Deep Reflection on Empirical Research of Education

In recent years, empirical educational research has been a hot topic. There are different opinions among domain experts on the connotations and characteristics of empirical educational research, the relationship between empirical educational research and other research, and the types of issues which are suitable for conducting empirical research. According to the concept of empirical research, this study analyzes the characteristics of empirical research in education. The bases of empirical educational research are educational facts, so the research questions must be empirical. In addition, the main purpose of empirical educational research is verification, however, the regular patterns obtained from the research are relative. In this study, several concepts in relation to empirical research are further clarified and compared, such as empirical research, speculative research, evidence-based research, quantitative research, qualitative research, field research, etc., thus the types of common problems suitable for empirical research in education can be concluded.