Disputes Moon, Dillon, and Sprenkle's (1990) claims regarding advantages of qualitative methods and limitations of quantitative approaches for family therapy research. Supports role of qualitative research in theory development and concurs that exclusive allegiance to standard methods may limit attention to important family therapy processes; but…

The nature of inquiry and its relative novelty in the nursing profession pose unique considerations related to teaching qualitative research. These considerations and teaching methods are explored as they relate to theoretical underpinnings of qualitative research, phases of the research process, evaluation of proposals and dissertations, academic…

Provides a dialog about the evolution of qualitative research methodology and examines where it is headed in light of where it has been. Describes different phases in the development of qualitative research and briefly considers how qualitative research contributes to an understanding of educational phenomena and process. Suggests why such…

Presents an heuristic approach to qualitative educational research. Practical theories of research are viewed as personal. They need to be examined to gain a better understanding of the research self and to understand the perspective of others. Exercises designed to generate this understanding are thus a prerequisite for research. (MMU)

Asserts that qualitative research will gain acceptance when it takes a significant step toward solving a major problem in the discipline. Provides a tentative outline of an approach to metaphysical problems involving radical empiricism and phenomenolgy. Delineates some necessary cognitive shifts involving dialectical and abductive reasoning…

Formulates the idea of the "interpretive zone" as a way to describe the space in which collaborative interpretation of research unfolds. Because of the importance of teamwork to qualitative research, the interpretive zone becomes a critical location for future methodological inquiry and examination of the dynamics of group research. (SLD)

Some epistemological and methodological concerns about cross-cultural qualitative research include reliance on partial knowledge, middle-class cultural and political bias, the fluidity of identity, and power relations between researchers and subjects. Critical reflection, revision of traditional methods, and design of new methods can address these…

A reply to Lawrence Ferrara's Chapter 4 in R. Phelps, R. Sadoff, E. Warburton, and L. Ferrara, "A Guide to Research in Music Education," 5th Edition is presented. It it curious that Ferrara disagrees with Jack Heller and Edward J. P. O'Connor's view that "philosophy" is not "research," yet in the chapter headings in the book A Guide to Research in…

In education research, a polar distinction is frequently made to describe and produce different kinds of research: "quantitative" versus "qualitative." In this article, the authors argue against that polarization and the associated polarization of the "subjective" and the "objective," and they question the attribution of generalizability to only…

The author discusses the evolution of ideas about the relationship between national and international development and educational change since World War II. He critically reviews relevant literature in comparative and international education, focusing on the concept of teachers' work. The analyses draw on theories of postcolonialism. The author…

States that educational researchers have very little knowledge that they know for certain. Provides an overview of the relationship between research and philosophy, addressing three questions: (1) What is real in education? (2) What can be known about educational reality? (3) What is the relationship between educational research and what we know…

Uses a case study to illustrate problems associated with historical reasoning. The problems highlighted are confusion over the difference between reason and cause, enthusiasm of the antiquarian, misguided search for "essence," misconceptions as to when to quantify, propagandistic tendencies, equating sensationalism with importance,…

Claims that journalists and anthropologists can improve their work by studying each other's methods and describes a number of similarities between members of the two occupations, namely, that both are observers of the human condition with much responsibility. Discusses a seminar conducted in June 1985 that verified this claim. (JD)

Stories about qualitative educational research situations point out moral dilemmas related to the meaning and shape of researcher obligation: questions that go beyond research codes of ethics. A postmodern-hermeneutic reading of the stories suggests three themes: the intersubjective and lived aspect of qualitative research, the irreducibility of…

Uses a phenomenographic perspective to interpret and integrate the results of relational research in analyzing the experiences of teaching and learning in higher education. Describes conditions associated with two qualitatively different approaches to teaching that are associated with differences in the quality of student learning. Argues that…