Piaget ethnographer

Abstract

Although there have been extensive discussions of Piaget's theory, relatively little attention has been given to his research methods. Indeed, where Piaget's methods have been discussed they have generally been attacked for what are perceived as limitations and inadequacies. However, both in his work based on observations of infants and particularly in the clinical interviews with children and adolescents Piaget's research can be seen as a striking demonstration of the power of the systematic use of qualitative methods. Piaget's work in fact offers a paradigmatic example of an interpretive methodology in developmental psychology, not only for the intimate relations between interview and theory evident in all his research, but also for the argument through which the research is presented to the reader. As well as reviewing the clinical interview itself, this article also considers the different logics of research evident in this method and in that used by Piaget's critics.