Introduction : what is the question?
A criterial conception of truth and objectivity : its relevance to educational research
Why empirical educational research needs to be taken seriously
The concept of an educational explanation and an account of what explanatory adequacy should look like
How good is empirical research-disaster and success?
Can empirical research-based knowledge be cumulative?
Converging explanations : quantitative and qualitative methods and how they are related
Intervention studies, experimental methods and evidence-based policy
Case study 1. Bernsteinian sociolinguistics
Case study 2. The comparative study of vocational education
Case study 3. School effectiveness and improvement research
Case study 4. Research on the teaching of reading debate and on dyslexia
Educational faddism and how to (possibly) avoid it
How philosophical and empirical research can work together
Prospects for empirical educational research and its future relevance to policy and practice.