Quantitative research returns: Why did it leave?

This article discusses several issues pertaining to the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to foster what is described as scientifically based research in education. According to a report in the 2005 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, the new policy will permit, but not require, all of the department's units to give preference to grant applicants who promise to use randomized controlled trials or similar quasi-experimental methods. This policy change is sure to fuel the debate about the quality of educational research, including the growing body of research about distance education. The department's stress on the importance of quantitative research designs, especially randomized trials, is a victory of sorts for educational traditionalists and for many, is long overdue. The claim that educational research is of poor quality is not new, and some assert that the vast quantity of research studies published, especially doctoral dissertations, have had little if any impact on the practice of education.