Must investigations of treatment effects adopt a logic of causal investigation that defaults to the design and application of randomized control trials in education? Does the language of scientific research impel this too for intervention studies? In this brief response to Scriven's chapter, we explore the pragmatics of research planning to identify compounding factors and challenges to such characterizations of "gold standard' research in education. The prospect is tantalizing: if adjudications of explanatory power are the true benchmark for evaluating educational studies, then a requisite variety in research designs and logics must be entertained, and engaged.