Qualitative Research In Education Research Articles

The bone in the throat: some uncertain thoughts on baroque method

The paper conjures some possibilities for a baroque method in qualitative educational research. It draws on work across a range of disciplines that has detected a recurrence of the baroque in the philosophical and literary texts of modernity. A baroque method would resist clarity, mastery and the single point of view, be radically uncertain about scale, boundaries and coherence, and favour movement and tension over structure and composure. It would open up strange spaces for difference, wonder and otherness to emerge. The paper uses baroque exemplars such as trompe l’oeil painting and the cabinet of curiosities to pose methodological questions about analysis, representation and meaning. The obstructive potential of the baroque might, it is argued, help post‐foundational research resist the bureaucratic reason that animates education policy and research. As the ‘bone in the throat’ of closure‐seeking systems, the baroque offers a hopeful figure for a productively irritating method.

Consistency, Understanding and Truth in Educational Research

What do Elliot Eisner's discussions of objectivity mean for the strength of the link between consistency and truth in educational research? Following his lead, I pursue this question by comparing aspects of qualitative educational research with appraising the arts. I argue that some departures from the highest levels of consistency in assessing the arts are compatible with truth and objectivity, and that this is at least suggestive for how consistency in qualitative educational research should be viewed. In the final part of the paper I look at some problems inherent in comparing the value of works of art, and consider whether similar issues arise when we attempt to grade different kinds of educational research.

Mapping the possibilities of qualitative research in music education: a primer

Increasing numbers of music education researchers have begun to use qualitative methods to examine research topics using interviews, observations, documents, and archival data. In this article, I review qualitative research methodology and its origins and methods, discuss topics that have been studied by music education researchers using qualitative research methods, and show possible ways that qualitative research methods might be used to investigate topics in music education. The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance to researchers in music education exploring qualitative methodology, music educators who supervise students conducting qualitative research projects; and classroom practitioners who would like to explore the possibilities of qualitative research design and methods to study research problems in school settings. This mapping of possibilities for qualitative research provides a broad palette of options from which music education researchers might choose to examine significant issues of interest.

Measuring instructional congruence in elementary science classrooms: Pedagogical and methodological components of a theoretical framework

AbstractThis article is situated within a theoretical framework, instructional congruence, articulating issues of student diversity with the demands of academic disciplines. In the context of a large‐scale study targeting elementary school science, the article describes a research instrument that aims to combine the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative approaches to classroom data. The project‐developed classroom observation guideline is a series of detailed scales that produce numerical ratings based on qualitative observations of different aspects of classroom practice. The article's objectives are both pedagogical and methodological, reflecting the dual functionality of the instrument: (a) to concretize theoretical constructs articulating academic disciplines with student diversity in ways that are useful for rethinking classroom practice; and (b) to take advantage of the strengths of qualitative educational research, but within a quantitative analytical framework that may be applied across large numbers of classrooms. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 424–447, 2007

Can Findings of Qualitative Research in Education be Generalized?

Most qualitative researchers do not recommend generalization from qualitative studies, as this research is not based on random samples and statistical controls. The objec- tive of this study is to explore the degree to which in-service teachers understand the con- troversial aspects of generalization in both qualitative and quantitative educational research and as to how this can facilitate problems faced by the teachers in the classroom. The study is based on 83 participants who had registered for a 10-week course on 'Method- ology of Investigation in Education' as part of their Master's degree program. The course is based on 11 readings drawing on a philosophy of science perspective (positivism, con- structivism, Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos). Course activities included written reports, class room discussions based on participants' presentations, and written exams. Based on the results obtained it is concluded: (1) almost 91% of the teachers agreed that external generalization in a different social context is feasible; (2) almost 63% of the participants used a fairly incon- sistent approach, that is in a theoretical context agreed that qualitative research cannot be generalized and still when asked with respect to the experience of two particular teachers, agreed that generalization was possible; (3) almost 28% of the participants used a consis- tent approach. Some of the reasons provided by the participants as to why generalization was feasible are discussed. An analogy is drawn with respect to Piaget's methodology, viz., it was not based on random samples or statistical treatments and still his oeuvre has been generalized (criticisms not withstanding) in both the psychology and educational literature.

