Much cultural capital research has accumulated since its inception in the 1970s and researchers have charted the corresponding development of cultural capital theory in academic communities. This empirical study takes the further step of offering an account of cultural capital as it is interpreted in schools. This 'interventionalist account' is…

Voucher proponents have increasingly pursued empirical evidence on the effectiveness of vouchers as a form of education improvement, in addition to advocating for vouchers on moral or ethical grounds. Voucher proponents contend that randomized assignment studies of students in voucher programs have consistently confirmed the effectiveness of…

Internationally, efforts are being made for educational practice to be research-informed on the grounds that schoolteachers will implement what research shows will "work". However, teachers do not necessarily accept research findings; sometimes they contest them. This article considers teachers' contestation in two empirical studies,…

One of the major successes of advanced quantitative methods has been its seeming ability to provide unbiased determinations of which education practices are effective for education in general and for improving the educational achievement and opportunity of the neediest students. The power of this methodology as applied in the top education…

This paper presents a case study on the transfer of research into policy and describes how evidence was used to inform, develop, frame and ultimately agree a national strategy for research and data on children's lives in Ireland. The paper highlights key issues arising in the research-policy exchange, but also argues that evidence on its own,…

For decades, policy makers, advocates, and researchers have been engaged in efforts to make educational opportunity more equal for students from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. A great deal of research has been conducted on their efforts; however, there is some disagreement on the extent to which the research has been…

Design-based research (DBR) evolved near the beginning of the 21st century and was heralded as a practical research methodology that could effectively bridge the chasm between research and practice in formal education. In this article, the authors review the characteristics of DBR and analyze the five most cited DBR articles from each year of this…

Analyzes selected critical issues concerning participatory research in adult education. Defines participatory research and looks at its development. Links this with the significance and rationale of the participatory approach in adult education and focuses on the problems of this approach. (JOW)

Educational research is in drastic need of a new and different perspective. Some factors which cause this research to be of limited use to the community are: (a) a great deal of data is unusable because it is either wrong or too meagerly supported to judge its reliability; (b) there is a lack of communication among researchers resulting in a great…

How is the usefulness of research assessed as university research becomes more and more commodified? The question is addressed through an analysis of how the results of a particular research project were received in a large private company that had provided the main funding for a research project on gender and top management, a project based on…

The vast amount of literature on curriculum and instructional design does not establish a clear frame of reference to help teachers utilize and operationalize concepts and information. Four specific problem areas are of special concern in the literature: (1) the terminology and definitions are confusing; (2) the place of the classroom teacher is…

Highlights some of the limitations of meta-analytic knowledge claims. Illustrates their problematic consequences for later research. Details effective methods of dealing with these potential problems. (SR)

Adopting the position, expressed by A. P. Bochner in his critique of small group communication research, that placing measurement in a secondary role increases the danger of accepting the claims of experiments with excessive error, this paper examines nine current quantitative small-group communication studies. Using a schema developed by J. F.…

Five dissemination models that may ensure that research findings are translated into practice are described from the literature. Current research findings in seven areas (such as technology, curriculum, and early intervention) related to education for visually handicapped people are summarized, together with recommended dissemination procedures.…

Reasons for underutilization of social research in public policy-making and the complexity of the concept of utilization are discussed. Among the factors affecting underutilization are the limitations of the social sciences and shortcomings of specific policy research. A common explanation of underutilization is the allegedly long-established…