Journal of East China Normal University(Educational Sciences) ›› 2023, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (11): 85-96.doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2023.11.007

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Strengthen Replication of Educational Quantitative Research in China

Yi Li1,2,3, Jianqing Zhang4, Yanling Yang5   

  1. 1. Faculty of Education, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
    2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment Toward Basic Education Quality Southwest University Branch, Chongqing 400715, China
    3. Basic Education Research Center of Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
    4. Primary School Attached to Southwest University, Chongqing 400700, China
    5. Zhonghua Road Primary School, Yuzhong District, Chongqing 400010, China
  • Accepted:2022-05-16 Online:2023-11-01 Published:2023-10-27

Abstract:

In this study, the principle of replication, replication of research and repeated research were discriminated theoretically. Then it discussed three types of repeated research (exact, direct and conceptual) and two functions (validation and extension) and elaborated the meaning and value of replication. Based on that, this study took the repeated quantitative research published in 37 educational CSSCI journals from 2015 to 2020 as samples to analyze the current situation and the problems of replication for the educational quantitative research in China. The study found that it is not fully recognized that replication is the basic position of innovative research; the undeveloped foundation of quantitative research leads to the difficulty in conducting repeated researches; the failure of replication is misunderstood, which leads to the panic of ‘replication crisis’; the traditional thinking inertia hinders the original research teams to continue their original research interest. Accordingly, the study presented the following suggestions: reinforce understanding of the value of repeated research, establish incentive mechanism of repeated research; strengthen training of researchers in quantitative research methods, build an open science platform to turn the ‘black box’ into the ‘white box; overcome the stereotype of “success rate only”, build a stable research team to follow up and form research clusters.

Key words: replication, quantitative research, repeated research, scientization, CSSCI