1973/01/01 by Robert E. Herriott, Donald N. Muse · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Accountability #Argument (complex analysis) #Economics #Educational research #Epistemology #Law #Perspective (graphical) #Political science #Politics #Positive economics #School Choice and Performance #Social science #Sociology #Subject (documents)
paper · doi:10.3102/0091732x001001209
openalex publication_date 1973/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
Few areas of research have been the subject of as much debate in recent years as that identified by the term educational Sparked by the research of Coleman, Campbell, Hobson, McPartland, Mood, Weinfeld, & York (1966), which documented inequalities in the opportunities available to pupils from racial minorities, and fanned by a more recent concern for accountability in the light of rapidly rising per-pupil costs, the flames of this concern threaten to engulf the house of intellect. Legislators and laymen are demanding evidence that education makes a difference for all Americans, and they want to know the conditions under which it can be made more cost effective. Thus a heavy responsibility has been placed on researchers to develop and utilize the sophisticated conceptual and methodological tools that are necessary for such an effort. Although the following discussion is concerned primarily with methodological issues in the study of effects, such issues cannot be considered within a theoretical vacuum. Thus before turning to purely methodological concerns it is essential to view the problem of effects from a conceptual and historical framework. The reader accustomed primarily to a psychological perspective on phenomena may at first find our theoretical approach puzzling, for it emphasizes the systemic nature of American education. Although we have frequently turned to psychological literature for guidance (particularly on measurement and statistical issues), we have made a deliberate attempt to draw our insights from the literature of sociology, economics, and political science, since the perspectives of these disciplines have only recently been introduced into the study of effects. Re-