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Feeling Better: A Comparison of Medical Research and Education Research

The education research community sometimes invokes medical research as a model to which education ought to aspire. This article reviews some recent themes and developments in the medical field to provide a more informed basis for comparison. The use of randomized clinical trials in medical research, the role of evidence in medical practice, and the rhetorical strategies for conveying research information in medical journals are discussed. A notable observation is that physicians often participate in clinical research and—in that work, as well as in their routine professional practice—function as knowledge workers. Educators also engage in knowledge work, but their practice is not always regarded in that way. The comparisons between medical research and education research suggest that the two fields face many similar challenges.