JOURNAL OF EDUCATION
Year:2006 | Volume:22 | Issue:1 (85)|Papers Count:6

The quality of educational research has been a bone of contention as it is said that they do not reflect the reality of the educational practice and hence not worthy of the budgets they are allocated to. In this paper the methodological quality of 23 research reports is evaluated in order to provide a general picture of the situation in Iran. The reports evaluated are considered representative and their shortcomings are as follow: Most are quantitative and descriptive with biased sampling, not ever mentioning the method of sampling nor the rational and their connection with the theoretical basis of the studies is not clarified. It can be said that almost none of the 23 reports has adequately addressed the basic methodological issues. Considering that the council for educational research evaluates all proposals and reports. it would be appropriate to ask what could be done to make the evaluation process rigorous enough.

Perhaps the word hamesalari is new to the reader, as it cannot be found in any dictionary. Nevertheless, it is not that unfamiliar, as it is constructed from two familiar words and a familiar phoneme. Words like mardomsalari, pedarsalari, zansalari, and mardsalari are very common and familiarity with them can help with the understanding of the new term. In all these words salar means the head and the commander (Mo'in, 1997), and the phoneme i means that a phenomenon that is expressed with those words. In mardomsalari it is the people who are commanding. Just as in zansalari women are, but the word people include everyone, boys and girl, small and large groups alike. Hence, any of them being the commander would be an example of mardomsalari Thust the term hamesalari is more precise in that it means every one is the commander. In order for any hamesalari to be functional it is necessary to have certain foundations that are provided by the culture of democracy. What is meant by culture is the set of knowledge, values and behaviors that make it possible for group dominance is the order of the day and submissive attitudes are expected. The very goal of the system is to help with the development of rational, inquisitive, and democratically minded citizens. Democracy is learned and hence. Not only its development should not be left to chance, but deserves planning and inclusion in the curricula. One way of doing so is the inclusion of research and research training in school programs. In other words by development of democracy as doing so would also help with the development of scientistic attitude, the key to all developments.

Utilizing research in designing, implementing, and evaluating organizational activities has been the focus of many managerial undertakings. Research provides the necessary information for effective decision making regarding the improvement of processes and products, especially in organizations that have complicated goals and tasks. Within the educational organizations, research has a very special status as it can help to clarify the complexities that educational administrators and curriculum planners are facing in designing, implementing, and evaluating programs. However, there may be problems on the way of research fulfilling these functions. This article discusses the current issues that educational research in Iran faces. It is hoped that those in charge pay more attention to this discussion and pay the way for improvements through research in the educational system.

Ever since 1996, a national program called "Researcher Teacher" (RT) has been in implementation by the Institute for Educational Research in order to encourage teachers to become research oriented and hence, help their students become familiar with research as a tool for solving educational problems. The number of teachers participating in this program has been steadily increasing over the years. Considering the role of action research in teachers professional development. It was deemed necessary to study the impact of the RT program on teachers performance. In this article the results of this study are discussed and suggestions regarding the improvement of the program are given.

This paper is based on the writing of keeves & McKenzie and discusses nature of the educational research process as well as the application of research findings and ways of determining research needs and priorities. One of the main problems in this field is the tendency to do sporadic research that lack theoretical foundation. Lack of flexibility in research orientations and the inability to address the drastic changes that are about to take place are among threats that accompany any attempts at identifying lists of research priorities.The very nature of educational research is such that a broad spectrum of issues such as educational out put, social interaction, evaluation, and the role of educational research and their findings are addressed there within. Among factors that affect the orientation of educational research, three are outstanding: critical issues that need to be addressed, advances in technology, and new ideas that stem from other fields of study. Among criteria for determining research priorities are the socio-economic needs. Social justice, professional needs, the strengths and advances in current research, and gaps between theory and practice.  

Identifying priorities in the area of educational research is considered the most important stage in doing research. It is at this stage that the research needs in terms of their significance and practicality are compared and the most outstanding of them identified. In other words, from among many areas or topics of research some are selected using certain criteria in order to be implemented. This means that some areas or topics of research are overlooked, although there may be a significant research problem there within. Much criticism has been made on the way that research priorities are identified within the Ministry of Education in Iran. It is appropriate to address some of these criticisms in a serious manner. The present paper using a theoretical framework and a critical approach attempts at providing an opportunity to reflect on this important issue.