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Handbook of Research on Science Education
Norman G. Lederman, Sandra K. Abell
Contemporary Qualitative Research
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Peter Charles Taylor
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Contemporary Qualitative Research
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Toward an Integral Research Perspective

PETER CHARLES TAYLOR
A rather large group of individuals has taken a set of meth- A second and equally important reason concerns the
ods, devised an alternative paradigm/model/metaphysics nature of contemporary qualitative research, which is noto-
for looking at the world, primarily utilizing those self- rious for having evolved into a complex, chaotic, and con-
same methods; set about building new methods and flesh- tested field. Its complexity is due to the multiparadigmatic
ing out the repertoire; constantly adapted to changing nature of the field. Several interacting research paradigms
social contexts (such as the advent of the Internet and the
govern contemporary qualitative research, providing
Web); integrated all of the best late 20th-century thinking
diverse theories about how to understand our relationship
about representation, texts, and Western authority; moved
quite deliberately to make space for the margin(s) at the with reality, how to make legitimate sense of and represent
center(s); criticized ourselves incessantly in the interests our experiences, and how to act in accordance with how
of dealing with the field’s problems, its issues, and its rela- we value ourselves, others, and our environments. Making
tionships with those whom we would study; built designs a coherent choice of qualitative research design principles
to encourage democratic practice and agency out in the from among this complexity can be confronting for both
fields; systematically thought through major answers to novice and expert researchers. Furthermore, the field is
the questions that frame scientific inquiry (Lather, 2006); chaotic inasmuch as there is no agreed-on best taxonomy
and set about healing the Enlightenment rift between art of qualitative research approaches, designs, or methods.
and science, between mind and body, between reason and This has given rise to a profound lack of consensus on the
spirituality, between logic and emotion, and between tech-
crucial question of how to optimize the “validity” of quali-
nical rationality and human invention. It is a rather great
tative research, with many scholars rejecting the term and
sweep of events, this past 25 years, and as I’ve tried to
demonstrate, it is not over yet. proposing alternative quality standards unique to qualita-
(Yvonna Lincoln, 2009, p. 8) tive research.
To add to the discomfit of novice researchers, the term
Since its border crossing from the social sciences around “qualitative” is now being contested as a suitable descrip-
30 years ago, qualitative research has been providing sci- tor for the field, with many arguing that the “qualitative-
ence education researchers with radically new perspec- quantitative” distinction is well past its use-by date. How
tives for examining and transforming curricular policies did this come to pass? The qualitative research pioneers of
and practices at all levels, up to and including teacher the 1990s raised our awareness of the narrow (and largely
education and graduate research. However, despite the invisible) assumptions underpinning much of our research
growing popularity of qualitative research, its full poten- and began the process of contesting the privileged status
tial is far from being realized. There are two main rea- of the dominant quantitative (or “scientific”) perspective
sons for this. First, qualitative research does not sit easily we had imported from the natural sciences. The result-
within the traditions of science education, especially ing “qualitative versus quantitative” clash of civilizations
among those who hold steadfastly to a worldview in eventually generated a more sophisticated and nuanced
which methods of knowledge production are regulated understanding of the philosophical foundations of edu-
by the objectivity of the so-called scientific method. As a cational research. Practitioners of the contrasting schools
result, much qualitative research is designed to fit within engaged in productive dialogue and began to cross-fertilize
this worldview as a supplement to quantitative research their research designs with methods from the other camp
approaches, thereby blunting the sharp edge of its trans- to produce “quantitative and qualitative” research designs,
formative potential. known more recently as “mixed-methods” research. Today,
38
Contemporary Qualitative Research 39
qualitative methods such as interviewing are incorporated quantitative research. To this end, I start with a brief his-
into quantitative research designs, and qualitative research torical account.
designs at times make use of quantitative methods such as
questionnaires.
