The quality of educational research, both as research and as educational, has been the subject of lively discussion in the Western world for many decades. The issues that have been aired in depth include the appropriate methodologies that should be used; the relative worth of research that provides an in-depth portrait of a particular situation of educational interest versus research that aims to provide findings that are generalizable across many settings and populations; and the relevance of research findings for the formation of educational policy and the training of teachers. Although this entry contains discussions pertinent to these issues, the main point developed is that discussions of educational research too often fail to provide an analysis of what makes it distinctively educational. A piece of ...