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This study examines the research approaches that underlie research on educational technology. A classification framework was developed and used when examining all articles published in four well-known journals between 2000 and 2004 ( n = 660). The aim of the study was to contribute toward an understanding of the research approaches that characterize research on educational technology. It was found that research is increasingly dominated by empirical articles that adopt a pluralistic approach, both regarding research methods but also regarding different types of non-empirical research. The focus has been to apply rather than develop frameworks, concepts, and theory. Published articles in the four journals were more different from each other than what the aims and scopes of the journals led us to believe. Finally, researchers are challenged to reflect on the state of the field and how it may be further developed.
Hrastinski et al. (Thu,) studied this question.