Die Daten der Vergleichsuntersuchungen und ihre Nutzungsmöglichkeiten für erziehungswissenschaftliche Forschung

Abstract

The article describes the research tradition in which the findings of large-scale surveys on school achievement are discussed at present. From a contemporary point of view educational science in Germany - strongly influenced by the humanities - missed to participate in international large-scale surveys for two decades. Now educational science in Germany has to catch up with the results of studies like TIMSS, PISA, and PIRLS, which meanwhile have gained pronounced attention among experts, the public and the media. This could be of great profit for the empirical educational research, but on the contrary, the extensive reception of the findings of the PISA study has turned to a drop of bitterness. Several discussants, referring to the TIMSS and PISA results, read the findings carefully, others simply methodically misinterpreted the data. The authors give examples of some of the most popular misinterpretations of the findings of large-scale surveys and present starting points for the German educational science to attend and to further develop the processes of discussion. (The article is based on a conference paper held by the authors and the oral notation was kept for this journal). (DIPF/Orig.