Historical Roots of Quantitative
So when we use the adjectives “qualitative” and “quan-
and Qualitative Research
titative,” what do we actually mean in this new era of
hybrid research designs? Are we distinguishing among A succinct account of the historical emergence of quali-
contrasting types of data or research methods or research tative research is given by David Hamilton (1994), who
designs, or are we making a distinction based on some- argues that “The epistemology of qualitative research . . .
thing deeper, more profound, such as fundamentally dif- had its origins in an epistemological crisis of the late eigh-
ferent ways of producing, representing, and legitimating teenth century” (p. 63). Earlier in the 17th century, Rene
knowledge? For many novice researchers sorting through Descartes’s Discourse on Method (1637) had created the
the plethora of textbooks on the subject, where complex- philosophical foundations of quantitative research: rea-
ity, chaos, and contestation abound, linguistic confusion soning based on empirical objectivity and mathemati-
begets conceptual confusion; more questions than answers cal certainty, known as Cartesian absolutism. Almost
tend to arise. 150 years later, Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason
As an experienced practitioner of contemporary qual- (1781) proposed a contrasting model of human rationality
itative research I have the challenging task of writing a in which the mind has a central role in shaping perception
chapter that brings some order and insight to our under- and mediates our (interpretive) understanding of the natu-
standing of the field while being careful not to overreach ral world. Kant established the role of the investigator’s
myself in a vain attempt to settle, once and for all, the subjectivity as central to his/her inquiry of natural phe-
complexity and contestation characterizing the discourse nomena, thereby laying the epistemological foundations
of its proponents. I shall, at least, endeavor to reduce the for qualitative research in the social sciences.
chaos. A hallmark of contemporary qualitative research The contrast between these two schools of thought is
is its transparency, with researchers making visible their stark. Cartesian objectivity, which separates the observer
engagement in the inquiry process. In writing this chapter, from the observed, serves the production of universal law-
I did, in fact, engage in an interpretive process of writing like knowledge of causal relationships among naturally
as inquiry (Richardson, 1994) wherein I obtained “data” occurring phenomena on the basis that the material uni-
by sampling the vast literature on qualitative research verse is strongly deterministic: given knowledge of ini-
and reflected on how, in my professional capacity as a tial conditions, the final state of affairs can be predicted
researcher and graduate research teacher, I have helped with certainty. There is little room for self-determination
my graduate students conceptualize the field and find pro- or free will in a Cartesian worldview. Isaac Newton was
ductive ways of designing and conducting their inquiries. embedded in the Cartesian worldview when he formulated
The result is, therefore, a necessarily partial account of a the fundamental laws of motion of a seemingly clock-
dynamic and emergent scholarly field. work universe. Cartesian objectivity is the sine qua non
Rather than duplicating the many textbooks on qualita- of the classical quantitative research model of the physical
tive research that focus on methods of producing and pro- sciences.
cessing qualitative data (oftentimes overlooking important By contrast, a Kantian perspective adds a moral dimen-
framing assumptions), I have chosen instead to focus this sion to human reasoning about practical matters affecting
chapter on the main philosophical, sociocultural, historical, our lives, giving rise to practical knowledge grounded in
and political influences shaping contemporary qualitative everyday experience. A Kantian perspective is concerned
research and on its exciting prospects for transforming sci- with human freedom and social emancipation and focuses
ence education. In the absence of these theoretical consider- attention on moral decision-making in acts of self-determi-
ations, it is highly unlikely that the transformative potential nation. In the 19th century, neo–Kantians such as Wilhelm
of contemporary qualitative research can be realized. Dilthey helped establish qualitative research for the social
I have chosen also to use a largely expository style of sciences with an epistemological emphasis on the role of
writing rather than the usual narrative style that makes “understanding” (or Verstehen) and “lived experience”
transparent the process of qualitative inquiries, especially (or Erlebnis), which contrast sharply with the Cartesian
the researcher’s unfolding subjectivity. In making this concept of “explanation” (or Erklaren). For neo–Kantians,
choice, I took into account the general predilections of the the observer and observed are intimately interconnected
audience of this handbook and the advice of my review- in a dialectical relationship, with one affecting the other
ers and editor. To compensate for this conservatism (some and vice versa. Interestingly, quantum theory has a simi-
might call it “heresy”), I direct the reader to other publi- lar perspective, with the conscious mind of the observer
cations in which illustrative exemplars of contemporary collapsing the “probability wave function” through an act
qualitative research writing can be found. of observation (or measurement) to produce a particular
To untangle the linguistic and conceptual knot I refer physical manifestation, one of many possible realities.
