Comparative Research on Education [antikvár]

Foreword International social science research with a comparative orientation on a co-operative basis is a rather new venture, hardly more than twenty years old. It has, however, rapidly gained momentum, not least recently under the auspices of the European Coordination Centre for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences. The overview of co-operative research conducted in the years 1975-80 which is presented in the introductory part of this book bears ample witness of the vitality of that type of research. As is pointed out, empirical comparative research in education is indeed a newcomer in the family of comparative studies in the social sciences. Studies of a more general nature have covered an enormous range with regard both to substance and disciplinary locus. They signify the vitality of social science research in Europe where it had a rather slow take-off a few decades ago. Having myself been involved in conducting comparative research in education employing empirical methods and having devoted quite a lot of thinking to problems connected with the co-ordination and management of such research, I would like to share some "lessons learned" with the readers of this volume. There are in my experience the following prerequisites for the successful conduct of cross-national comparative research where extensive - and expensive — data collection and data processing are involved. Firstly, it ought to be a truly co-operative venture between research institutions more than between individuals, since the latter come and go more easily than the institutions they belong to. Secondly, one needs careful planning, including time-tabling and budgeting, which should involve all the participating institutions and require strong commitments on their part to follow the plan agreed upon. Thirdly, those who are charged with the day-to-day work in the co-operating institutions should have an opportunity to get together at regular intervals not only for briefing but above all in order to learn from each other. Fourthly, one needs a strong co-ordinating centre capable of monitoring the project and to provide required leadership. The emergence of international research in education with an empirical orientation has been followed by an increased theoretical sophistication with which the overriding question "What do we want to achieve by comparative studies?" is addressed. In my view, the main purpose of such research is to arrive at greater generalisability than one is able to achieve by conducting a study within a particular national and/or cultural setting. How educational phenomena are related to each other and to society at large has to be studied in many different settings. By replicating a study with a uniform methodology in countries which differ with regard to their socio-economic and political order, it is possible to come up with findings which are valid for a wider range of societies. In this connection I would also like to point out the usefulness of setting up international data banks in the social sciences, which can be used by researchers all over xi