On generating knowledge in service to society1

1. Based on an invited paper presented in the Presidential Session ‘Mixed methods research in an era of accountability’ at The Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montréal, Québec, Canada, April 2005.

Abstract

In the US debate over science‐based educational research, experimentation is again coming to the fore as ideal for establishing an evidence base of what works in educational interventions thus contributing to the climate of accountability in educational research and practice. Mixed methods research is being positioned in this discussion as a reasonable alternative, a way of making it possible for both experimentalists and non‐experimentalists to join forces in the quest for accountability. This paper argues that mixed methods research is hardly something new; moreover, it is an epistemological response to what is basically a moral–political problem.

Notes

1. Based on an invited paper presented in the Presidential Session ‘Mixed methods research in an era of accountability’ at The Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montréal, Québec, Canada, April 2005.