to, it is helpful to understand the origins of qualitative and The paradox of the life or death of Schrodinger’s Cat is a
40 Peter Charles Taylor
classic example. Quantum theorists propose that not only Mutua & Swadener, 2004; Nhalevilo, 2013). And it is also
subatomic phenomena but all of life, especially human resonant of current graduate programs in Western(ized)
consciousness, is subject to this quantum effect (e.g., universities that indoctrinate students in the Cartesian/
Goswami, 1993; Rossenblum & Kuttner, 2011). Newtonian worldview of quantitative research with little
In the 19th century, a neo–Kantian perspective gave rise or no regard for epistemological pluralism (Paul & Marfo,
to the emancipatory role of the social scientist as social 2001).
activist working with underprivileged sections of society to A useful way to understand the state of play of edu-
empower them with the freedom and means to respond to cational research today is to examine contemporary
the repressive social conditions of their lives. This emanci- social science research textbooks. When I started teach-
patory sentiment—applied research as/for social justice— ing research classes in a graduate school of science and
flowed through into the 20th century, where it was taken mathematics education in the 1980s, the main textbooks
up by critical social philosophers of the Frankfurt School, of the day (Tuckman, 1978) presented only quantitative
such as Jurgen Habermas (Habermas, 1972), and brought research; the term “epistemology” was absent and the
into the field of education by critical action researchers Cartesian/Newtonian worldview exercised a hegemonic
such as Wilfred Carr and Stephen Kemmis (e.g., Carr & stranglehold over graduate students’ (and their supervi-
Kemmis, 1986). sors’) understanding of the nature and purpose of edu-
But the foregoing account gives a distorted version of cational research. In metaphorical terms, the fish were
history if the reader concludes that 20th-century social largely unaware of the water in which they were swim-
science research witnessed the demise of quantitative ming (e.g., Taylor & Medina, 2013).
research and the ascendency of qualitative research. Not- As a transformative educator seeking to instill higher-
withstanding successful philosophical critiques of the order consciousness, I find myself in agreement with
Cartesian/Newtonian scientific paradigm by philosophers Yvonna Lincoln (2005) that developing comprehensive
such as Paul Feyerabend, Thomas Kuhn, Imre Lakatos, understanding of research epistemologies should be a core
Karl Popper, Ilya Prigonone, and Stephen Toulmin, along- goal of graduate research education. In order to escape
side critiques of the supportive Platonist and formalist the hegemonic grip of the Cartesian/Newtonian world-
philosophies of mathematics by Kurt Godel and Morris view, especially for science educators for whom it is akin
Kline, quantitative research, albeit in a modified form, to “mother’s milk,” and to be able to exercise informed
retains a powerful presence in the social sciences, espe- choice (which involves freedom to choose qualitative or
cially in science education. The reason for this has little quantitative research approaches), graduate students need
to do with the intellectual merits of philosophical debate to be epistemologically astute, that is, critically aware of
and much more to do with the pendulum swing in politics the assumptions about the nature of knowledge underpin-
to right-wing “neoconservatism” throughout the Western ning the processes of research knowledge production.
world during the past 30 years (e.g., Smith, 2008). Today, there is a large range of offerings in social sci-
Yvonna Lincoln (2005) provides a compelling expla- ence research textbooks. While some authors are con-
nation of the new era of “methodological conservatism” cerned largely with the technicalities of implementing
policed by governments and institutional (university) research methods (e.g., Creswell, 2012), others prefer a
review boards that require “scientific evidence” of the suc- philosophical perspective that classifies research in terms
cess of their economic rationalist management policies—a of paradigms, comparing and contrasting their ontologies,
model that necessarily equates greater system efficiencies, epistemologies, and methodologies (e.g., Bryman, 2012;
higher productivity, and increased accountability with Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2011; Guba, 1990; Howell,
“improved” teaching and learning outcomes. Funding for 2013; Willis, 2007). The following set of four paradigms
quantitative research approaches that promise to provide is commonplace in contemporary social science research
this scientific “proof” was prioritized in the run up to the textbooks.
