Qualitative Researchers In Education example essay topic

Barzun's unsettling depiction of history is a fitting beginning to The Qualitative Report in that a narrative of qualitative and critical inquiry also rejects absolute, finality, and authority and embraces ambiguities, uncertainties, and diversities of human experience. Just as talk of qualitative and critical reflection is a multiverse d experience, so too is talk about that talk: What are possible and impossible shapes and forms of a twelve or so page publication dedicated to re- presenting a phenomenon which seems to resist and to tease con-? To that question there is no answer; and thus begins a journal. In the search for form -- when sincere and honest -- the action is twofold: to create form; and to diagnose the created form. Accordingly, as the artist proceeds with his [/her] creation, there simultaneously develops a rationalizing yet unwritten analysis of the work. Elie l Saarinen (1948/1985, p. v) One certainty, at least so far, for The Qualitative Report is the choice of the written word as foil for contributors in an on-going discussion juxtaposing created form, possibly extant studies or somewhat-held positions and ideologies, with diagnoses of that preexisting created form, which may be in shapes of reactions, musings, misgivings, and even inspired non sequitur's.

Through the wonders of time, acts devoted to diagnosing created form evolve into another created form, which in turn becomes fair game for new and subsequent perusals, evocations, and invocations. Let us get nearer to the fire, so that we can see what we are saying. The Bub is of Fernando Po (cited in Ogden & Richards, 1946, p. 1) The Qualitative Report is a calling for words and images inspired by qualitative and critical inquiry and reflections on those inquires. Papers, poems, and paragraphs; fragments, figments, and well-formed arguments; butts, rebuts, and re-rebuts are all desired and appreciated in an attempt to create a journalistic form somewhat in the shape of collage: 'To write... on the model of collage would be to avoid the portrayal of cultures as organic wholes or as unified, realistic worlds subject to a continuous explanatory discourse' (Clifford, 1988, p. 146). Of course some may choose to rebut such a position, but then again, that is the idea. References Barzun, J. (1974).

Clio and the doctors: Psycho-history, quanto-history, and history. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Clifford, J. (1988). On ethnographic surrealism. In J. Clifford (Ed. ), The predicament of culture: Twentieth-century ethnography, literature, and art (pp. 117-151).

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Ogden, C.K., & Richards, I.A. (1946). The meaning of meaning: A study of the influence of language upon thought and the science of symbolism (8th ed. ). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Tru bner & Co. Saarinen, E. (1985).

The search for form in art and architecture. New York: Dover Publications. (Orginal work published 1948) Alternative Paradigms in Education Brent Atkinson A new book will be released by Sage Publications this autumn (1990) titled, The Paradigm Dialog (edited by Egon Guba). The book contains papers given at a remarkable conference I attended last year called 'Alternative Paradigms in Social Inquiry,' which preceded the annual meeting at the American Educational Research Association in San Francisco. As interest in qualitative research has mushroomed in the field of education, it has become evident that qualitative researchers vary widely regarding basic assumptions they hold about the nature of 'knowledge,' and the role that researchers play in the development of knowledge.

This has made for quite a bit of confusion and frustration in conversations between qualitative researchers. The 'Alternative Paradigms' conference was designed to clarify differences and generate dialogue between representatives of three paradigms that have emerged as alternatives to the conventional positivist paradigm: post-positivist, critical science, and constructivism. Following keynote addresses given by Denis Phillips (representing 'post- positivism'), Thomas Popkewitz (representing 'critical science'), and Yvonne Lincoln (representing 'constructivism'), a series of papers were given clarifying how each paradigm addresses the following issues: accommodation between paradigms; the accumulation of knowledge; criteria for addressing quality of research; values in research; ethical considerations in research; methodological considerations; strategies for implementing research; and implications for training future researchers. Each of these papers were then critiqued by other prominent qualitative researchers in education. Finally, discussion was promoted regarding issues raised in each paper. Participating in this conference was a fascinating experience for me.

