The Practice of Educational Research

The first part of this chapter discusses the evolving relationships between educational research, state-funded educational provision, and institutional arrangements for other areas of inquiry (in particular, the social sciences and the humanities). The complicated nature of these relationships is evidenced by the long history of controversy surrounding education research, for example around its: academic vs. professional aims; social science vs. humanities affinities; disciplinary vs. multidisciplinary organisation; low vs. high status. Jointly, these tensions and controversies have kept the nature of educational research under constant questioning.