National Research Council Report “Scientific Research in Education”
The National Academy of Sciences had contract ED-00-00-0038 with the U.S. Department of Education National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board. Here is my critical and constructive review of the publication, Scientific Research in Education (2002), published by the National Academy Press, that resulted from that contract.
It contains a misrepresentation inferring that there is no scientific method and false claims of its nature.
Nowhere does this report say that the scientific method is involved in research. Therefore, as a critical reviewer of this report, I claim:
None of the material in it can be accepted as reliable based on its discussion of research with no correct description of the scientific method (on which research is based). Since the “facts” are wrong at the beginning, what follows is not reliable.
In the past, the National Academy of Sciences has pushed science as a “culture” instead of a method. There is no doubt that there is a “culture” to science. However, you must be able to identify the culture easily. When you try, you find that you are describing the scientific method and its supporting ingredients.
The report does state that scientific inquiry in education is the same as in other domains. It presents six principles of inquiry that somewhat resemble a formula for the scientific method. However, they are not clear or accurate enough for a teaching method for educational researchers. In my opinion, this report is of little value in guiding people on educational research.
