The lure of statistics for educational researchers
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- In this paper I explore the historical and sociological elements that have made educational researchers dependent on statistics – as a mechanism to shore up their credibility, enhance their scholarly standing, and increase their influence in the realm of educational policy. I begin by tracing the roots of the urge to quantify within the mentality of measurement that arose in medieval Europe, and then explore the factors that have pressured disciplines and professions over the years to incorporate the language of mathematics into their discourse. In particular, this pattern has been prominent for domains of knowledge and professional endeavor whose prestige is modest, whose credibility is questionable, whose professional boundaries are weak, and whose knowledge orientation is applied. I show that educational research as a domain – with its focus on a radically soft and thoroughly applied form of knowledge and with its low academic standing – fits these criteria to a tee. Then I examine two kinds of problems that derive from educational researchers’ seduction by the quantitative turn. One is that this approach to educational questions deflects attention away from many of the most important issues in the field, which are not easily reduced to standardized quanta. Another is that by adopting this rationalized, quantified, abstracted, statist, and reductionist vision of education, education policymakers risk imposing reforms that will destroy the local practical knowledge that makes the ecology of the individual classroom function effectively. Quantification, I suggest, may be useful for the professional interests of educational researchers but it can be devastating in its consequences for school and society.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | [ca. 2010] |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Labaree, David F. |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | Statistics |
|---|---|
| Subject | educational research |
| Subject | history of education |
| Genre | Article |
Bibliographic information
| Related Publication | Labaree, David F. (2011). The lure of statistics for educational researchers. Educational Theory, 61:6, 621-631. |
|---|---|
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/ws021tj9578 |
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- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY).
Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Labaree, David F. (2011). The lure of statistics for educational researchers. Educational Theory, 61:6, 621-631.
Collection
Graduate School of Education Open Archive
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- Contact
- dlabaree@stanford.edu
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