Abstract

Comparative studies among cultures, particularly Western and Eastern ones, are vital and necessary. In this essay, we are presenting a comparison between Western and Islamic views. The focus of this study is on action-oriented educational research based on Charles Clark’s view as a more recent action-oriented view on educational research. The comparison between Clark’s view and the one we suggest that is inspired by the Islamic view of human action and shows that there are considerable commonalities between the two views as both of them avoid the mechanistic orientation and take human action into account. There are also differences between the two views regarding the distinction between fact and value, as well as the relation between means and ends in research.