Suggestions for Future Directions for Research in Sociology of Education

Abstract

These comments are based on my experience reviewing projects during the past 10 years in the Division of Research, Evaluation, and Communication of the National Science Foundation. Our division supports applied and basic research for the purpose of improving mathematics and science education in U.S. schools. With the assistance of advisory panels of published researchers in the study fields, program officers fund about 50 new projects each year and evaluate the progress of approximately another 100 projects. SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON EDUCATION Few of the best proposals to our programs are developed by or with researchers trained in the sociology of education; only 2 projects out of 160 active awards in 2000 came from departments of sociology. Most studies of education are not placed in sociological theoretical frameworks, yet they could be. Reviewers would give consi deration to education studies that explore broader social systems or social psycho logical behaviors, but few such studies are proposed. Nevertheless, many of the research topics submitted for review involve some aspect of sociological investigation, such as the use of techniques that have been developed and taught by sociologists for conducting survey research, statistical analysis, qualitative analysis, and single case studies. Other sociological concepts such as status, human interaction, and the role of whole systems in change are commonly used in many projects.