What Are the Standards for Quality Research?
This issue of Focus: A Technical Brief discusses principles and standards for quality research, the basis for these standards, and strategies for reporting quality research. The terms quality research and quality evidence are related concepts that have been at the center of much debate in academic, professional, and public policy circles. These debates are prevalent in the multidisciplinary fields of health, education, disability, and social welfare (Gersten, Baker, & Lloyd, 2000; Shavelson & Towne, 2002). To some extent the debates stem from the widespread belief that the quality of scientific research is often uneven and lacking in credibility, making it difficult to make a confident, concrete assertion or prediction regarding evidence for improving practice or consumer outcomes (Levin & O’Donnell, 1999; Mosteller & Boruch, 2002; Shavelson & Towne, 2002). The debate is also due, in part, to the lack of consensus on the specific standards for assessing quality research and standards o