Like many family therapists, in recent years I have recognized how deep, paradigmatic assumptions about knowledge inform and influence my practice. After attending this conference I'd say its possible that on the average, practicing family therapists may be more familiar with paradigm alternatives than practicing educators. However, it also seemed clear to me that family therapy researchers have devoted considerably less energy to the task of exploring research applications of alternative paradigms than have their colleagues in education. While some qualitative researchers in education have made deliberate, informed choices to ground their research in positivist assumptions, many have incorporated qualitative methods into a positivist framework by default, because they have not had the opportunity to explore paradigmatic alternatives that have arisen in recent decades. The Paradigm Dialog will contribute much toward paradigmatic clarification and informed choices among qualitative researchers in education.

This book may similarly aid family therapy researchers who are interested in qualitative inquiry. Read More About It Marilyn Licht man Family therapy researchers might be interested to know about the acceptance of qualitative research paradigms in other disciplines. In this article I'm going to give you the latest information about the field of education. I wandered through the corridors of the hotel in San Francisco last October at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Convention, looking for those family therapists who might be interested in qualitative research. I found a few very interesting presentations at the poster sessions and one very lively, albeit small, group of individuals willing to give up a Sunday afternoon in San Francisco to consider qualitative research. I made a similar excursion in Boston hotels in April this year at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Convention.

I found many interesting presentations addressing methodological issues and reporting on the results of completed research. It struck me as odd that the field of family therapy has not yet 'found' qualitative research to the extent that education has. So I'd like to share some of what is going on in education. Qualitative research has been of interest to educational researchers for some time, although the bulk of research published in education continues to be of an experimental or quasi-experimental nature.

Many educational research departments adopt the more traditional stance of the experimentalist or logical positivist view of research. Those who espouse the virtues of qualitative research have not often had publication avenues open to them and, when they do, they are not usually in the mainstream. Their manuscripts, while sometimes published, may not always find their way into journals that have the widest readership. So it has been very exciting to witness a significant change in position by the major journal of the professional association in educational research. The American Educational Research Journal (AERJ), the primary research journal in education published by AERA, has taken a strong stance in favor of qualitative research. A public call for 'manuscripts based on qualitative research' was made in 1987 by Mary Lee Smith in an invited article.

In her careful paper (Smith, 1987), she acknowledges some of the difficulties in opening up the journal to qualitative research. These ranged from differing labels (What is meant by qualitative research? ), differing views of reality (Is there a reality separate from the observer? ), of the objects to be studied (Should we study an institution, an individual, or what? ), and of the criteria for judging studies. Most importantly, she suggests that such a policy 'can only mean that editors will use different criteria to judge and select such studies from those they use for experiments and surveys' (p. 182). While she does not specifically address criteria that will be used to evaluate manuscripts, she admonishes editors to 'become ethnographers of the culture of qualitative research. Then reviews can be fairly solicited and properly understood' (p. 182).

By 1990, the Association had made moves to live up to its words. It divided the editorial tasks of AERJ into two areas and assigned two separate editors. Wayne Urban, the editor of the Section on Social and Institutional Analysis, says he is looking for manuscripts that are not necessarily of a psychological or experimental orientation. Presumably, qualitative research would fit under the rubric of 'historical, rhetorical, interpretive, narrative, comparative, legal and critical approaches. ' Hilda Bork o, the other editor, does not specify methodology when she identifies articles to be sent to the Section on Teaching, Learning, and Human Development.

Presumably experimental research is not the only valued methodology. Finally, I refer you to a very interesting new book edited by Elliot Eisner and Alan Peshkin (1990). Qualitative Inquiry in Education: The Continuing Debate includes those papers that were presented at a meeting at Stanford in 1988. This small conference (some thirty invited guests) was co-sponsored by Teachers College Press. Five issues were addressed at the conference: subjectivity and objectivity, validity, , ethics, and the uses of qualitative inquiry. In addition to the two invited speakers for each topic, there was also an invited discussant.

The introduction to the book tells it all. 'New ways of thinking about knowing and knowledge are emerging, fresh conceptions of generalization are being offered up for consideration, validity and reliability are being nudged by concepts that are quite the same. In short, the conversation is getting deeper, more complex, and more problematic' (Eisner & Peshkin, 1990, p. 11). Family therapy researchers will welcome those refreshing and thought-provoking papers. Other interesting advances in education include new journals, conferences, and symposiac remain to be discussed at a later date. I invite those of you in family.