EDS

• Replication in the Education Sciences:

  • Only 0.13% of education articles were replications in the top 100 education journals
  • Replications were less successful when there was no overlap in authorship between the original and replicating articles
  • Third-party, direct replications are crucial for improving education research's impact on policy and practice
• Efforts at the federal level led to the creation of the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) within the U.S. Department of Education
• IES funded the creation of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) in 2002 to provide scientific evidence for what works in education
• Replication Types:

  • Literal replications involve exact duplication of sampling procedures, experimental conditions, measuring techniques, and analysis methods
  • Operational replications strive to duplicate sampling and experimental procedures
• Challenges with Replications:

  • Bias towards publishing positive findings
  • Low reliability among peer reviewers
  • Misuse of statistical tests and results
• Replication Statistics:

  • Only 44% of replications in highly cited medical publications produced results similar to the original study
  • Unsuccessful replications were common when original studies were not randomized and had small samples
• Trends in Replication Research:

  • A decrease in replication research from 1974 to 2004
  • Only six journals had a replication rate over 1%, with 43 journals publishing no replications
• Success Factors in Replications:

  • 48.2% of replications were conducted by the same research team as the original
  • 88.7% of replications were successful when in the same publication as the original findings
• Solutions for Education Sciences:

  • Emulating a plan emphasizing robust, replicable, and generalizable research
  • Introducing registered replication reports for multi-lab replications of important experiments
• Educational Research Challenges:

  • Educational research is considered the hardest science
  • Requires dealing with unique complexities and local knowledge
  • Relies on ethnographic research, case studies, survey research, and other methods for reliable evidence
• Research Process:

  1. Formulate the research question

  2. Gather data

  3. Analyze the data

  4. Present findings
• Research Methods:

  • Quantitative: Collection and analysis of numerical data, efficient for large databases
  • Qualitative: Collection and analysis of narrative data, uncovers causal relationships and provides explanatory information
• Definition of Sociology: The study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society
• Sociology of education: Examines the function of education within broader social structures
• Key questions in sociology of education:

  • What role does education play in the life chances of different groups in society?
  • How can we best explain why some groups systematically win and others lose?
  • Is education a means of liberating people or of social control?
• Schools and social reproduction:

  • Schools reproduce race, class, and regulate student bodies
  • Schools are viewed as factories with a 12-year time frame
  • Functionalism: The curriculum is designed for a purpose
  • Schools are seen as socialization agencies that prepare children for adult economic roles
  • Education can be seen as a placement for helping swift kids
  • Purpose of schooling includes socialization and homogeneity
  • Schools provide students with cultural capital to navigate a culture
  • Perennialism: Transmitting eternal and universal truths
  • Essentialism: Replicating cultural knowledge and practice
  • Schools have the power to mobilize students
• Effects of education on society:

  • A one-year increase in schooling results in a 30% reduction in murders and assaults
  • Incapacitation effect: School limits the opportunity to commit crime
  • Employment prospects: School raises the opportunity cost of crime
  • Risk aversion: Education makes individuals risk-averse
  • Social interaction: Positive peer pressure has a distinctive impact on criminal activity
  • Mechanisms that reduce crime can also increase crime, depending on societal choices
  • People who commit crimes are often more educated
  • Higher grades correlate with lower likelihood of self-harm
• Preschool studies and effects:

  • Perry Preschool studies were long-term
  • Effects of preschool over a lifetime
  • One year of preschool causes a 20% rise in home ownership
  • Parental education impacts educational outcomes
• Streaming and achievement gap:

  • Streaming divides students into applied and academic tracks
  • Streaming disproportionately places black students into applied tracks
  • Achievement gap: Disparity in achievement between student groups based on race, religion, class, gender
• Education and social factors:

  • Education serves as a link between social status and destination
  • Only 17% of natives continue education after high school
  • Importance of identity and social factors in education
  • Competing purposes in education: Standardization, achievement gaps, personalization