allows for methodological diversity in educational research. Topics include a coherentist validity theory; policy analysis; hermeneutics; meta-analysis; and coherentist empiricism…

Five interrelated papers that explore the theme of validity within the context of cross-national assessments are grouped in this collection. These papers were presented at a symposium at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. These papers draw on data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).…