SHEILA KING spoke of Whole Language 2 to DAN TRIPLETT on 11-03-96
SK>-> Actually the point here doesn't really "escape" me.  I don't know
SK>-> that I ever said prove....
SK> 
SK>I think I wrote this already (I've been replying to messages off of
SK>two different BBS's), but just in case...
You haven't...
 
SK>Although you may not have said prove, others of us who've been
SK>arguing the opposing viewpoint HAVE, and so you must've realize that
SK>the concept of proof was important to this discussion.
The point of proof did not escape me.  That is all I am saying.  I never 
made an issue of it.  It really wasn't important to the discussion 
either (in my view of course).  The way I saw it, the information I was 
providing was not to offer proof but to show reasonableness of what I 
was saying.  Charles and others wanted "proof" as in established truth.  
In educational research, there is no such thing as proof.  We can do 
research where evidence shows strong correlations towards something.  
But no research, including the esteemed scientific approach can "prove" 
as "fact" anything.  
SK>I think this is where you are getting confused between the two
SK>different types of, what you call, research. Research conducted
SK>according to scientific criteria really does prove something.
SK>Qualitative, oberservational studies, OTOH, merely suggest a
SK>correlation between two quantities.
And what does this scientific research prove?  Name some educational 
research where something was actually proven.  You are suggesting that 
in an educational setting where research is conducted one can control 
*every* single variable?  If one can't control every variable, how can 
one prove anything as factual?  Isn't the best we can do is "show" 
probability?  Statistically, isn't proof at 100%?  You are saying that 
scientific research in education has proven things with 100% accuracy?  
How could someone conduct scientifically acceptable research that would 
compare the relative effectiveness of Whole Language classrooms vrs 
Traditional classrooms and isolate every single contributing factor to 
learning so that only Whole Language factors and Traditional practice 
factors would be present.  The results of such a study could not "prove" 
anything that could be seen as absolute truth.  
Dan    
--- GEcho 1.11+
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