Qualitative research in computer science education

This paper discusses the suitability of the qualitative research approach to computer science education research. It is based on the following two observations: First, only a small proportion of works presented in the computer science education literature contain some experimental component (Fincher and Petre, 2004; Valentine, 2004). Second, those research works conducted in computer science education that do, usually employ a quantitative research approach. This paper focuses on the qualitative research approach, presenting its nature, discussing its relationships to the quantitative research approach and addressing its application in general and in the context of computer science education in particular.

The science of context: modes of response for qualitative researchers in education

How might qualitative researchers meaningfully operate in a contemporary research climate that holds to such limited conceptions of what constitutes ‘scientific’ research in education? This article discusses implications of scientifically based research (SBR) and identifies several pathways along which researchers may productively work in such a context. These include: (1) Conducting critical inquiry into the socio‐intellectual frameworks and institutional networks driving such policy development; (2) Educating peers and policy‐makers about key precepts of cultural practice and qualitative research; (3) Achieving greater transparency in research designs, inference and theory development, and quality criteria; (4) Adopting mixed‐methods research designs; and (5) Undertaking public access or public‐interest education research. The central aim is to orient qualitative researchers to those modes of scholarship that can most powerfully impact the projects to which they are committed, and thereby extend the notion and application of SBR.

Art teachers and action research

Abstract The qualitative educational research literature is increasingly advocating the use of literary/artistic techniques. This article describes and evaluates educational action researches by three art teachers, and questions why they have not capitalised methodologically on their artistic expertise. Analysis of commonalities in practitioner-based research in education and practice-based research in art and design reveals significant differences in these two paradigms however. Whereas artists and educational researchers both engage in qualitative problem solving and may use the same kinds of materials and tools, they develop different kinds of hypotheses, look for different sorts of evidence and apply different quality controls.

Art teachers and action research

The qualitative educational research literature is increasingly advocating the use of literary/artistic techniques. This article describes and evaluates educational action researches by three art teachers, and questions why they have not capitalised methodologically on their artistic expertise. Analysis of commonalities in practitioner-based research in education and practice-based research in art and design reveals significant differences in these two paradigms however. Whereas artists and educational researchers both engage in qualitative problem solving and may use the same kinds of materials and tools, they develop different kinds of hypotheses, look for different sorts of evidence and apply different quality controls.

Talking early childhood education

The use of fictional writing, and in particular fictional dialogue, has gained increasing credibility and popularity within the field of qualitative social science research (Clough, 2002; Denzin, 1997; Tierney, 1998) but research in early childhood education has yet to exploit such methodologies. This article asks: what is meant by the term ‘narrative inquiry’ and how do researchers justify its use in research design and report? The article first argues the place for narrative enquiry in early childhood research. It then demonstrates the power of creating fictional dialogues by illustrating the educational ideas of two historical figures and famous pioneers of early childhood education, John Amos Comenius and Susan Isaacs, through an authored ‘dialogue’ with Philip Selbie. This fictional dialogue explores the meanings of Comenius’ and Isaacs’ work and their relevance to Selbie’s work with young English speaking children in the Czech Republic of 2004.

The Labouring Sleepwalker: Evocation and expression as modes of qualitative educational research

This paper deals with the highly personal way an individual makes sense of the world in a way that avoids the pitfalls of the so‐called private language. For Wittgenstein following a rule can never mean just following another rule, though we do follow rules blindly. His idea of the ‘form of life’ elicits that ‘what we do’ refers to what we have learnt, to the way in which we have learnt it and to how we have grown to find it self‐evident. But the reference to the ‘bedrock’, to what was originally learnt, is the only kind of situation for which it makes sense to ask whether the meaning of a concept is correctly stated. Dialogue, conversation, and exchange of ideas are the right ways to characterize all the other situations. The challenge of Wittgensteinian philosophy is therefore that of a balance of the individual and the community, of language and the world. His insistence on the third person (or the intersubjective level) is countered by the importance he gives to each individual's personal stance: persons must speak for themselves and do what they can do. Given the growing interest for the kind of educational research where the ‘personal’ is focused on, I will try to take up the challenge to see how here as elsewhere ‘language’ works. By making clear what it does for us, it will gradually become clear how this kind of research may itself have to be reinterpreted.

