An Analysis On The Problems About Education Research Validity

Education research is a kind of science knowing and practicing activity, in which researchers make researches rationally on the educational problems in human society, purposefully and designedly with scientific methods in order to satisfy the need of educational subject. Research itself is a practical course of the investigation that starts with the discovering and bringing forward educational questions and ends up with the problems solved at the same time new questions may be raised. Educational questions are the core and ultimate destination of education research, and they make the subject/object of education research interact with each other to seek the optimum balance point. During the past few years, education research in China has been well developed and the achievements such as those in the basic theories of education research mushroom. However, together with the achievement there are some defects: such as the unity of opposites between truth-seeking and benefit-seeking. The analysis and resolution of these defects is a necessary and good way to improve research validity. The thesis emphasizes the role of research validity in the construction of educational theories and the solution of educational problems. It also thinks that research validity is the key to education research value. Research validity is updated and richened as a diachronic conception at the same time it is being emerged into the whole process of education research. Hence after a review and analysis of education research history, the thesis first probes the status quo of education research. Second, it attempts to find out the factors that affect research validity, and third it gives some methods and measures that can help to improve research validity. This article is made up of four parts: In part one. The connotation of education research validity is probed into as well as its special properties in special field. While reviewing the concept of validity historically, the thesis finds out that with time going, the concept of validity is distributed rich and extended rationally. Its understanding and evaluating are extended gradually to research content, research method, research tools, research action, research results and social effects and so on. In this thesis, validity is defined as the coincidence between the research and the relevant questions. And it reflects the value of research work including the research's value. In part two. On facts, validity problems existing in china education research now are discussed from macro-and micro-levels, In the macroscopic level such are the problems: little attention to research social effects and its value of utilize lead to the low consequential validity of society, existing in research as "false questions" and urged research results, in research they tend to be "fame-seeking and material gain" take for example, the education experimental research in the microscopic dimension. There are problems about external validity, concept validity and statistical validity of conclusion. In part three. What cause these problems in education research is analyzed. First, lack of scientific spirit brings a work style that is eagerness for quick success and instant benefits and is picking easy work and shirking hard ones. Secondly lack of effective mediums to spread and improve education research methods keeps researchers unqualified. Thirdly, choosing of research methods leads to positive quantitative analysis inadequate and dissimilation as well as the weak basic research. Fourthly, the relative lagging of management and evaluation system in education research is an indirect cause of validity problem. In part four. Measures and methods are sought to heighten education research validity. First, the highlighting of scientific spirit and the enhancing of research moral construction are bases of education research. Secondly, the improvement of education theory levels is the precondition of education research. Thirdly, the correct use of the various research technologies and the enhancing of quantitative...