Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1995

Abstract

An important function of the Journal of the Community Development Society is to report on research conducted in the field of community development. In particular the research that we report in this journal should have research questions that pertain to the theory and practice of purposive community change. One of the more critical tasks of journal editors, then, is to ensure that proposed articles in fact have appropriate, clear, and relevant research questions. A research question, however, is a multi-faceted creature. As many of us recall from our introductory courses in research methods, there are actually three types of research questions-exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. These types of research are actually levels of knowledge: exploratory research is the beginning or discovery phase of knowledge, descriptive research is where knowledge is accumulated on a particular topic, and explanatory research is concerned with relationships among things leading to prediction. Editors, of course, strive to have the articles in their journals at the highest level of knowledge: explanatory research. Sometimes, though, knowledge of community development theory and practice needs to be reported even if is not explanatory.

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