Research work in science education is a special area of scholarship within the scientific enterprise. The scientific enterprise ranks with the arts and religion as one of the major areas of human endeavor. Science education can be classified within science, albeit it stands as a poor cousin when compared with physics, biology and other fields. The purpose of research in science education, nevertheless, is the same as that in other fields of science, e.g., to advance the conceptual schemes which have been developed to explain events in the universe. Though science education is intellectually an infant in the scientific enterprise, there is reason to believe that advances in this field can eventually have as far reaching consequences as have developments in atomic theory and cell theory. This article discusses the role of theory in science education research as well as guidelines for research in science education. This article discusses different kinds of research studies and proposes suggestions for the various kinds of research such as: (1) surveys and status studies; (2) analytic surveys; (3) experimental studies; and (4) curriculum research.