Furthermore, the sample size was likely to have been rather small, and the links to a strong theoretical rationale negligible. Ernst R Breslich noted that “in most of these investigations the differences between the compared methods or conditions have been surprisingly low” (p. 134). Concluding his survey of the contribution that research on arithmetic had made as of 1938. Buswell sounded a wistful note of discouragement before drawing his confident conclusion: “While a consideration of individual researches in arithmetic leaves one with the feeling of frequent contradiction and confusion, a survey of the entire subject shows clearly that the combined results of research are exerting a rational directing influence upon the arithmetic program as a whole.” (p. 128).