Evaluating Quality in Educational Research: Issues and Challenges of the PBRF

Abstract

This article argues that we, as a community of educational researchers, should take up the challenge posed by Hattie (2005) to create a robust public debate about what constitutes quality in educational research. It also identifies specific issues that warrant urgent attention. The paper outlines the methodology used within the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF), in particular with regard to its Education Sector ratings, and goes on to discuss ways of raising achievement and increasing capacity. A major concern is to enhance the status of applied or practice-based research and to foster discussion of appropriate ways to evaluate and assess its impact and ethical basis, without losing sight of the need for clarity and rigour. The article calls for education academics to engage in the debate over this evaluation not just for the sake of raising ratings but in the interests of greater understanding and recognition of the purpose and processes of educational research more generally.