Why Practice Recommendations Are Important in Use-Inspired Basic Research and Why Too Much Caution Is Dysfunctional

Abstract

Robinson et al. (Educ Psychol Rev 25:291–302, 2013) have suggested refraining from practice and policy recommendations in primary educational research articles, in particular because primary research journals are not the appropriate outlet for such recommendations, the evidence provided by one research article is usually not sufficient, and making bold statements about practice in primary research trivializes the challenges of practice implementations. This commentary on Robinson et al. is a plea to continue providing such recommendations in primary research journals because much of educational research is not only theoretically but also practically grounded (i.e., use-inspired basic research). Contributions to the discourse on practice and theory are an intrinsic and productive part of educational research, even if some recommendations may turn out to be oversimplified or even wrong in further research. Nevertheless, there is agreement with Robinson et al. that we should usually not formulate general, sweeping recommendations. More modest and, therefore, legitimate types of practice recommendations are proposed, and conditions are discussed when such recommendations in primary research journals seem to be justified. Finally, some thoughts on how to communicate practice recommendations to practitioners were outlined.