ABSTRACT
In educational research and other forms of social science, doubts have also arisen about the exclusive use of the quantitative methods so familiar in the physical sciences. Anthropologists introduced methods that were very different from the experimental methods of the psychologists who had long dominated educational research. The methodological battles within the social sciences contributed to a growing feeling within the educational research community that the naturalistic model was inadequate for the study of education. Several theorists have suggested that the aims of social science are different from those of naturalistic science. Educational research in the naturalistic mode can rarely tell us that a particular pedagogical method—;;say, one of teaching multiplication—;;is significantly and generally better than another. Before leaving this brief discussion of educational research and philosophy of science, the author mentions that feminist and postmodern philosophers have launched powerful critiques of science as it has been conducted under what is sometimes called "Cartesian epistemology".
