The purpose of this study was to apply psychobiography to the lives of Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice. Psychobiography can be applied as a method of teaching personality theory and it can also be used as a research method. Most political personas are crafted through 20 second sound bites from the radio, Internet, and television. However, a…

The sameness of and difference between autobiographical and biographical research methods were studied in this exploration of the researcher's work with six recent female immigrants to Canada, herself and her mother included. The self-study of autobiography and the biographical study of the researcher's mother and four other subjects were similar…

The professional development of teachers, conceived of as the qualitative changes in teachers' professional behavior throughout their career, was studied through a procedure called "stimulated autobiographical self-thematization." Ten primary school teachers from Flemish Belgian schools were asked to reflect on their careers so as to…

The interview process in qualitative research is discussed, based on the experiences of the two participants in a series of life-story interviews. The interviews were held during a pilot study for a doctoral project, and this account of the process is presented from the dual perspectives of the researcher-interviewer and of the interviewee,…

This paper describes the process of investigating a teacher's knowledge and pedagogical philosophy through using a biographical rendition of a teacher's knowledge grounded in a construction of present teaching practice, based on ethnographic data. A case study is presented demonstrating how a major component of one teacher's present knowledge of…

This symposium paper reports on developing biographical qualitative research methods, mixing personal narrative and conceptualization. The section on "Learning To Do" begins with an autobiographical report on a study of an urban classroom during which the author developed his early techniques for qualitative research, including the…

The paper examines the methodological issues involved in the relationship of adult education to adult development. The practice of adult education during the past 25 years has been built upon a series of assumptions derived from theoretical fragments regarding lifelong development. Considering the theoretical base of adult development, however,…

During qualitative empirical research on the biographical learning processes of women due to transitions in their work situation, this theoretical, methodological theme arose that was intriguing to the researcher: the relationship between the learning processes of the women interviewed and of the researcher on one hand and the stories that were…

A research project examined the issues of how teachers' cultural identities and school experiences affect their definitions of themselves as teachers, and how their identities affect their teaching. The project was a qualitative inquiry, based on reciprocal and interactive relationships. Researchers began by identifying education students who…

The twentieth century has been an era of rapid, world-wide industrialization. Very little is known about the psychological impact of this process, and traditional assessment methods which universalize Western values are largely inappropriate. A prime example of universalizing Western characteristics is Inkeles' and Smith's popular Modernity Scales…

This paper presents an overview of Florence Nightingale's statistical background and accomplishments; discusses Victorian statistics, Nightingale's education and statistical contributions; and concludes with implications for professors and students of educational research. Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the first woman elected as a fellow of…

The Life History Project at Denmark's Roskilde University is a 5-year research project that was initiated in 1998 to examine learning and participation in adult and continuing education from a life history perspective. The project was designed to build on a broad range of qualitative interview studies and case studies into learning processes. The…