Research on teaching: Process-product research findings and the feelings of obviousness.

Abstract

To address the charge that research findings are obvious, this study examined the perceived obviousness of 12 findings of process-product research on teaching. Twelve hundred and fifteen volunteers in Singapore and in the San Francisco Bay Area rated the degree of obviousness of each finding after (a) attempting to select the actual finding from two possible opposite outcomes, (b) reading a single outcome that was either the actual or the direct opposite of the actual finding, or (c) reading a single outcome plus an explanation for the outcome. The selections of actual findings and the ratings of obviousness of actual or opposite-of-actual findings indicated that respondents could not always distinguish the true findings from their opposites. Explanations tended to increase the rated obviousness of the findings. Differences in gender, knowledge about teaching, and cultural background had inconsistent effects on the judgments of obviousness.