Educational Research

How do we get at the meanings of everyday (and not so everyday) objects, and how might these meanings enrich educational research? The study of objects is well established in fields such as archaeology, art history, communications, fine arts, museum studies, and sociology—but is still developing in education.

As part of their research activities, researchers in all areas of education develop measuring instruments, design and conduct experiments and surveys, and analyze data resulting from these activities. Educational research has a strong tradition of employing state-of-the-art statistical and psychometric (psychological measurement) techniques. Commonly referred to as quantitative methods, these techniques cover a range of statistical tests and tools. Quantitative research is essentially about collecting numerical data to explain a particular phenomenon of interest.