Replication Research and Special Education

Abstract

Replicating previously reported empirical research is a necessary aspect of an evidence-based field of special education, but little formal investigation into the prevalence of replication research in the special education research literature has been conducted. Various factors may explain the lack of attention to replication of special education intervention research, including emphasis on quantity of publications, esteem for novel findings, and barriers to publishing high-quality studies with null or negative effects. This article introduces the special issue on replication of special education intervention research by first providing an overview of concepts and issues related to replication. Specific attention is then given to replication as it relates to group design and single case experimental design research, two prominent albeit philosophically different empirical methodologies. We then briefly describe how replications using these research designs can be conducted in complementary ways to better understand intervention effects and advance evidence-based practices in special education.