Start Small, Follow the Evidence
January 17, 2019
In The 74, Allison Crean Davis explores how to build an evidence base for research. She notes that exploratory studies “are better at suggesting patterns and potential directions of inquiry than they are at determining causation and arriving at firm conclusions.” She notes, however, that evidence-based research can “point toward topics worthy of further inquiry and suggest how resources for research can best be leveraged.” This is “consistent with an embrace of evidence under the Every Student Succeeds Act that “demonstrates a rationale” for a program, approach, or intervention, even if it has yet to demonstrate causality.”