Scientism and Education: Empirical Research as Neo-Liberal Ideology

- Foreword vii

- Acknowledgements xiii

- Authors xvii

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Chapter Preview 6

2. Education Research 8

2.1 Introduction 8

2.2 The History of Empirical Research in Education 11

2.3 The Major Principles of Positivism 20

2.4 Postpositivism: A Break from Scientism? 30

2.5 Some Philosophical Criticisms of LPE 33

2.6 Current Context of Scientism and Education 34

2.7 Summary 36

3. Epistemological Problems in Social Science Research 37

3.1 Introduction 37

3.2 Critiques of Contemporary Social Science 37

3.3 Structuralism: Implications for Education 41

3.4 Conceptual Frameworks Shape Research 46

3.5 Kuhn's Scientific Paradigms 49

3.6 Popper and the Concept of Falsification 53

3.7 Summary 58

4. Empirical Research in Education 59

4.1 Introduction 59

4.2 Quality Education and Assessment Practices 60

4.3 The Problem of Researcher Bias 65

4.4 Conceptual Confusion and Construct Validity 74

4.5 The Problem of Generalizability 77

4.6 Same Evidence Leads to Different Conclusions 81

4.7 The Direct Reference Theory of Language 83

4.8 Summary 86

5. Education Research as Analytic Truths 87

5.1 Introduction 87

5.2 Conceptual Confusion and Logical Tautology 88

5.3 The Case of Citizenship Education 92

5.4 Empirical Research and Teaching Methods 96

5.5 The Analytic Nature of Best Practice Claims 101

5.6 Summary 103

6. Empirical Research as Neo-liberal Ideology 105

6.1 Introduction 105

6.2 Summary of Research Problems in Social Science 107

6.3 The Mechanisms of Ideology 110

6.4 Standardized Testing as Ideology 114

6.5 Empirical Research and Academic Passivity 115

6.6 Scientism as Ideology 116

6.7 Education for Democratic Citizenship 121

6.8 Conclusion 124

- References 126

- Name Index 131

- Subject Index 133