Perspectives on Research Methodology

Perspectives on Research Methodology

• Darleen Opfer

Behind the welter of names – positivism, naturalism, post-positivism, relativism, feminist standpoint epistemology, foundationalism, postmodernism, each with an array of sub-species – lie important questions: Is there a single, absolute truth about educational phenomena, or are there multiple truth? (Or is the concept of truth itself so problematic as to be of no value in understanding the world?) Can we count on our senses or on reason, to distinguish that which is true about the world from that which is false? Are there methods that can lead us close to understanding, or are there inherent indeterminancies in all methods? Is knowledge of the world discovered, or constructed? Can knowledge of the world be evaluated independent of the social and historical contexts in which it exists, or is it always contingent upon, or relative to, particular circumstances?

• Behind the welter of names – positivism, naturalism, post-positivism, relativism, feminist standpoint epistemology, foundationalism, postmodernism, each with an array of sub-species – lie important questions: Is there a single, absolute truth about educational phenomena, or are there multiple truth? (Or is the concept of truth itself so problematic as to be of no value in understanding the world?) Can we count on our senses or on reason, to distinguish that which is true about the world from that which is false? Are there methods that can lead us close to understanding, or are there inherent indeterminancies in all methods? Is knowledge of the world discovered, or constructed? Can knowledge of the world be evaluated independent of the social and historical contexts in which it exists, or is it always contingent upon, or relative to, particular circumstances?
• (Pallas, 2003, p.6)

What methods do you propose to use?

• What methods do you propose to use?
• What methodology governs your choice and use of the methods?
• What theoretical perspective lies behind the methodology in question?
• What epistemology informs this theoretical perspective?