ABSTRACT
The paper begins with an attempt to clarify the term ‘educational research’ in the historical context of the Federal Republic of Germany during the 1960s and attempts to relate it to the contemporary debate on fundamental and methodological issues of social science theory characterized by a confrontation between the adherents of traditional ‘pedagogies’, analytical-empirical research and the ‘critical theory’ of the Frankfurt School (with its impact on ‘action research’). There then follows an analysis of the events and factors whose appraisal is thought to be necessary for understanding the development of the interrelation between policy makers and educationists in the ‘reform period’ of the early 1970s.
The focal section is devoted to the institutionalization of educational research whereby special attention is paid to the duality of ‘independent’ (universities, non-governmental institutions) and ‘dependent’ (state institutes) research centres. The paper concludes with a stocktaking of the present situation and an outlook into the 1980s, dealing with topical issues of organization and funding, discussing questions concerning the impact of educational research on policy and practice and offering insight into recent trends in the area of research methodology which point to a ‘new’ empiricism, amalgamating quantifying and qualifying methods.
