Analytical

Research
Educators frequently ask: Why is the history of schooling and educational
practices important? What does a concept or term mean? How can the
knowledge of the past enlighten and inform us in public discussions about
education and in decision-making processes?
Qualitative research was classified in Chapter 2 as interactive research or
noninteractive research termed analytical research. We address qualitative
research that is traditionally non-interactive in Part IV.
Analytical research includes analysis of concepts and historical events and
policy-making process. Sources for historical research are documents, oral testi
monies, and relics. The researcher uses Specialized techniques to search and locate
documents in archives, manuscript repositories, libraries, and private collections.
We discuss both the general characteristics of analytical research and the
specific procedures employed by concept analysis and historical analysis. We
also present the credibility standards for this research tradition and illustrate the
value of historical inquiry.

497
e
 HAPTER15
Concept
Analysis and
Historical
Research
past

society

• Analysis of meaning of • Topics: biographies, movements, concept institutions, practices,

• Types of analysis: policy-making processes
— generic or essential meaning • Locate with catalogues,
— different meanings indexes, and guides to libraries,
— conditions for appropriate archives, collections use of concept • Criticism of
sources: — external (authenticity)
— internoi (accuracy)
• Interprets facts for explanations

498
 General Characteristics of Analytical Research 499

KEYTERMS
historiography generalizations
oral history analytical interpretation
biography conceptual analysis
interpretative biography primary source
documents secondary source
oral testimonies external criticism
relics internal criticism
facts
One way to understand current educational practices is to know how these
practices developed and to clarify the issues concerning them. How often have
educators and noneducators made statements or justified decisions on the basis
of what they assumed happened in the past?' Explanations of past educational
ideas or concepts, events, and policies suggest insights about trends, current
educational events, and new educational issues (Strickler, 1992; Mason, et. al.,
1997)
Analytical research, as a form of qualitative inquiry, draws primarily from
the disciplines of philosophy (the meaning of concepts), history, and political science.
Concept analysis and historical research are traditionally noninterac tive document
research. Some forms of historical research, however, such as oral history and
interpretative biography, employ interactive techniques supplemented with
documents and records. Analytical research describes and interprets the past or recent
past from selected sources.
Both interactive and noninteractive forms of qualitative inquiry share
commonalities of context-bound generalizations, a discovery orientation,
emergent case study design, holistic emphasis (qualities of parts unifies the
whole phenomenon), noninterference in the natural setting, and inductive data
analysis. l

General Characteristics of
Analytical Research
Underlying the varieties of analytical research are common methodological
characteristics that distinguish analytical studies from other kinds of educational
research. These methodological characteristics include a research topic related
to past events, primary sources as data,' techniques of criticism used .in

1
See Sherman Webb, 1988, for a comparison of qualitative inquiry traditions such as ethnog
raphy, grounded theory, philosophy, history, biography, and others.
 500 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies

searching for facts, and interpretative explanations. Because these characteristics

are general, they may be applied in different ways within a particular study.
Historiography is the study of the procedures that different historians use in
their research and the changing revisions and interpretations of the past. We limit
our discussion of the general characteristics and more specific procedures
described later in this chapter to examples drawn from American educational
historical and policy events. Many of these studies require the analysis of
educational concepts—that is, the meaning of the language used.

Topics of Analysis
Historical Topics Historical topics include a wide range of new and reoccurring
topics of interest. The following topics illustrate the diversity of historical investiga
tion:

l. movements—progressive education, lifelong learning

2. institutions—public education, kindergarten, day care
3. concepts—schooling, the child, literacy, professionalism
4. biographies of influential educators—John Dewey, Phillis Wheatley
5. comparative history of international education—comparison of
American education system with those of other nationalities
6. alternative forms of schooling—home instruction, distant education
7. components of education—finance, personnel, accreditation, curriculum,
enrollment, organization, administration, instructional methods and
materials
8. cultural and minority education—gender, ethic, minority, bilingual
education
9. regionalism in American education—geographic regions; state
educational systems; urban/rural education
10. other topics—compilation (restoration) of documents with annotations;
chronological narration of series of events
More recently, historians have focused on the educational aspects of the following:
(a) the family, the church, ant} professional associations; (b) the urban/rural
environment; (c) special institutions such as reform schools, orphanages, and
juvenile courts; and (d) popular culture, such as television, songs, and literature
(Cohen, 1976).
A continuing .trend has been the application of concepts and traditional
methods of other disciplines, such as sociology, economics, psychology, and
anthropology, to historical inquiry (Kaestle, 1992). The historical past may be a
time as recent as the previous year or as distant as centuries in which the historian
has no personal experience. Monographs and specialized journals report historical
research.
 General Characteristics of Analytical Research 501

Oral History A form of historical research is oral history which records the spoken
words and testimonies of individuals. A study may focus on recording the ballads
and stories of a region or a cultural group. Oral interviews of persons who
witnessed or participated in important historical events are audio taped and the
resulting transcriptions provide a written record. Oral historians collect and
preserve the oral history before it is "lost" to future generations. 1

Biography A study that focuses on an individual, especially the pivotal points of

their life, as told to the researcher or recorded in documents or archival material, is
a biography. Biography, as a type of research, can include individual biographies,
autobiographies, life histories,- and oral history of a life (Smith, 1998). These
accounts examine "lesser lives, great lives, thwarted lives, lives cut short, or lives
miraculous in their unapplauded achievement" (Creswell, 1998, p. 48).
A researcher may approach his or her topic as a classical biography or as an
interpretative biography. A classical biography is one in which the researcher is
concerned about the validity and criticism of primary sources and developing a
"factual" base for explanations. 2 An interpretative biography is a study in which
the researcher's presence is acknowledged in the narrative and with his or her
standpoint. Interpretative biographers recognize that in a sense, the writer "creates"
the person in the narrative just as the individual created themselves when they told
or recorded their life story (Denzin, 1989). In either type of biography, the
investigator must be knowledgeable about the historical context of the individual
to interpret the person's life within the larger trends in society or in a. culture.

Policy Topics Policy topics include two distinct areas:

l. political analysis of the nature and use of power and influence in
educational government and
2. policy content and impact of specific governmental actions on education
(Mitchell, 1988).3
The first topic area seeks to explain school policy by looking at the
distribution of .power among various stakeholders in the system and following the
interactions among these influence groups to reveal the processes of decision
making. This •research, called "politics-of-education," focuses on the power of
professional interest groups, informal social networks that move policy initiatives,
the small number Of key actors who shape legislative enactments, and the
variations of the cultural values among levels of educational governance.
Policy content studies concentrate on a specific policy or issue rather than on
power relationships. At a conceptual level, however, policy studies are very

1
See the
annual publication of the Oral History Review.
2
Angroisino (1989) and Loma'sk (1986) for the more traditional approach to biographical
See
research.
3
Policy analysis, a different type of research,vis discussed in Chapter 16.
 502 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies

diverse. Research on policy content may focus on any of the control mechanisms
for shaping the performance of schools, such as school organization and
governance, school finance, student testing and assessment, school program
definition, personnel training and certification, curriculum materials development
and selection, and school buildings and facilities. Policy research also focuses on
how policy content changes in distinct policy-making phases, such as articulation
of a proposal, aggregation of interest groups and coalition formulation, allocation
of power and resources to enact policies, the transformation of laws or rulings into
regulations, implementation of the policy into practice, and evaluation of the extent
to which policies have been implemented as intended and/or have produced the
expected results. Many studies indicate that the content of a policy changes from
one phase to another.
Analytical studies provide knowledge and understanding about past
educational historical and policy events. Major ideas and concepts are clarified for
meaning. Research questions focus on events (who, what, when, where), how an
event occurred (descriptive), and why the event happened (interpretative).

Types of Sources
The data for these studies are written sources, many of which have been preserved
in archives, manuscript collection repositories, personal collections, or libraries.
Sources are documents, oral testimonies, and relics. All of these sources are
generally classified as documents. A study may require one or several types of
sources.
1. Documents are records of past events. They are written or printed materials
that may be official or unofficial, public or private, published or unpublished,
prepared intentionally to preserve a historical record or prepared to serve an
immediate practical purpose. Documents may be letters, diaries, wills, receipts,
maps, journals, newspapers, court records, official minutes, proclama tions,
regulations, or laws.
A special type of document is quantitative records, which may include
enrollment . records, staff employment records, membership lists, census records,
tax lists, voting records, budgets, test score data, and any compilation of numerical
data. The condensing of data, when it is clearly legitimate, makes the information
easier to describe and analyze. The difficulty of using quantitative records usually
increases with the remoteness of the period studied. As Aydelotte (1986, p. 806)
noted, "formal statistical presentations are feasible only for a limited range of
historical problems;" however, some political, economic, and demographic data
have been handled quantitatively with success.5
2. Oral testimonies are records of the spoken word. The oral
testimonies of persons who have witnessed events of educational significance are
taped, and verbatim' transcripts are made and identified. Oral testimonies are
autobiographical or in-depth interviews that are either the primary evidence or are
 General Characteristics of Analytical Research 503

5
An example is J. Doughtery (1998). Procedures are discussed by J. Aydelotte (1986) and
Burton, O. V. , & Finnegan, R. (1990).
used to supplement the documentary evidence. Such testimonies may be recorded
by participants or witnesses of the establishment of a new institution, the passage
of an educational law, or the implementation of a policy.
3. Relics are any objects that provide information about the past.
Although relics may not be intended to convey information directly about the past,
the visual and physical properties of the objects can provide evidence of the past.
Relies may be textbooks, buildings, equipment, charts, examinations, the physical
evidence presented in a court case, or thé physical objects in policy making. Table
15.1 illustrates types of sources for historical and policy-making research.

The Search for Evidence

The search for factual evidence begins with the location of sources. While
quantitative researchers typically create the data by administering instruments to a
sample, the historian depends on sources that have been preserved. These may

TABLE 15.1
Illustrative Types of Sources for Analytical Research

Historical Policy-Making
Source Research Research

Documents Letters Official and unofficial federal, state, local, and

Diaries school government records

Bills and receipts • Legislative hearings, debates, reports,

Autobiographies publications
Newspapers • Committee prints, minutes, reports

Journals, magazines • Agency reports

Bulletins
• Statistical data, budgets
Catalogs • Regulations, directives

Films Laws

Recordings • Voting records

Personal records Speeches of government officials

Institutional records Proclamations

Budgets
Enrollment records
 504 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies

Graduation records

Oral testimonies Participants in a historical event Participants in policy-making processes:

Relatives of a deceased person • administrators
• school board
• members
• government
• officials
• professional staff
• special interest groups
• professional associations
Relics Textbooks Physical objects presented in legislative
Buildings hearings or other policy-making processes:

Maps • charts

Equipment • diagrams
Samples of student work
Furniture • historical relics
Teaching materials

or may not have been catalogued and identified for easy access. Finding and
assessing historical sources is an excerise in dectective work. It involves "logic,
intuition, persistence, and common sense—the same logic, intuition, persistence,
and common sense that one would use to locate contemporary data. .
(Tuckman, 1998, p. 258).
The. search for evidence requires locating both primary and secondary
sources. Primary sources are documents or testimonies of eyewitnesses to an event.
Secondary sources are documents or testimonies of individuals who did not
actually observe or participate in the event and thus speak from hearsay evidence.
Eyewitness accounts are valued more than secondary sources, but both types of
sources are subjected to techniques of criticism.
Techniques of criticism assess the authenticity and trustworthiness of the
source. Authenticity determines whether the source is a genuine document, forged
document, or variant of the original document. Trustworthiness of the source refers
to the accuracy of the statements found in the source. The researcher locates the
most authentic and trustworthy sources to ascertain the facts. The facts. are the
most accurate parts of the description in the most authentic sources. Interpretations
of an event are based on facts.
 General Characteristics of Analytical Research 505

Analytical Generalizations and

Interpretations
Analytical studies suggest generalizations, which are summaries of factual data.
When inductive logic is applied to a series of generalizations about an event, an
explanation is suggested. An analytical interpretation is a causal ekplanation for a
specific event. Terms such as cause, because, since, on account of, and for the
reason that connote explanations. Analytical explanations imply causes with such
statements as "under the circumstances, it is not surprising that . . naturally at this
point, he . and "it was inevitable that . Explanations are suggested with such nouns
as impossibility, necessity, influence, impulse, development, consequence, and
motives, and such verbs as lead to, result in, bring about, stimulate, force, and
comply.
Valid analytical interpretations differ from common-sense explanations in
the following ways:

l. An analytical generalization summarizes separate facts that assert that an

event took place. The researcher is interested in the particular circumstances under
which an event occurred and recognizes that these circumstances may never be
repeated again. Analytical explanations differ from common-sense explanations
because they require critical judgement using specialized knowledge about the era
in which the event occurred and the connecting circumstances.
2. Interpretations suggest multiple causes for any single event.
Interpretations of the connections between the generalizations are usually causal.
Cause and effect are not treated in an absolute manner and frequently depend on
the chronological order of incidents culminating in a particular event. The more   
complex the events and the wider their spread in time and space, the greater the 
need  for  the  historian's  interpretation.  Usually,  an  event  of  any  degree  of 
magnitude and complexity needs many generalizations to interpret it.
3. When analytical interpretations are justified or supported by the 
facts stated in the study, the explanations are considered valid. Historians will say, 
"If  you  do  not  believe  my  explanation,  take  a  closer  look  at  the  facts."  The 
specification of details—the who, what, when, where and how—is precisely the 
feature  of  the  explanation  that  differentiates  it  from  statistical  explanations   
(Gardiner, 1952). Historians seldom claim, however, that they have all the facts. 
Instead, a study contains a group of associated facts and ideas which, when clearly 
presented in a prescribed amount of space, leave no questions unanswered within 
the analysis. However, many questions could be asked about the topic outside the 
analysis in other studies (Barzun and Graff, 1992). See Figure
15.1 for the process of analytical research.
 506 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies

Approaches to Analytical Research
Traditional historical research has focused on investigating the "causes" of past  
events (Carr, 1967). Most historians argue that historical events are unique and  do not 
repeat  themselves.  In  identifying  "causes"  of  events,  historians  may  rely  on  the 
chronology  of  a  series  of  events,  assume  the  "great  man"  view  of  history,  refer  to 
compelling ideologies, cite technological and scientific advances, or focus on sociological, 
psyhological, political, or economic influences.
As  the  noted  historian  Gottschalk  (1969)  wrote,  the  "whole  past"  can  be 
known to the researcher only "through the surviving record of it... , and most of 
history‐as‐record  is  only  the  surviving  part  of  the  recorded  part  of  the 
rememberéd part of the observed part of the whole" (pp. 45—46). It appears that 
there are no absolute causes waiting to be discovered and offered as explanations 
by  a  researcher.  Instead,  historians  write  at  different  levels  of  abstraction,  at 
different chronological distances from the past event, for different purposes, in 
different contexts, and from different points of view. Not surprisingly, different 
studies suggest apparently contradictory but valid explanations of the past.

FIGURE 15.1 The Process of Analytical Research

Primary
Sources

SearchApply Internal Identify Develop and and External Factual

Generalizations
LocateCriticism Evidence and Interpretations
Secondary
Sources
History is often reinterpreted as new interests or concerns become important
or as new documents are made available to researchers and the public. Thus, many
historians recognize the fallibility of their interpretations even though they are
reasonable at the time. As interpretative historians, they are aware of their own
values, beliefs, and interests in a topic. These frequently surface to consciousness
when they read how other researchers have treated the topic.
During the last few decades, some historians, called revisionists or
reconstructionist historians, have questioned the conventional or-popular views of
the past. They suggest schools are a means of political control, social stratification,
and directly or indirectly promote discrimination against women and ethnic groups.
Some revisionist historians are similar to the critical researchers discussed in Part
Ill.
The next sections of this chapter describe the methodology used in analytical
research. We will describe techniques of conceptual analysis and procedures for
studying past historical and policy events.
 General Characteristics of Analytical Research 507

Analysis of Educational Concepts

A conceptual analysis is a study that clarifies the meaning of a concept by
describing the essential or generic meaning, the different meanings, and the
appropriate usage for the concept. By presenting an analysis of the concept, the
study helps us understand the way people think about education.3 The focus is on
the meaning of the concept, not on the researcher's personal values or on factual
information. For example, the question "What are the aims of education?" is not
answered by collecting data to show that educators have aims or do not have aims,
or by making a value statement that educators should have aims. Instead, the
analyst begins by asking, "Is having an aim an integral and necessary. part of our
concept of being an educator?" or "Can a person be an educator without having an
aim?" (Soltis, 1978, p. 15). Asking such questions allows the analyst to get at the
meaning of education by carefully examining some ideas attached to the concept
ofaims as an aspect of education. The analyst assumes a neutral position while
analyzing a concept before taking a value position or collecting factual information.

Three strategies may be used to analyze such concepts as education, literacy,

knowledge, teaching, learning, equal opportunity, and due process. Soltis (1978)
illustrates generic, differential, and conditions analyses. Each of these strategies
begins with a different prior question and applies specific techniques to clarify the
concept.

l. A generic analysis identifies the essential meaning of a concept. The

analysis isolates the elements that distinguish the concept from other words. To
clarify the concept academic discipline, one might, therefore, compare history,
mathematics, and physics as clear standard examples with home economics, animal
husbandry, and water-skiing as counterexamples in order to arrive at the generic
meaning of academic discipline.
508 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies
Historical Policy Events

2. A differential analysis distinguishes among the basic meanings of the

concept and provides a clearer idea of the logical domain covered by the concept.
Differential analysis is used when a concept seems to have more than one
standard meaning and the basis for differentiating between meanings is unclear.
The prior question is "What are the basic (different) meanings of the concept?"
One could, for example, ask the question "What are the different meanings of
subject matter?" and analyze the concept of subject matter by intuitively
classifying the typical uses with concrete examples, such as Silas Marner, solar
sys.temt school subjects, knowledge, and skills. The distinguishing
characteristics of each type of. school matter is ascertained to clearly separate the
types, and a typology is developed. An example of differential analysis is the
distinction between basic, applied, and evaluation research made in Chapter 1,
which is intended to provide a clearer understanding of the concept research.
3. A conditions analysis identifies the conditions necessary for proper use of
the concept. The prior question is "Under what context conditions would it be
true that the concept is present?" Conditions analysis begins by providing an
example •that meets the necessary conditions of the concept but can easily be
made a noninstance by changing the context. This forces either revision or
rejection of the condition and leads to additional conditions with other examples
and counterexamples. The purpose of the conditions analysis "is to produce a set
of necessary and sufficient conditions for the proper application of a concept to
any of its many and varied instances" (Soltis, 1978, p. 65).

Critical to the analysis of educational concepts is the selection of the typical

uses of the concept and counterexamples. The analyst uses purposeful sampling
by choosing examples that demonstrate implicit meanings in the language, which
are then analyzed logically. Examples may be drawn from generally accepted
common uses of the concepts. Because different sets of examples are used
frequently, the analysis of educational concepts may lead to reanalysis and further
conceptual clarity.
Analysis of educational concepts is applied in the study of educational
concepts and in historical, legal, and policy research. A study of the public school
movement, due process in education, or groups that influence the passage of a
law must first determine the meaning of public school, due process, and
influential groups.

Analysis of Educational Historical and

Policy Events
Analytical research requires systematic application of methodological
procedures to phrase a historical problem, locate and criticize sources, and
 Analysis of Educational and 509
interpret facts for causal explanations. Specialized training is necessary in order
to conduct historical and policy research. The historian proceeds in a circular
fashion

because of the interrelationships of the research problem, sources, criticism,

analysis, and explanations.

The Topic and Problem Statement

The researcher begins with an initial subject, such as a historical period, person,
idea, practice, institution, or policy. As the analyst obtains
background knowledge, the topic is defined more exactly. Simultaneously, the
analyst notes possible primary sources relevant to the topic. Statement of the
problem delimits and focuses the research study. The problem must be narrow
enough to examine the event in detail but broad enough to identify patterns for
the interpretation.
In order to phrase the research topic, the historian initially reads widely in
secondary sources for background knowledge. Background knowledge suggests the
breadth of the subject, previous research on the problem, gaps in knowledge, and
possible sources. Background knowledge is obtained from textbooks, monographs,
encyclopedias and other reference works, dissertations, and specialized journals.
General bibliographies cite secondary sources. Some bibliographies specifically useful
to the historian are A Guide to Historical Literature, The Historian's Handbook: A
Descriptive Guide to Reference Works, and A Bibliography of American Educational
History. Secondary sources for policy research are located with general historical
bibliographies and such specialized bibliographies as The Study of Politics and
Education: A Bibliographic Guide to Research Literature.
Limiting and phrasing a topic is a continuing effort. The problem statement
is expressed most succinctly and clearly at the end of the research, when the
sources have been collected, analyzed, and interpreted. Considerations in limiting
a topic are the availability and accessibility of primary sources; the analyst's
interests, specialized knowledge, and time to complete the study; and the type of
analysis to be done.
The statement of a historical problem indicates the particular event, person,
institution, or policy Problems are delimited by the time period, geographic
location, and viewpoint of the analysis (see Excerpt 15.1).

Location and Criticism of Sources

Primary sources are essential for analytical research, but secondary sources are
used selectively when necessary. Both primary and secondary sources are
subjected to techniques of criticism. The sources for a study are cited in the
510 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies
bibliography and frequently footnoted in a study. Criticism of sources may be in
the text of a study or in a methodological appendix.

Classification of Sources A primary source is the written or oral testimony of an

eyewitness or a participant, or a record made by some mechanical device present
at the event, such as a tape recorder, a transcript, or a photograph. Primary
Historical Policy'Events

EXCERPT 15.1
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Through an examination of the reactions to the Gi Bill in the print media, this article
seeks to explore not only how a college education increasingly became seemingly more
accessible to average Americans—a possibility charged with new meaning, but also what
this phenomenon reveals about the underlying cultural values informing this shift in the
perception of college. The•Gl Bill indeed changed the way Americans thought of college
education, and these new perceptions dovetailed with and were an intimate aspect of
emerging new conceptions of defining oneself in a corporate world and consumer
cultural: Nevertheless, these new conceptions also contained traditional notions of the
value of college, markers of social class, and gender prescriptions as well, that existed
alongside but in contrast with the act's association with democratization. No historians
have explored these deeper cultural ramifications involved with the Gl Bill. The
enormous impact of the Gl Bill has been taken as a given. Consequently, I believe, we
have not adequately explored the most important result of the Gl Bill—its function in
reshaping the role of college education in postwar American culture.

Source: From Clark, D. A. (1998). The two Joes meet—Joe College, Joe Veteran: The Gl Bill, college
education, .and postwar American culture (pp. 1 67—169). History of Education Quarterly, 38 (2), 1 65—1
89.

sources for a historical biography are the person's personal and public papers and
the relics of his or her life. Primary sources for policy-making research are
records of government action and the oral testimonies of eyewitnesses. A primary
source is original in the sense that it contains firsthand eyewitness accounts of the
events.
A secondary source is the record or testimony of anyone not an eyewitl ness
to or participant in the event. A secondary source contains the information from
someone else, who may or may not have witnessed the event.
Secondary sources contain historical and policy-making research that interprets
other primary and secondary sources. These sources provide insights and possibly
facts for analysis.
The classification of sources as primary or secondary depends on the
research problem. Some sources may be primary in one study and secondary in
another. The number of primary sources necessary for a study varies with the
topic. To obtain primary sources, the analyst thinks of the sources that would
 Analysis of Educational and 511
yield information on the topic and then investigates whether the records were
preserved and are accessible. A single study may use different kinds of sources,
but it is essential that primary sources serve as the basis for documentation.
Documentation is the process of proof based upon any kind of source, whether
written, oral, or an object.
Location of Sources The credibility of an analytical study is determined partly by
the selected primary sources. The problem statement and limitations point to

the necessary primary sources. A study of the admissions policies of a university

would be seriously flawed without institutional records. A biography of G. Stanley
Hall would be questioned if his private papers and writings were .ignored. The
bibliography cites only those sources actually used for the study. Documents.
Documents are located through specialized guides, catalogues, indexes, and
bibliographies or through research centers. Examples of specialized reference
works are A Catalogue of Rare and Valuable Early Schoolbooks, Educational
Periodicals During the Nineteenth Century, and Selective and Critical
Bibliography of Horace Mann. Researchers maybegin with a broader search of
documents by using guides to archives and private manuscript collections which
often provide annotated lists. A Guide to Manuscripts and Archives in the United
States describes the holdings of 1300 repositories, and the Guide to the National
Archives of the United States indexes educational records of government agencies.
Other directories are the National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United
States and the Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United
States. The National Union Catalogue of Manuscript Collections, published
annually by the Library of Congress, cites the increasing number of educational
collections made available to scholars. Archival research centers devoted to
particular historical subjects often contain educational records. 4
Studies of educational policy-making use government documents and oral
testimonies. Federal government documents are indexed in the Monthly Catalog
of United States Government, the Publication Reference File (PRF), the
Congressional Information Service/lndex (CIS), the American Statistical Index
(ASI), the Index to Goveniment Documents, and agencies' publication lists. The
Legislative Research Checklist, issued monthly by the Council of State
Governments, often abstracts the published reports of commissioners or councils
that recommend and draft new legislation. Because research tools for state
legislative history vary widely from state to state, state law libraries or legislative

4
The archives of Labor History and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University are perhaps the
oldest collection. Other topical centers that have documents relevant •to education history are
the Urban Archives Center at Temple University, the Archives of the Industrial Society at the
University of Pittsburgh, the Archives of the History of American Psychology at the University
of Akron, the Ohio History of Education Project at the Ohio Historical Society, Social Welfare
Archives at the University of Minnesota, and Television News Archives at Vanderbilt
University. See Hill, M. R. (1993), Archival strategies and techniques.
512 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies
reference librarians are consulted. Local government documents are not centrally
indexed and must be obtained from the agency.
Oral Testimonies. Oral testamonies that are relevant to a topic require pre-
planning. The researcher decides which individuals are knowledgeable about the
topic, locates these individuals, and collects data through interviews. 5
Historical Policy Events

The selection of informants for oral testimonies is done with purposeful

sampling procedures such as snowball sampling or reputational-case selection
(see Chapter 12). A panel of experts, for example, nominates individuals on the
basis of criteria from the problem statement. Additional considerations are
accessibility to the individuals and feasibility (time, finances, number of
investigators, and so on). The researcher states the selection criteria.
Oral history is the collection of data through an interview guide approach,
similar to certain in-dei)th interviews. The researcher desires information on the
research problem and any other information that may further an understanding of
the topic. Oral testimonies are titpe-consuming to obtain and result in extensive
transcripts. The transcripts are subject to internal and external criticism as are
other documentary sources frequently used in this methodology For example, in
a case study of the context of policy formation of an Arizona bilingual
educational legislation (Excerpt 15.2), seventeen individuals were formally
interviewed. These individuals, selected through purposeful sampling
strategies, were concentrated among the state's policy "influentials" but spread
across four clusters (insiders, near circle, far circle, and often-forgotten players).
In addition, the records of the House and Senate, the State Board of Education,
administrative regulations, and two newspapers were data sources.

Criticism of Sources Techniques of internal and external criticism are applied to

all kinds of sources, such as documents, oral testimonies, and relics. Even sources
that are official publications or preserved in archives are subjected to criticism.
External criticism determines the authenticity of the source. Internal criticism
determines the credibility of the facts stated by the source. Although external and
internal criticism ask different questions about the source, the techniques are
applied simultaneously The criticism of sources may be covered in a
methodological discussion or in an appendix to a study
External Criticism. External criticism determines whether the source is the
original document, a forged document, or a variant of the original document.
Typical questions are "Who wrote the document?" and "When, where, and what
was the intention?" The more specialized knowledge the analyst has, the easier it
is to determine whether a document is genuine. The historian needs knowledge

5
See W. W. Cutler (1971), Oral history: Its nature and uses for educational history. History of
Education Quarterly, 11, 184—194; R. Jensen (1981), Oral history, quantification and the new
social history. Oral History Review, 9, 13—27; and D. Lance (1980), Oral history archives:
Perceptions and practices. Oral History, 8 (2), 59—63.
 Analysis of Educational and 513
of the way people in the era that produced the document lived and behaved, •the
things they believed, and the way they managed their institutions. The
educational researcher is less likely to deal with forged documents than is a social
scientist who studies controversial political, religious, or social movements.
Claims to a title or the date of an institution can, however, be forged. Sometimes
it is impossible to determine the contribution of an individual for government
reports or speeches if there are multiple authors.
The date and place of writing or publication can be established by means of
the citation on the document, the date of the manuscript collection, or the contents
of the document. However, working papers internal to an institution,

EXCERPT 15.2
SELECTION OF ORAL TESTIMONIES
the conceptual frame adopted in this study was developed by Marshall, Mitchell,
and Wirt (1986) for identifying the "power and influence context of
policymaking" (pp. 347—348). This study pursued the process leading to the
passage of Arizona's 1984 bilingual education law.
The primary data composing this study also were drawn from interviews
with "policy elite" (Wirt, Mitchell, & Marshall, 1 985). . . . In all, 17 individuals
were formally interviewed during the data collection, several more than once.
However, both authors were involved in varying degrees throughout the
legislative process, attended many meetings, and had numerous informal contacts
and conversations regarding the law. In terms of Marshall et al.'s (1 986, p. 355)
policy group influence rankings and cluster, interviews were concentrated among
representatives of Arizona's higher ranking groups, buf spread across four
clusters (insideis, near cirCle, far circle and often-forgotten players).
In addition, copies of all legislative proposals and amendments leading to
the final, adopted version of the law were analyzed. Arizona has little written.
legislative history, but a record of all votes is compiled in House and Senate
journals, which also include statements by some legislators explaining their final
votes. The records of the State Board of Education, including administrative
regulations and legislative proposals that involve bilingual education, and back
issues of the Phoenix Republic and Tucson Daily Star and Citizen were reviewed
for articles discussing legislative deliberations and actions on bilingual
education.
Source: Adapted from Sacken, D. M. & Medina, M. , Jr. (1990). Investigating the context of state-level
policy formation: A case study of Arizona's bilingual education legislation. Educational Evaluation and
Policy Analysis, 12(4), 391.
514 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies
or drafts made by an individual, may contain no dates or be insufficient for use if
only the year is stated.
What the educational researcher is more likely to find is variant sources.
Variant sources are two or 'flore texts of the same document, or two or more
testimonies to the same event. For example, a newspaper account of the results
of a state educational testing program may differ from the actual statistical report
published by the State Department of Education, and both may differ from the
separate drafts of the report. In this situation, the newspaper account, the official
report, and the separate drafts are all authentic sources of different texts. Oral
testimonies by different individuals may be authentic but variant sources.
Internal Criticism. Internal criticism determines the accuracy and
trustworthiness of the statements in the source. The historian asks: "Are the
statements accurate and the witnesses trustworthy?" Accuracy is related to a
witness's chronological and geographical proximity to the event, the compe-
 of

Analysis 513

tence of the witness, and the witness's attentioninbiously, notall witnesses equally close
to the event are # observers and recorders. Competence depends on expertr«nidand
physical health, educational level, memory, narrativeshlåillÉwellknown that
eyewitnesses under traumatic or stressful*rår selective parts of an event, yet they are
convinced accounts are accurate. Even though a witness*heorshemay bean
interested party or biased. Bias or preco*mawitness to habitually distort, ignore, or
overemphmilconditions in which the statements were made may influen.Earystyle,the
laws of libel, the conventions of good tasteßlil@maylead to, exaggerated politeness or
expressions ofesltdl
Several techniques estimate the accuracy*ofastatement. Statements by a witness
made as a matter person stating them, or those contrary to the•pemnstating
them are less likely to be biased than common knowledge or incidental are less
likelyi1Z0ther credible sources can confirm, modify, or reject ever, the simple
agreement of statements can be misleading, since the research depends
only@Ageement with other known facts or circumstantial statement. A
researcher may cite the sourceby*brdingtothe judge's opinion," "Horace Mann says,"
or is our authority for the statement that...."
Internal' and external criticism events, and behavior of the period
under study@iputoneselfin the place of the individuals...to interpret docu*dpersonalities
with their eyes, standards, sympathies (witho•mderingone's own standards) has sometimes
been called 1969, pp. 136—137). Throughout the whole pi$isskeptical and critical of
the sources and statements. An"satisfiedor convinCed that the sources have yielded
evihlhnualeventsas possible.
Criticism of Sources. Criticism a study. The most obvious citations are
thefaikin labeled Notes, References, or Bibliography following theihwlly sive.
There are, for example, eighty-three fooüh*pgejournal article "A History of
Discrimination Chicago Secondary Schools" (Daniel, 1980); they U.S. Department of
Health, Education, and Welfaråbdepartments and agencies, Laws of Illinois, Board of
Educatim•theCnsusof the United States, articles from the Chicago the Municipal Code
of Chicago, interviews with p.itheChicago Commission on Race Relations, the Vice
Cozihgo, and
Chicago Real Estate Board, and secondary son

In methodological discussions in the study or in an appendix, the historian also

refers to criticism. The author of Excerpt 15.3 criticized the sources by noting that the
long letters, the brief answers on the questionnaires of •the 1890s, and the pupil records
at Troy must "be interpreted with care." The researcher noted the possible bias of the
documents because of the self-selection of those who attended Troy and because those
who maintained contact with Troy probably had favorable experiences at the seminary
and developed feminist values.
Methodological appendices are written because the study uses sources that are
newly collected and analyzed. An appendix, rather than the study per se, allows that
analyst to expand on the methodological problems of the sources and comment on their
 516 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies

scholarly value. Excerpt 15.4 illustrates a reference to methodological problems and

the need for a methodological appendix. This study required the identification of all
teacher strikes that occurred in 1978—1979. Information gathered by state and national
government agencies and by state and national professional associations contained
"serious discrepancies" that were due to different definitions of a strike and to
information gaps in sources. The method of identifying the 158 strikes was presented
in an appendix. The method was made available to other researchers.

EXCERPT 15.3
CRITICISM OF SOURCES
A handful of Troy pupils left some record of what they thought the long-term influence of the
institution and its founder upon them had been. A number who replied to the questionnaires
sent out in the 1 890's responded with long letters, and others, even in brief answers, threw some
light on how they recalled the experience. Still others, simply by describing their lives,
inadvertently bore witness to the kind of strength of character which Troy reinforced. What
stands out. in most of these records is the great importance of Willard's own personality in
providing her pupils

with a new image of what women could be. .

Of course such evidence must be interpreted with care. Obviously, a woman who felt very
mjch attached to Troy would be likely to write a detailed response to the questionnaire; children
who remembered such attachment would be likely to take the trouble to reply. There was
certainly a process of self-selection on the part of the women who chose to go to Troy. These
fragments do bear witness, however, to the beginning of a new personality type, the educated
woman who was not ashamed of learning and who would inevitably have a wider notion of what
the world had to offer than her sisters who had not been encouraged to read widely or to think
for themselves. (35)

Source: From "The Ever Widening Circle: The Diffusion of Feminist Values from the Troy Female Semi nary, 1
822—1 872" by Anne Firor Scott, History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 19, Spring 1979. Reprinted by permission of
the author.

EXCERPT 15.4
CRITICISM OF SOURCES
A major research task was to locate and monitor teacher strikes which occurred during .1978—
79. We needed to identify all strike sites so that we could conduct a mailed survey of affected
districts, and we needed to locate sites where field studies could be conducted. As it turned out,
the task of monitoring strikes was extraordinarily difficult. There is no central national agency
which has a reliable system for quickly identifying strike sites. Information gathered by state
and national professional associations, and by state and national government agencies, contains
serious discrepancies. Some are traceable to differing definitions of what constitutes a strike.
Some are traceable to gaps in information sources. The basis for our own calculation that there
were 158 strikes is set forth in a technical appendix
Source: From Colton, D. L. , & Graber, E. E. (1980). Enjoining teacher strikes: The irreparable harm standard. Grant
No. NIE-G—78—0149, 26. Washington, DC: National Institute of Education.
 Analysis of Educational Historical and Policy Events 517

Facts, Generalizations, and

Interpretations
Facts are the basis for generalizations that may be interpreted as causal explanations.
The process is not this simple, however. Criticism of sources may lead to rephrasing
the problem and a further search for sources and facts.
1. Facts describe the who, what, when, and where of an event. Most
analysts, however, go beyond obtaining descriptive facts and ask the interpretative
questions of the ways a historical event occurred and the reasons for it. The analyst thus
moves from identifying facts to stating generalizations to inferring causal explanations.
The questions asked of the sources are crucial to the entire process.
The researcher's skill in questioning is similar to that of a detective in search of
evidence and that of a scientist systematically testing that evidence. Questions may be
very specific, such as "When did Henry Barnard die?" or may be abstract, such as "How
did the scientific movement influence school administration practices?"
Methodological training and experience, both general and specialized knowledge,
disciplined intuition, and logic influence the analysis. The researcher operates primarily
in an inductive mode of reasoning, going from the specific facts to generalizations. The
more questions asked of the sources about the topic, the more comprehensive and
complex the analysis is.
When statements and facts conflict, additional information is sought to resolve the
apparent differences. Eventually, though, the researcher must decide. Even the sentence
"The Troy Female Seminary, officially opened 1821 but tracing its roots to 1814, was
the first permanent institution offering

American women a curriculum similar to that of the contemporary men's colleges"

(Scott, 1979, p. 3) required "decisive evidence"—evidence that confirms one view and
denies alternative views. The decision to accept a statement as fact rests on possibility
and its plausibility (Barzpn & Graff, 1992). In other words, given a set of facts, it is
reasonable to assume that the event happened in a certain way, or did not even occur.
Facts are weighed and judged by consistency, the accumulation of evidence, and other
techniques.
2. Interpretations the relationships between facts are generalizations. As D.
M. Potter notes, "generalization in history is inescapable and...!he historian cannot
avoid it by making limited statements about limited data. For a microcosm is just as
cosmic as a macrocosm. Moreover, relationships between the factors in a microcosm
are just as subtle and the generalizations involved in stating these relationships are just
as broad as the generalizations concerning the relationships between factors in a
situation of larger scale" (Potter, 1963, p. 191). Each generalization is subjected to
analysis and is usually modified or qualified. Elements that often appear as facts in a
study are frequently generalizations of facts for which there is no space for presentation
in the Study. Excerpt 15.5, for example, taken from the text of a historical study,
contains facts (Miss Strachan was president of the Interborough Association of Women
Teachers, 1906— 1912), generalizations ("when the strugglq was over," "chief
518 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies

spokeswoman," "most irritating of gadflies"), and causes of an event (a leader,' an

organization, unequal pay scales between men and women), and it also implies two
theories

EXCERPT 15.5

EXAMPLE OF GENERALIZATIONS
Perhaps the most important reason why the equal pay movement began in New York City can
be found in one of those happy accidents of history where a single individual, equipped with the
right proportions of character, leadership qualities, ambition, and moral fervor just happens to
be at the right place at the right time. Clearly one cannot study the history of the equal pay
movement without. concluding that it would have been much different, and probably much less
effective had not Grace Strachan emerged as,its leader and its chief spokeswoman, as well as
the most irritating of gadflies to the educationai and political establishment. A product of the
Buffalo Normal School, Miss Strachan came to the New York City schools as a classroom
teacher, probably sometime in the late 1880s. At the time the equal pay movement was at its
greatest intensity she was *erving as District Superintendent of Districts 33 and 35, containing
upwards of '32,000 school chil dren. One of the organizers of the Interborough Association of
Women Teachers in 1906, Miss Strachan became its president in 1907 and held that post until
1912 when for all practical purposes the struggle was over.

Source: from "Tempest on the Hudson: The Struggle for 'Equal Pay for Equal Work' in the New York Cihy Schools,
1907—1 91 1 " by Robert E. Doherty, History of Education Quarterly, Vol. 19, Winter 1979. Reprinted by permission
of the author.
 519
Analytical Research in Perspective

of change: accident (an individual with certain qualities "happens to be at the right place
at the right time") and the "great leader" ("right proportions of character, leadership
qualities, ambition, and moral fervor").
3. Analytical explanations are abstract' syntheses of generalizations, usually stated
as conclusions. Generalizations presented throughout the study are reanalyzed for
context, internal consistency, documentation, accumulation of evidence, and logical
induction. The process is cyclic, one of constantly returning to the facts and, if
necessary, to the documents to derive meaning. A causal explanation stated as an
overview in an introduction does not mean the researcher began with this interpretation
and set out to prove personal notions. The introductory overview was probably the last
section of the study to be writfen, because the logic of the study must flow from it and
the criteria for judging the quality of the study is derived from it.

