ABSTRACT
F. N. Kerlinger, for instance, argued that the primary function of research was theory building, not the identification and solution of practical problems in the education. He conceded that the advancement of theory might lead to solutions for the practical problems, but he dismissed it as a primary motivation for research. Creative researchers would do well to consider not only how research findings might address educational problems in general, but how the process of research could have more immediate benefits for study participants. Few researchers persist in organizing historical thinking around age-based, invariant stages, but in the world of schools, older students still receive far more exposure to history than do younger ones. Research on emergent historical thinking, where researchers try to capture aspects of children’s thinking prior to more formal encounters with “conventional” disciplinary practice is much more rare.
