RT - Journal Article T1 - Critical policy sociology and education policy studies JF - erj YR - 2019 JO - erj VO - 6 IS - 38 UR - http://erj.khu.ac.ir/article-1-395-en.html SP - 128 EP - 147 K1 - Educational Policy K1 - Policy Sociology K1 - Discourse K1 - Value K1 - Policy Archaeology AB - Education policy has always been one of the most important factors driving countries toward democratic aspirations, such as justly educational opportunities and civil rights. The policy sociology as a tradition in the analysis of educational policy has provided an unparalleled perspective for analyzing policy issues in the field of education. Despite the importance of such an approach, there is no scientific evidence for the direction of policy studies in the policy sociology in Iran. Therefore, this paper seeks to describe this research tradition, given the lack of rich scientific background in the policy sociology in Persian. Accordingly, the present paper presents the key assumptions of the policy sociology and the policy archaeology as one of the approaches proposed in this research tradition. The research method of this paper is descriptive-analytical and documentary type. This study has shown that the policy sociology is based on seven key assumptions. These assumptions are value based study, political and historical perspective, multidisciplinary study, assemblage, discourse study and qualitative research. This article also discusses how researchers should use policy archaeology to analyze educational policies. LA eng UL http://erj.khu.ac.ir/article-1-395-en.html M3 10.52547/erj.6.38.128 ER -