ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the unique aspects of the mission, conceptual grounding, and empirical landscape of special education research. We outline how the very nature of special education services and the varied needs of students with exceptionalities require designs, measures, and analytic strategies that often extend beyond typical approaches in educational research. On this count, we discuss how the practices that are generated by special education research need to be individualized, interdisciplinary in focus, and responsive to different contexts and circumstances. Accordingly, single-case designs that help to generate data-driven analytic approaches are often a central, but not exclusive, feature of special education research. We also discuss considerations for the future and how the field can be positioned to respond to a diverse and changing world.
