Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Topic: Problems in English Education Research

10-second review: Problem with reviews of previous research prior to describing the author’s research.


Title: “From the Editor.” Sandra Stotsky, Editor. Research in the Teaching of English (February 1993), 5-6. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).


Summary/Quote: Inadequate research reviews and belittling previous research. “…problems with their ‘review of the literature’ (such as inadequate review, the unfocused review, or even occasionally the non-existent review). Sometimes the author has attempted to belittle related research to characterize it in hostile ways…. It is the tone, not the substance of the author’s remarks….”


Quote: Purposes for research. “…a researcher undertakes a new study because previous research has not answered all possible questions about the topic…. …an author is obligated to indicate in some detail what previous research on the topic has found, what it has not looked at or found, and how the author’s study grows out of that previous work, whether to refine important features of previous procedures, to explore new aspects of the topic, or to use different theoretical assumptions altogether. But denigration of related research…convey[s] an unflattering touch of arrogance.”


Comment: Unfortunately, too many educated people tend to denigrate the work of other professionals in professional journals. That’s a bore. RayS.

No comments: