Skidmore and Thompson (this issue of Educational Researcher) imply that a graph was changed with the intent to promote more experimental research in education. In this response, the author presents evidence that challenges this implication and concludes that the changed graph does not accurately capture the declining trend of experimental methods in education research.
BoruchR.De MoyaD.SnyderB. (2002). The importance of randomized field trials in education and related areas. In MostellerF.BoruchR. (Eds.), Evidence matters: Randomized trials in education research (pp. 50–79). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
HsiehP.AceeT.ChungW.-H.HsiehY.-P.KimH.ThomasG. D.. (2005). Is educational intervention research on the decline?Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 523–529.
4.
PetrosinoA.BoruchR. F.RoundingC.McDonaldS.ChalmersI. (2000). The Campbell Collaboration Social, Psychological, Educational and Criminological Trials Register (C-2 SPECTR) to facilitate the preparation and maintenance of systematic reviews of social and educational interventions. Evaluation and Research in Education, 14, 206–219. doi:10.1080/0950079000866697310.1080/09500790008666973
5.
PetrosinoA.BoruchR. F.SoydanH.DugganL.Sanchez-MecaJ. (2001). Meeting the challenges of evidence-based policy: The Campbell Collaboration. ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 578, 14–34. doi:10.1177/000271620157800100210.1177/0002716201578001002
6.
ReinhartA. L.HaringS. H.LevinJ. R.PatallE. A.RobinsonD. H. (in press). Models of not-so-good behavior: Yet another way to squeeze causality and recommendations for practice out of correlational data. Journal of Educational Psychology.
7.
RobinsonD. H.LevinJ. R.ThomasG. D.PituchK. A.VaughnS. R. (2007). The incidence of “causal” statements in teaching and learning research journals. American Educational Research Journal, 44, 400–413.
8.
SkidmoreS. T.ThompsonB. (2012). Propagation of misinformation about frequencies of RFTs/RCTs in education: A cautionary tale. Educational Researcher, 41, 163–170.
