After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• „„Explain the importance of educational research.
   
• „„List at least five areas of educational research.
   
• „„Explain the difference between basic and applied research.
   
• „„Describe evaluation research, action research, and orientational research.
   
• „„Discuss the different sources of knowledge.
   
• „„Explain the scientific approach to knowledge generation.
   
• „„Explain how to determine the quality of a theory or explanation.
   
• „„List the six objectives of educational research and provide an example of each.