Social science and evidence-based everything: the case of education

Recent moves in academic and policy circles to strengthen the social science research evidence base have raised questions about the quality and status of educational research. They have suggested a need for systematic research synthesis, for greater accessibility of sound educational research evidence, and greater respect for the perspectives of the different stakeholders in the educational research process. This paper looks at the background to 'the evidence movement', and discusses a particular government-funded initiative designed to take forward the challenge of systematic reviews of educational research. It considers some of the ways in which this activity poses challenges for social science methodology.