The contested nature of empirical educational research (and why philosophy of education offers little help)

This paper suggests that empirical educational research has not, on the whole, been treated well by philosophers of education. A variety of criticisms have been offered, ranging from triviality, conceptual confusion and the impossibility of empirically studying normative processes. Furthermore, many of those who criticise, or dismiss, empirical research do so without subjecting any specific examples to careful scholarly scrutiny. It is suggested that both philosophy of education, and the empirical research enterprise, stand to profit if philosophers pay more attention to real cases-and this attention is especially important at present, when research funding is being based on spurious scientistic criteria such as the use of 'gold standard' randomised experimental research designs.