Methods Matter: Improving Causal Inference in Educational and Social Science Research
Methods Matter: Improving Causal Inference in Educational and Social Science Research
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发表时间：
2010-09
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通讯作者：
R. Murnane;J. Willett
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作者：
R. Murnane;J. Willett
世界各地的教育决策者不断地决定如何利用稀缺资源来改善儿童的教育。不幸的是，他们的决定很少有证据表明这些举措在其他情况下的后果。决策通常也不伴随着评估其因果影响的精心制定的计划。因此，关于在不同情况下如何工作的知识积累非常缓慢。在过去的几十年里，研究方法、行政记录保存和统计软件的进步极大地增加了研究人员对教育干预的因果影响进行令人信服的评估的潜力，设计良好的研究数量正在增加。《方法很重要：改善教育和社会科学研究中的因果推理》以清晰、简洁的文字写成，为那些评估教育政策的人提供了重要的指导。作者利用大量高质量的研究实例，评估了重要教育干预措施的因果影响，超越了简单地介绍新的分析方法，讨论了围绕每项研究的争议，并提供了启发式的解释，这些解释也很容易理解。穆纳恩和威利特在因果推理方面提供了强有力的方法论见解，同时也研究了在美国和国外实施的各种教育政策的后果。代表一个独特的贡献，文学周围的教育研究，这一具有里程碑意义的文本将是无价的学生和研究人员在教育和公共政策，以及那些对社会科学感兴趣。
Educational policy-makers around the world constantly make decisions about how to use scarce resources to improve the education of children. Unfortunately, their decisions are rarely informed by evidence on the consequences of these initiatives in other settings. Nor are decisions typically accompanied by well-formulated plans to evaluate their causal impacts. As a result, knowledge about what works in different situations has been very slow to accumulate. Over the last several decades, advances in research methodology, administrative record keeping, and statistical software have dramatically increased the potential for researchers to conduct compelling evaluations of the causal impacts of educational interventions, and the number of well-designed studies is growing. Written in clear, concise prose, Methods Matter: Improving Causal Inference in Educational and Social Science Research offers essential guidance for those who evaluate educational policies. Using numerous examples of high-quality studies that have evaluated the causal impacts of important educational interventions, the authors go beyond the simple presentation of new analytical methods to discuss the controversies surrounding each study, and provide heuristic explanations that are also broadly accessible. Murnane and Willett offer strong methodological insights on causal inference, while also examining the consequences of a wide variety of educational policies implemented in the U.S. and abroad. Representing a unique contribution to the literature surrounding educational research, this landmark text will be invaluable for students and researchers in education and public policy, as well as those interested in social science.