Ghosts of research past: institutional memory and its implications for educational research

Abstract

Not all research projects progress according to plan. When a project culminates in a published piece that the research participants do not support, what are the effects and for how long do they endure? Using a retrospective case study, this article explores what memory can teach us about the long-term ramifications of research conducted in schools. Results suggest that for as long as 25 years after the publication of a controversial article, memory traces of the piece may survive at the research site, even if they have largely faded from view at the researchers' institution. The article argues that such memory stores expose much about institutional identities and practices, and that they contain important lessons for how we should approach, carry out, and conclude research in schools.

Keywords:

• institutional memory
• validity
• research ethics
• school reform

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Ed White, Jose da Silva, Rudy Delson, Milbrey McLaughlin, Sam Wineburg, and Richard Osberg for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I also thank the editor and three anonymous reviewers of IJRME for their especially detailed and constructive feedback.

Notes

In 1984, San Jose Unified School District came under court order to desegregate its schools.

See, for example, the ethical standards of the American Educational Research Association (2000), the British Educational Research Association (2004), and the Australian Association for Research in Education (1993).