Anyone heard of the "applied research" versus "pure research" distinction?
Why must research be relevant? Why must "our clients" (educational practitioners and recipients) determine our research agendas? That's technology (the application of new knowledge to the solution of practical problems). If educational research must be relevant, what happens to researchers who want to do science (discovery of new knowledge for its own sake)? Are they really just out for cynical ends like tenure and promotion, as Ron argues?