Description:
There are a number of important philosophical questions that lie behind the everyday practice of education research. The questions include: What does it mean to say that research in education is “scientific”? Is science (and, by extension, educational research) really value neutral and objective? What kinds of education research should count as legitimate? In the first part of the course, various definitions of science, for example, those of Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn, and some influential critiques of the scientific enterprise are examined. In the second part of the course, some of the ongoing debates about appropriate research methods in education are analyzed.
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