Methodological Analysis and Consideration on Practical Research in Special Needs Education Through an Analysis of Research Papers Published in the Japanese Journal of Special Education

The purpose of this study was to analyze “practical research” published in “the Japanese Journal of Special Education,” and to consider strategies to compile various practices in various fields including educational environments into a paper not only as practical report but also as practical research supported by theoretical considerations based on hypotheses and evidence, looking back on the past and aiming at new deepening of the “practical research” in the “Japanese Journal of Special Education.” Based on the analyses, we summarized and discussed the practical research as follows ： an “experimental” approach using the single subject design based on methodologies which enable to focus on variables and show certain quantitative evidence in practices, and a “naturalistic” approach in which various and multi-layered factors existing in daily events are explained by descriptive data.