Designing high-quality research in special education: Group experimental design

This article discusses critical issues related to conducting high-quality i ntervention research using experimental and quasi-experimental group design s. As researchers have learned more about teaching and learning, interventi on studies have become more complex. The research community is struggling w ith ways to sensibly negotiate a balance between rigorous research designs that satisfy traditional laboratory standards of quality and interventions that are complex and flexible enough for conducting research in the real wo rld of classrooms and schools. Rather than organizing the discussion around a List of resolute research standards, we weigh the pros and cons of makin g the many difficult choices involved in conducting intervention research. Our goal is to convey the sense that good designs must involve a series of balances and compromises that defy easily categorized solutions. Among the controversial areas discussed are the importance of defining the nature of the independent variable, the value of measuring implementation, and the im provement of the quality of quasi-experiments.