This is the second page of a selective summary of Part 1of the above text, entitled 'The Context of Educational Research'. Different research traditions are described.
1. The nature of enquiry (contd.)
Alternatives to positivistic social science: naturalistic approaches
The broad church of anti-positivism rejects the application of the scientific method, previously described, to studies of human behaviours. Social science is understood to be a subjective undertaking. The workings of the human world are more accurately explained and clarified from a perspective from within that world than from without, it is held. Such viewpoints may be understood as complementary to, or in competition with, positivistic outlooks. Several distinguishing features of naturalistic, qualitative, interpretive approaches are summarised, e.g.:
- People act intentionally and make meanings (they are deliberate and creative)
- People and events are unique and constantly changing (they are not generalisable)
- Events are complex and have multiple interpretations
- Situations should be examined from the viewpoints of the participants.
A question of terminology: the normative and interpretive paradigms
Normative models of social research hold that human behaviour is law-like and shoud be investigated by natural science's techniques of observation. Behaviour is determined by the past. General theories are sought to account for social behaviour.
Interpretive models work explicitly from within the human perspective. Action, i.e. future-oriented intentional behaviour, is emphasised and theories are emergent, multi-faceted, and attentive to the meanings created by the participants.
Phenomenology, ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism
Three significant anti-positivist traditions are described: phenomenology, ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionism.
Criticisms of the naturalistic and interpretive approaches
Adopting the viewpoint of the 'actors' in a social setting may indeed offer simple-minded explanations of what is going on, but it is surely the role of a scientist to seek an objective position, it is argued. Otherwise a highly partial relativism is inevitable. Also, many of the techniques for data gathering are weak, unreliable and themselves far from impartial. In addition, seeking an objective stance is necessary if the researcher is to gain a critical awareness of the social forces that he/she is working within, which largely determine what is accessible in the research.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2000), Research Methods in Education 5th Edition, London, RoutledgeFalmer
