| Summary: | This paper discusses the tension or dilemma between research’s purposes in the fields of educational research and the study of education policies. Such tension consists of doubts about whether research culminates when it is possible to make a contribution to the field of knowledge, or concludes when the findings influence or have an impact on practices and policies. Application of scientific knowledge is a relevant issue from the origin of these fields, and it has somehow contributed to configure the tension between the research’s purposes. The dilemma or tension generates at least two types of rationalities: disciplinary-epistemic and practical-secular, although these may overlap or one may be favored to the detriment of the other. In this paper the two rationalities are used as extremes to discuss this relevant topic.
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