Scientifically Based Research in Quantitative Literacy: Guidelines for Building a Knowledge Base

Research in quantitative literacy (QL) is in its infancy, so now is the time to begin a regimen for healthy growth into adulthood. As a new discipline still defining itself, QL has the opportunity to build a sound infrastructure for accumulating a solid body of interconnected research that will serve the discipline well in years to come. To that end, much can be learned from recent studies of the weaknesses of mathematics education research and recommendations on how to overcome them. Mathematics education lacks a strong research foundation, one that is scientific, cumulative, interconnected, and intertwined with teaching practice. These weaknesses can be alleviated by following a model built around five key components of a high-quality research program: generating ideas, framing those ideas in a research setting, examining the research questions in small studies, generalizing the results in larger and more refined studies, and extending the results over time and location. Single research projects having only one or two of these components should link to others so that a viable research program that is interconnected and cumulative can be identified and effectively used to improve both teaching practice and future research. Detailed reporting guidelines for each component of the model are outlined in the following sections.