Abstract
AbstractBetween 1985 and 1989, I carried out research for a PhD thesis.1 At the same time I was employed as a full-time adult education head of centre. This article reflects on some of the special difficulties of the worker-researcher and on the research strategies adopted. I begin by identifying some problems in the sociology of education, especially in relation to adult education. The overall approach of my research is then defined as being in the tradition of symbolic interactionism with a naturalistic approach which stresses qualitative approaches rather than quantitative methods. The case-study of a South London adult education centre, which is a major part of the substantive study, is located within the tradition of ethnographic accounts of educational settings, with particular reference to participant observation. Participant observation offers an approximation to reality. It is characterised as a research method as requiring maximum flexibility. It is better at generating than testing theory. The ...
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