Book Review: Doing Qualitative Educational Research: A Personal Guide to the Research Process

Book Review: Doing Qualitative Educational Research: A Personal Guide to the Research Process

Video diary: a method for exploring learning dispositions

This paper presents an innovative method for qualitative research in education. The video dairy technique was developed and used alongside other qualitative methods to map the socio‐cultural landscape of primary‐school children's learning dispositions prior to their transfer to secondary school. The larger project comprised a case study of a group of children transferring from one Year 6 classroom to their local comprehensive secondary school, with particular reference to their learning of mathematics. Theoretically framed by Pierre Bourdieu's sociological tools, the study explored the impact of three fields—school, family and peer group—upon children's learning dispositions and trajectories at this school interface. The alternative perspectives afforded by the diary entries highlighted the inter‐relatedness of the three fields of interest, often in ways that had not been anticipated or considered. I will explain practical aspects of the process and consider some of the challenges that might be experienced by researchers using video diary techniques.

The impact of globalisation on qualitative research in comparative and international education

This is a revised version of the 2003 British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) Presidential Address delivered at the 7th Oxford International Conference on Education and Development. The processes of globalisation have been viewed by some as a major threat to the qualitative research tradition in education. Two main aspects of the impact of globalisation on qualitative research are addressed here. Firstly, it is argued that given the vital role of culture in mediating global policies at different levels, qualitative research still has a very important role to play. Secondly, it is argued that the knowledge and information revolution associated with globalisation has created an increasingly positivist climate that represents both a challenge for, and a challenge to, comparative education as it is currently conceived—particularly in the UK. This is illustrated by the growing international interest in systematic review methodology and its associated privileging of quantitative research strategies, such as randomised controlled trials, in evidence‐based policy.

Towards creative practice in research in dance education

This paper traces an experience of designing and conducting qualitative research in dance education. The primary aim is to highlight the importance of giving consideration to research methodologies in the emergence of personal research practice. Making decisions about what method/s to use will ultimately direct the engagement with any study, beyond the purely mechanistic operation of the research and towards the philosophical and ethical issues that define its purpose.

Causal Explanation, Qualitative Research, and Scientific Inquiry in Education

A National Research Council report, Scientific Research in Education, has elicited considerable criticism from the education research community, but this criticism has not focused on a key assumption of the report—its Humean, regularity conception of causality. It is argued that this conception, which also underlies other arguments for “scientifically-based research,” is narrow and philosophically outdated, and leads to a misrepresentation of the nature and value of qualitative research for causal explanation. An alternative, realist approach to causality is presented that supports the scientific legitimacy of using qualitative research for causal investigation, reframes the arguments for experimental methods in educational research, and can support a more productive collaboration between qualitative and quantitative researchers.

This is Your Father’s Paradigm: Government Intrusion and the Case of Qualitative Research in Education

This talk was the Egon Guba Invited Lecture at the American Educational Research Association annual conference, April, 2003, Chicago. This article mobilizes three counterdiscourses to critique the federal government’s incursion into legislating scientific method in the realm of educational research via the “evidence-based” movement of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Foucauldian policy analysis, feminism via Luce Irigaray, and postcolonialism via Stuart Hall are used to situate such scientism as a racialized masculinist backlash against the proliferation of research approaches that characterize the past 20 years of social inquiry. Congressional disdain for educational research is addressed within a context of the Science Wars and the needs of neoliberal states, including conservative restoration.