Conclusions are synthesized generalizations and concepts previously documented

in the study. In other words, conclusions are an interpretative summary of the
generalizations. Conclusions may be stated in narrative form or as a brief list, followed
by statements about the status of knowledge on the topic, identification of policy issues,
or suggestions for further research. Excerpt 15.6 illustrates a conclusion that contains
three interpretations (paragraph 1) on ways social science is used in legislative policy-
making, the reasons it is used, and the effects of its usage. Two policy recommendations
(paragraph 2) are made from these findings.

Analytical Research in Perspective

Analytical studies of educational topics aid in the development of knowledge and the
improvement of practices. By comprehending educational concepts and events of the
past, one can better understand educational policies, trends, and practices of the present.
Below are a few of the uses of analytical research.

l. The analysis of educational concepts can aid in the selection of research

problems, designs, and methodology. The analysis of the concept of teaching as different
types of teaching acts, for example, could suggest research questions and aid in designing
either quantitative or qualitative research on teaching. A conceptual map of the logical
domain of teaching might give a clearer view of the focus of previous research and
suggest topics of needed research. An analysis of a concept can provide insights for the
selection of a design. Such concepts as behavioral objectives, alternative schooling, and
problem solving are not merely words but part of a language system that constructs a
framework for organizing ideas in the researcher's mind. Ascertaining the meaning of
the concept before data collection enables the researcher to select more appropriate
variables and measures for investigating the concept. In qualitative research, concept
analysis is often the entire focus of the study, or the analysis may identify categories for
organizing and interpreting the data.
 520 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies

EXCERPT 15.6
ANALYTICAL CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
CONCLUSION
The data analyzed here support three basic conclusions regarding social science utilization
within state legislatures: (1) social science is only one of four distinct types of expert authority
influencing legislative decisions. The other types of expertise (legal, political and technical)
are more prevalent and therefore more frequently utilized. However, social science is
frequently utilized by full-time legislators and by fully professional staff consultants. (2) The
utilization of social science contributes to both intellectual and social aspects of the decision-
making process. Intellectually, scientific expertise orients policy makers to certain aspects of
the decisions which they must make. Socially, science utilization alters the processes of
collaboration and conflict that control decision outcomes. (3) The contributions of social
science shift significantly as legislative proposals move through the four phases of decision
making: -articulation, aggregation, allocation and oversight. During the earliest phase, science
may have both powerful and largely noncontroversial impacts. As legislative issues become
more clearly defined and the specifics of who will benefit and who will pay for a proposed
policy become identified, social science utilization becomes more partisan and more
controversial as it is transformed into a tool or weapon of political conflict.
These findings suggest that social scientists, state legislatures and sciencesponsoring
agencies would all be well served if: (a) the development of scientific advocacy for various
policy solutions were recognized as a political process, requiring the talents of frankly partisan
as well as scientifically sophisticated professionals, and (b) systematic efforts were made to bring
scientific analysis to bear earlier in the legislative process. That is, science utilization should be
seen as the mobilization of scientific expertise in support of specific political interests of state
legislators who are required to make political rather than scientific decisions. Science utilization
serves best to refine and criticize—not to replace—other, more fundamental mechanisms for
defining and resolving public policy issues.

NOTE

National Institute of Educatio'n Grant No. NIE-G—76—0 704 entitled, "Improving Social Science
Utilization in Legislative Policy Making for Basic Skills Education. This grant to the University of California,
Riverside (Douglas E. Mitchell, principal investigator) was funded in October, i 976.

Source: From "Social Science Impact on Legislative Decision Making: Process & Substance" by Douglas E. Mitchell,
Educational Researcher, November 1980. Copyright 0 1980 American Educational Research Association. Reprinted
by permission.

2. Analytical research provides knowledge about the so-called roots of

educational ideas, institutions, leaders, policies, and practices. Knowledge of the past
informs educational professionals, policymakers, and the general society
Credibility Standards for Historical Studies
 521
about education and its role in American society. Such knowledge often questions
educational fables. By examining the fate of past solutions to enduring problems,
decision-makers may become more realistic and moderate in their claims and more
informed in their choices.
3. Analytical research can clarify present legal and policy discussions by
interpreting the past with disciplined detachment and reasoned historical judgment.
Analytical studies interpret the complexity of past collective educational, social,
economic, legal, and political relationships. E M Wirt suggests that such research is
useful because it is "through the process of removing the unsupportable from
discussion of public life that public policy is enriched" (1980, p. 17). Analytical
research, however, never claims that it predicts future educational and policy actions.
4. Historical research may demythologize idealized notions about past
events and stimulate action. Historical research has documented discriminatory
practices and policies in education, some of which have been institutionalized since
the colonial period and were supported by the social and cultural values at that •time.
Some revisionist researchers have questioned the' stereotyping of specific immigrant
and ethnic groups. Other reconstructionist researchers have queried the lack of
contributions of women and minörities to the nation displayed in textbooks and other
educational materials.
5. Historical research, in a broader and perhaps more philosophical sense,
can create a sense of common purpose. Historical interpretations typically reflect a
fundamental belief that public education in America has served and can serve a
common good. Common goals of education and the role of education in the American
society are often neglected in fragmented empirical research. Implicit in the purpose
of analytical research is a concern that the goals of education and educational practices
benefit both the individual and American society
6. Historical research is a dynamic area of educational inquiry because each
generation reinterprets its past. Analytical* philosophers focus on the changing
meanings of educational concepts. Educational historians, especially the revisionists,
ask new questions, use a greater variety of sources, analyze the past with a wide range
of social science concepts, and apply quantitative procedures when appropriate. Often
the conclusions of histörical and policy studies are revised. A recent historical event,
court case, or a new policy may indicate a basic shift in previous educational principles,
policies, or collective educational goals.

*Credibility Standards for

Historical Studies
Analytical research requires methodological procedures to phrase an analytical topic,
locate and critique primary sources, establish facts, and form generalizations for causal
explanations or principles. These research processes suggest
522 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies
criteria for judging a historical or policy-making study as credible research. Criteria for
judging the adequacy of historical studies is followed by criteria for evaluating legal
research.
The reader judges a study in terms of the logical relationship among the problem
statement, sources, generalizations, and causal explanations. The logic for the entire
study flows from the problem statement. Implicit in the evaluation of a study is the
question, "Did the analyst accomplish the stated purpose?" If all the elements of the
research are not made explicit, the study can e criticized as biased or containing
unjustifiable conclusions.
Problem statements in the introduction delineate the study and are evaluated by
the following questions.

l. Is the topic appropriate for analytical research—that is, does it focus on the past
or recent past?
2. Does the problem statement indicate clearly the information that will be
included in the study and the information that is excluded from the study?
3. Is the analytical framework or viewpoint stated?

