Qualità, criteri e caratteri della valutazione della documentazione delle pratiche di ricerca educative. Quality criteria and characteristics of the evaluation of the documentation practices of educational research

"Criteria" and "evaluation" are terms that are closely interrelated and at the heart of the most advanced scientific debate on what can be understood by "good educational research", which concerns not only its procedures, but also the objectives and results. The debate also stems from the widespread belief that the international quality of education research is often irregular and not always making it difficult methodologically credible predictions related to tools and interventions to improve practice and training exist. The controversy is largely due to the lack of consensus on the specific rules concerning the evaluation of educational research and the relevant standards that define the quality. The criteria relating to various forms of educational knowledge are fundamentally different and require different methodological devices; in the same way is different facing researches using different approaches depending on data and itself (numerical or otherwise), methods of analysis used (statistical or interpretative), followed by the type of logic (deductive or inductive), the type of survey (explanatory or experimental), the chosen prime focus (quality or quantity) on the basic paradigms pursued (cognitivism, constructivism, etc.) and so on. The scientific quality of the product implies the assumption of specific criteria related to the opinion expressed regarding the “strength” and “confidence” of the research and its results from the rigor with which it is put in place the scientific process. The contribution then pauses to consider in particular the "character evidence" of the latter aspect, ie the capacity of the documentary and practices related to the importance of the overall design of the study, the articulation of the questions and hypotheses set, methods, coherence and consistency of results with respect to the evidence produced.