Closing Methodological Divides: Toward Democratic Educational Research: 11 (Philosophy and Education, 11) - Softcover

Howe, K.R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1402012268 ISBN 13: 9781402012266

Publisher: Springer, 2003

Synopsis

The issues I treat in this book―qualitative versus quantitative methods, facts versus values, science versus politics, subjectivity versus objectivity, postm- ernism versus pragmatism, to name a few―are at the core of a lively, sometimes divisive, conversation that has been unfolding in the theory and practice of e- cational research for some time. These issues fall squarely within the province of philosophy, and thus philosophical investigation has an especially useful contribution to make. But these issues are by no means the exclusive province of philosophy; they are ones in which a diverse group of educational theorists have had a keen interest and about which they have had important things to say. The conversation I hope to join―and to move forward―is this broad and inclusive one. Philosophy of education is at its best when it dives headlong into the fray. The book borrows liberally from my previously published work, but is far from a simple compilation. The ideas developed in Chapter 7, “On the Threat of Epistemological Bias,” are new. The ideas developed in Chapter 9, “Toward Democratic Educational Research,” are a significant extension of the application of similar ideas to evaluation research. The ideas developed in Chapter 4, “The Persistence of the Fact/Value Dogma,” are in a form and at a level of detail not published before. Finally, Chapter 1, “Introduction and Overview,” weaves together my thinking on a large array of issues on educational research methodology that had only been loosely connected before.

About this title

Synopsis

The interpretivist methodological framework made its appearance in educational research in the late 1970s, posing a fundamental and far-reaching challenge to the hitherto dominant positivist framework and opening up a number of divides that many have perceived as fundamental and unbridgeable. In the first part of "Closing Methodological Divides", Howe examines the issues involved and demonstrates that the divides can in fact be closed. The subsequent chapters set out the compatibilist perspective within which Howe analyzes the interpretive turn, constructivist epistemology, research bias and ethics. The concluding chapter sets out a conception of democratic education research that shapes research methodology to meet the requirements of democratic politics. "Closing Methodological Divides: Toward Democratic Educational Research" is unique in the sweep of issues it considers and the way it integrates them under one general philosophical perspective. Vital reading for philosophers of education, educational researchers and social science methodologists.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1402012268
• ISBN 13: 9781402012266
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 167