Seleciion and criticism of sources are evaluated in terms of relevance to the

problem statement. Sources are listed in the bibliography and footnotes. Criticism of
the sources may be discussed in the study, the footnotes, or in a methodological
appendix.

l. Does the study use primary sources relevant to the topic?

2. Is the criteria for selection of primary sources stated?
3. Were authentic sources used for documentation?
4. Does the analyst indicate criticism of sources?

Facts and generalizations presented in the text are assessed by asking the following
questions:

l. Does the study indicate the application of external criticism to ascertain the
facts? If conflicting facts are presented, is a reasonable explanation offered?
2. Are the generalizations reasonable and related logically to the facts?
3. Are the generalizations appropriate for the type of an•alysis? One would, for
example, expect minimal generalization in a study that restores a series of
documents to their original text or puts a series of policy statements into
chronological order. One would expect some synthesis in a descriptive or
comparative analysis.
4. Are the generalizations qualified or stated in a tentative manner?

Interpretations presented as conclusions, are evaluated by the following cri teria:

Summary
 523
l. Are the interpretations reasonable and logically related to the facts and
generalizations presented in the study?
2. Do the explanations suggest multiple causes for complex human events?
3. Does the study address all the questions stated in the introduction— that is,
does it fulfill the purpose of the study?

The fbllowing statements summarize the major characteristics of analytical methodology and
its application in educational conceptual, historical, policy-making, and legal studies.
1. Analytical research, in contrast to experimental research, describes and interprets the
past or recent past from selected sources.
2. Sources are written documents, oral testimonies, and relics.
3. Primary sources are documents or testimonies of an eyewitness of an event.
Secondary sources are documents or testimonies of individuals who did not actually
observe the event.
4. Analytical studies suggest generalizations of facts (who, what, where, and when),
about an event and state interpretations which suggest multiple causes for any single
event.
5. A conceptual analysis focuses on the meanings of the language of education by
describing the generic meaning, the different meanings, and the appropriate usage of
the concept.
6. Historical topics focus on biographies, movements, institutions, and practices. Policy
topics include an analysis of the distribution of power among various stakeholders in
the system, policy-making processes, and policy content from formulation through
implementation.
7. Interpretative . biographies recognize the researcher's role within the study.
8. A historical problem is delimited by the time period, the geographic location, the
specific event studied, and the viewpoint of the analysis.
9. Specialized bibliographies and indexes locate the primary sources necessary for
historical research.
10. Oral testimonies are in-depth qualitative interviews of informants to study past or
recent events.
ll. External criticism determines whether the source is the original document, a forged
document, or a variant of the original document. Internal criticism determines the
accuracy and trustworthiness of the statements in the source.
12. Historical research provides knowledge and explanations of the past, clarifies present
policy discussions by interpreting the past with disciplined detachment, revises myths
of the past, and can create a sense of common purpose about education in American
society.
524 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies
13. Historical studies are not intended to predict future events in ah exact manner.
14. Credibility standards for historical research emphasize the logical relationship
between the problem statement, selection and criticism of sources, and the facts,
generalizations, aild explanations.

Self-Instructional Review Exercises

Sample answers are in the back of the book.
Test Items

1. Analytical research differs from experimental research in that it

a. uses primarily preserved documents.
b. focuses on past events or on recent events.
c. uses logical induction to interpret facts.
d. All of the above are correct.
2. Interpretative explanations
a. are usually biased generalizations of facts.
b. suggest single causes for educational events.
c. are syntheses of generalizations that summarize collaborated facts.
d. are seldom revised in subsequent studies.
3. A conceptual analysis of an educational concept is done to identify
a. only the essential meaning of a concept.
b. examples and counterexamples of the typical uses of the concept by random
sampling.
c. nonstandard meanings of a concept.
d. the generic meaning, the different meanings, and the appropriate usage for the
concept.

4. Which of the following is an example of a historical question?

a. Is there a relationship between variable x and variable y?
b. Is there a statistically significant difference between the scores of the
experimental and control group?
c. How did school' become bureaucracies during the 1920s?
d. What is the cognitive developmental stage of students in an accelerated fifth grade
math program?
5. List in order the following steps to conduct a historical study.
a. identifies facts and obtains collaboration
b. applies techniques of criticism to sources
c. uses specialized bibliographies and indexes to locate sources
d. acquires background knowledge for the problem statement
e. selects a research topic
 525
6. Criticism of sources requires
a. questioning the accuracy of each statement in a source.
b. questioning each source for authenticity.
Self-Instructional Review Exercises

c. use of specialized knowledge about the way people lived and behaved in the era.
d. All of the above are correct.
7—9 Match the following studies with the appropriate types of analytical research:
7. a study of a school board's decision- a. historical research
making processes b. policy research
8. a biography of the founder of the .c. analysis of an educational
National Education Association concept
9. an analysis of the meanings of
progressive education
10. Analytical studies serve several functions in educational research. Which functions are
analytical studies least able to serve?
a. clarify collective meanings of education that operated in the past and perhaps in
present policy discussions
b. provide knowledge and interpretations of past educational historical and policy
events
c. predict in an exact manner to future events
d. identify a sense of a common heritage and common purpose fin American
. education
Application Problems
Answer the following questions for each methodological problem.
1. A policy researcher wants to study the decision-making of a local school board.
a. How could this topic be narrowed and delimited?
b. List the types of possible sources and examples of sources for this topic.
2. A researcher wants to study student discipline.
a. How could this research problem be stated if it were a historical study? a legal
study? a policy study? an analysis of a concept?
b. State at least one specialized bibliography or index for each type of study.
3. A researcher is studying the life of Dr. Henry Daniel, who served as the chief state
school officer from 1959 to 1979. The following article appeared in a newspaper
reporting the remark' of various speakers given at a dinner to honor Dr. Daniel after
twenty years of service as the state superintendent of education.
More than one hundred educational leaders throughout the state honored Dn Henry
Daniel last evening at the Hotel Johnson in the state capital. Following the remarks
of several officials, an engraved plaque was. presented to Dr: Daniel in recognition
of his outstanding educational leadership to the state.
526 Chapter 15 Concept Analysis and Historical Studies
The governor of the state noted that because of the efforts of Dr Daniel alone,
the state. established a junior college system which has rapidly grown to meet
important state needs in technical-vocational education for the state's industry,
provided the only institutions of higher

education in rural regions, and given a better general education tofreshman and sophomores
than four-year colleges and universities.
The president of the state teachers' organization praised Dr Daniel for his efforts to raise
public school teachers' salaries and to maintain professionalism by expanding the requirements
for certification of teachers. However, the president noted that salaries for public school
teachers still remained below the national average.
The president of the state association for curriculum development and supervision stated
that the efforts of Dr Daniel alone established the state minimum competency testing program.
This innovation has raised standards for all high school subjects and proved to the public that
the high school diploma represented a high level of "educational competency. "

a. Why would the researcher question the accuracy of the statements reported in this
document?
b. How could the researcher corroborate the document's statements?