教育研究的实证与思辨——从《无声的革命》看教育研究的方法

The Silent Revolution and Methods of Education Research

教育学没有自己独特的研究方法,目前在国际上最引人注目的是一些大规模的教育实证研究。《无声的革命》把这种研究引进中国,值得教育学界注意。但《无声的革命》课题组对他们的方法过分自信,书中暴露了不少问题。教育研究中实证和思辨两种基本方法是互相渗透的,理论在很大程度上决定观察者的解释。铁证如山,不等于只有一种结论。

There is no unique education research method. Now the best education studies in the world are large scale empirical researches. The Silent Revolution introduces this kind of research into China and is worth education researchers' attention. However,those authors are overconfident in their method,causing a lot of difficulties in the book. This essay discusses empirical studies and theoretical research of education. My finding is that these two kinds of studies usually interpenetrate. To a great extent,theories decide observers' interpretation. Ironclad evidence does not necessarily lead to a single conclusion.