EN
Basic concepts of research on multicultural education in the USA are described in this article. These concepts can be used as instruments for the description of the situation in this research area in the the Czech pedagogical background. Domestic research on multicultural education lacks clear aims, contents and methods. Definition of these attributes is not possible without formulation of basic approach to research on multicultural education. In the paper, two possible basic approaches are described, based on these approaches we can do research on multicultural education. Deterministic and indeterministic approaches are based on ideological concepts of ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Two paradigms from USA: assimilation and pluralism, can be inspirational for Czech research community.