Abstract

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is concerned with question empirical educational research is enormously varied and, in order to answer, aims to consider a variety of styles of Empirical educational research (EER) in order to arrive at a balanced picture of its value and limitations for the work of teachers and educators more generally. It takes up the issue of the very possibility of EER and the various sceptical arguments that have been advanced against it. The book discusses the issue of what kinds of explanation are available for educational phenomena and is also concerned with the scope of educational explanations. It focuses on a currently influential paradigm with a close relationship to approaches in natural science. The book looks at the ways in which philosophy and the more overtly empirical disciplines involved in educational research can work more fruitfully together.