ABSTRACT
Education prepared by the National Research Council's Committee on Scientific Principles in Education Research (Shavelson & Towne, 2002). This committee did not define science by delineating a preferred tool or set of tools. Rather, it set out a pluralistic definition for good science that rests on the alignment ofquestions, methods, theory, data, and inferences, all ofwhich are inextricably interwoven. The operating principles set out by the committee are:
(a) Pose significant questions that can be investigated empirically
(b) Link research to relevant theory (c) Use methods that permit direct investigation of the
question (d) Provide a coherent and explicit chain of reasoning (e) Replicate and generalize across studies, and (f) Disclose research to encourage professional scrutiny
and critique
Although my task requires different emphases, readers of this chapter should find no inconsistencies with the recommendations in the National Research Council's volume.
