Epistemology and educational research

The history of educational research documents various crises of confidence in the legitimacy and usefulness of knowledge claims concerning education (Lagemann, 2000). This trend continues into the 21st century with renewed interestand increased scrutiny. Calls for "scientifically based" and "evidence based educational interventions are premised by alack of confidence in the knowledge about educational phenomena currently available (e.g., National Reading Panel, 2000;National Research Council, 2002; Slavin, 2003; U.S. Department of Education, 2002a; U.S. Congress, 2001). Attacks on programs of teacher education and schools of education more generally are similarly premised by a lack of confidence in theknowledge base supporting the induction of new teachers and educational researchers (U.S. Department of Education, 2002b; for counterargument see Darling-Hammond and Youngs, 2002). Thus, issues about the origins, scope, nature, and limitations of knowledge are central for understanding the nature of debates about the legitimacy and value of educational research. Epistemology, the study of knowledge (Boyd, Gasper, and Trout, 1991; Sosa, 1991), underlies any discussion of research methodology, complementary or otherwise.