Paradigms and Traditions of Educational Research

Theresa (Terri) Thorkildsen

Professor of Education and Psychology

University of Illinois at Chicago

Epistemological stance

Ethical stance

Theoretical stance

Methodological stance

Some Disciplinary Stances

Curriculum StudiesEducational PsychologyLiteracy, Language, and CultureMath and Science EducationPolicy Studies: Social FoundationsPolicy Studies: Education Organization

and LeadershipSpecial Education

What parts of an educational situation will you study?

AdministrationCurriculumEducation outside of schoolsLearnersPersonal developmentSchools as institutionsTeachers

What are the roles of people in your research problem?

Do you study people, environments, or the person-environment fit?

What assumptions about nature and nurture do you make?

What assumptions do you make about a person’s ability and willingness to change?

What sorts of knowledge are you hoping to generate?

Common Epistemological StancesObjectivist—Meaning and reality are independent of

consciousness. Researchers discover meaning that awaits them; truth and reality are there to be uncovered.

Constructionist—Meaning and reality are invented. Researchers construct meaning by fully engaging in discourse about subject-object relations; truth and meaning emerge from subject-object relations.

Subjectivist—Meaning and reality are imposed on objects by a subject. It comes from intangible sources such as dreams, spirituality, or the unconscious as often as observable sources. Researchers explore meaning by considering ideas in relation to one another; truth and reality do not exist.

Crotty, 1998

A paradigm is a unitary package of beliefs about

science and scientific knowledge.

Kuhn, 1962/1996

“Paradigm” derives from the Greek verb for “exhibiting side by side.” In lexica it is given with the translations “example” or “table of declensions and conjugations.” (p. 16)

Husén, 1997

A paradigm determines the criteria according to which one selects and defines problems for inquiry and how one approaches them theoretically and methodologically. (p. 16-17)

Why is most educational research grounded in science?

How is your problem situated in time?PastPresentFuture

How will you acknowledge the historical context in which your research problem is situated?

What theoretical stances are common in your program of study?

Sample Theoretical Stances Central in Education

Behaviorism (operant conditioning, classical conditioning, applied behavioral analysis)

Constructivism (social-cultural theory, genetic epistemology, information processing)

Maturationism (Freud, Erikson, Maslow)

Types of Theoretical Reasoning

Deductive-Start with an explanatory law or theoretical framework and generate specific predictions about specific dimensions of the framework.

Inductive-Start with patterns in evidence and particular instances of a phenomenon and use that information to generate a more general explanatory law or theoretical model.

Interactionist-Combine two or more procedures associated with external, deductive, or inductive logic.

Burisch, 1984

External-Start with characteristics outside the realm of the research problem and identify the distinguishing features of persons with that characteristic.

Culture and Theory

Etic theories-a description of a behavior or belief by an observer, in terms that can be applied to other cultures; that is, an etic account attempts to be "culturally neutral."

Emic theories-a description of behavior or a belief in terms meaningful (consciously or unconsciously) to the actor; that is, an emic account comes from a person within the culture. Almost anything from within a culture can provide an emic account.

Triandis & Martin, 1983

What sorts of evidence will you use and value?

How will you validate your argument?

Brantlinger, Jimenez, Klinger, Pugach, & Richardson, 2005

ReferencesBrantlinger, E., Jimenez, R., Klinger, J., Pugach, M., & Richardson, V. (2005).

Qualitative studies in special education. Exceptional Children, 71, 195-207.

Burisch, M. (1984). Approaches to personality inventory construction: A comparison of merits. American Psychologist, 39, 214-227.

Crotty, M. (1998). Foundations of social research: A conceptually oriented book. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Husén, T. (1997). Research paradigms in education. In J. P. Keeves (Ed.), Educational research, methodology, and measurement: An international handbook (pp. 16-21). Oxford, UK: Pergamon.

Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Rorty, R. (1985). Solidarity or objectivity. In J. Rajchman, & C. West (Eds.), Post-

analytic philosophy (pp. 3-19). New York: Columbia University Press.Triandis, H. C., & Marín, G. (1983). Etic plus emic versus pseudoetic: A test of basic

assumptions of contemporary cross-cultural psychology. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 14, 489-500.

Walzer, M. (1983). Spheres of justice: A defense of pluralism and equality. New York: Basic Books.