Interviews and the Philosophy of Qualitative Research

Interviews and the Philosophy of Qualitative Research Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences, by Irving Seidman (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press, 1998. InterViews: An Introduction Qualitative Research by Steinar Kvale. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996. Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data, by Herbert J. Rubin and Irene S. Rubin. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995. Interviewing is key many forms of qualitative educational research; we interview respondents for oral histories, life histories, ethnographies, and case studies (see Tierney & Dilley, 2002, for an overview of interviewing in education). Despite the primacy of verbal data in qualitative research, basic introductions qualitative research (including Glesne & Peshkin, 1992; Merriam, 1998; and Rossman & Rallis, 1998) and to guides for conducting qualitative projects (such as Goodall, 2000) include only sections on interviewing. Only within the past decade have book-length explorations of interviewing been produced for an audience of educational researchers (as opposed to, say, anthropologists or sociologists). Of those, three specifically acknowledge the philosophical foundations of interview methodologies. Each examines, in complementary ways, the relationships between philosophy and protocol, epistemology and research, words and meanings. Irving Seidman's Interviewing as Qualitative Research (1998) is grounded in the phenomenological tradition of three distinct, thematic interviews designed question meanings of experience. I find his work is a good starting point for training new researchers, not because the structure of phenomenological interviewing is better than other forms of qualitative interviewing, but because Seidman ties the core of phenomenology the qualitative philosophy. Interviewing, Seidman writes, provides access the context of people's behavior and thereby provides a way for researchers understand the meaning of that behavior. A basic assumption in in-depth interviewing research is that the meaning people make of their experience affects the way they carry out that experience .... Interviewing allows us put behavior in context and provides access understanding their action. (1998, p. 4) Meaning is not just the facts, but rather the understandings one has that are specific the individual (what was said) yet transcendent of the specific (what is the relation between what was said, how it was said, what the listener was attempting ask or hear, what the speaker was attempting convey or say). Just as language signifies and is constituted by specifics and abstracts, so too does qualitative research--and interviewing in particular. There are skills--physical, social, mental, communicative--that embody the act of interviewing, but those alone will not determine answers research questions. For such determinations, budding researchers must learn the skill of comprehension, the complex aptitude and competence of reflection and representation which are perhaps ultimately unteachable by any method than trial and error. As Seidman states, Researchers must ask themselves what they have learned from doing the interviews, studying the transcripts, marking and labeling them, crafting profiles, and organizing categories of excerpts. What connective threads are there among the experiences of the participants they interviewed? How do they understand and explain these connections? What do they understand now that they did not understand before they began the interviews? What surprises have there been? What confirmations of previous instincts? How have their interviews been consistent with the literature? How inconsistent? How have they gone beyond? (Seidman, 1998, pp. 110-111) Those are questions for the interviewer, a continuing conversation with one's self about the nature of how we have learned what we know. …

Discovery Videos: A Safe, Tested, Time-Efficient Way To Incorporate Discovery-Laboratory Experiments into the Classroom

When it is infeasible to have students do some experimental parts of discovery laboratory experiments, instructors can demonstrate the reactions for students to evaluate as part of their discovery process. As an alternative to time-consuming and hazardous live demonstrations, we have developed video demonstrations of reactions with pauses for students to discover concepts. Digitally animated videos of two experiments, Some Reactions of Cations and Periodicity in the Activity Series of Metals, were filmed and used in inorganic chemistry and honors-level general chemistry courses; we believe that the videos are also suitable for use in secondary schools. Quantitative and qualitative educational research was carried out in the inorganic class comparing the use of videos and live instructor demonstrations. No statistically significant difference was found in any learning outcome and no clear-cut student preference emerged. The significant saving of instructor time and the reduction of risk by using the vi...

Blackbirds singing in the dead of night?: Advancing the craft of teaching qualitative research.

Qualitative research education, which is overly concerned with teaching content, can reduce knowledge to the technical-rational domain, and in this process, opportunities for students to be inspired and passionately engaged with the art of qualitative research are lost. Although students may acquire the characteristics of qualitative researchers by observing role models, there is much skilled teachers can do to teach students not only how to conduct research, but also how to be committed qualitative researchers. The craft knowledge of skilled teachers in facilitating these understandings, techniques, and attributes in students must be shared and discussed in meaningful ways to advance quality education and, in turn, quality nursing research. If unshared, teachers' knowledge may go unheard, and they may be left isolated, like blackbirds singing in the dead of night. In this article, the skills of "doing and being" in qualitative research are emphasized by sharing strategies the authors have used in research education. The aim is to discuss creative aspects of teaching practice that are helpful in understanding and advancing rigorous qualitative research.