It is useful to place the development of educational research within the context of the historical development of scientific research as a whole. The work of Whitehead, Northrop, Toulmin, and, especially, Kuhn suggests the value of viewing research as a social process through which ideas and intellectual techniques are diffused. It is useful for analytical purposes to distinguish between three phases in that process: the period of emergence of community, the transition period, and the period of maturity. The pattern of development in educational administration suggests that the community development period extended up until about 1950 and that the transition period begun in 1950 continues today. The formation of educational administration research organizations and the growing emphasis on analytical techniques suggest that some of the critical components necessary for the emergence of the period of maturity are now developing. (Author/JG)