turn of this century. Ernest House (2006) attributes this
“methodological fundamentalism” to the United States Post-positivism
federal administration, which espoused the ideological Interpretivism
policy belief “that only randomized experiments could Criticalism
produce true findings,” a proposition that House interprets Postmodernism
as a thinly disguised attempt to “restore traditional author-
ity relationships” (p. 93). There is lack of consensus, however, on precisely how
In a similar vein, postcolonial scholars warn that overt to map the terms “quantitative research” and “qualitative
political control of social science research is reminiscent research” onto this four-paradigm taxonomy. The popular
of the one-size-fits all curriculum ideology imposed by mixed-methods perspective (formerly known as “quanti-
European nations on their colonies in the 19th century tative and qualitative research”) suggests that qualitative
in an endeavor to “civilize the natives” by cultural iden- research methods can be combined unproblematically
tity and linguistic replacement “therapy” masquerading with quantitative research methods. Later in the chapter,
as school education (see, for example, Haarman, 2007; I explain that this is feasible but restrictive, as it tends to
result in research designs governed by the epistemology didactic teaching methods, “cookbook-type” laboratory
of the post-positivist paradigm. A contrasting view, which experiments, and a museum-like encounter with the end-
resonates with me, is that quantitative research is governed products of scientific research rather than with the messy
by the epistemology of post-positivism, whereas contem- (inter/subjective) processes of creative discovery and con-
porary qualitative research is affiliated with the multiple sensual validation that produced them (Kuhn, 1962).
epistemologies offered by the interpretive, critical, and For educational researchers, a disadvantage of posi-
postmodern paradigms. This lack of consensus explains tivist research is that because the results have a large
why many graduate students find the field of educational “grain size,” they are usually insensitive to local contexts
research to be incoherent and confusing. Before consider- and individuals, be they a particular school or teacher or
ing the first of the qualitative research paradigms, we shall class or student; we learn nothing about the “small dots”
consider, as a point of departure, the characteristics of the (especially the outliers) that make up the big statistical
positivist paradigm that governs traditional quantitative picture of ANOVAs, regression equations, or mean scores
research in science education. and standard deviations. Furthermore, because quantita-
tive research designs and methods can be unwieldy and
time consuming to implement, requiring a team of spe-
Beyond Positivist Research
cially trained academic researchers to employ them, they
Underpinned by Descartes’s philosophy of reasoning are seldom of use to individual teachers, thereby reinforc-
based on empirical objectivity and mathematical certainty ing the traditional theory–practice gap of research serv-
and concerned with uncovering the law-like properties ing primarily the interests of academic researchers over
(Dilthey’s erklaren) of the material universe, the paradigm teacher practitioners.
of positivism (or empiricism) has become synonymous with But perhaps the decline in the popularity of positivist
“the scientific method.” Quantitative research approaches research can be largely attributed to the recent rapid rise
that seek the elusive goal of proving causality are designed of research ethics committees (in universities, schools,
to control as much of the experimental conditions as pos- state authorities) that require researchers not only to avoid
sible (to minimize statistical variance or the “noise-to- harm (i.e., non-maleficence) but to make a positive contri-
signal” ratio). The purpose is to test the legitimacy of a bution (i.e., beneficence) to research sites (Cohen, et al.,
carefully crafted a priori theory. In agricultural science, 2011). The critical question arises as to who benefits from
researchers compare the yield of a genetically modified the research and who does not. In Western democracies,
crop with the yield of a standard unmodified variety. In many school communities no longer regard as ethically
particle physics, high-energy beams of subatomic particles acceptable the experimental research practice of dividing
are collided under rigorously controlled conditions to track students randomly into treatment and control classes and
their trajectories; the recent near-confirmation of the exis- applying a teaching innovation to the former while with-
tence of the Higgs-Boson particle is an exemplar of this holding it from the latter. A teaching innovation must be
approach. preapproved as highly likely to make a positive contribu-
In the late 19th century, the successful experimental tion to the curriculum, in which case an ethic of fairness
research approach of the physical sciences was imported dictates that it should be applied to all students in the
into the social sciences to achieve, among other things, cohort. Few parents would be pleased to have their school-
academic legitimacy for this new discipline (Schon, aged child treated like a “lab rat” in the interest of sci-
1983). Classic positivist research designs for examining ence. As part of this ethical turn, democratic institutions
human behavior feature control and treatment groups, are increasingly observing the principle of social equity.
pre- and posttests, randomized sampling, and large sample This has leveled the professional playing field, resulting
sizes. They are regulated by the gold standard of objectiv- in academic researchers no longer having the privileged
ity embodied in various forms of validity and reliability. status they once enjoyed; they can no longer necessarily
Social science research writers have associated the posi- expect to “command” schools to comply with their large-
tivist paradigm with the principle of verificationism, which scale data collection wishes.
drives researchers to collect empirical (i.e., sensory) data During the closing decades of the 20th century, in the
to confirm their a priori hypotheses, and with the cor- social sciences the classical paradigm of positivism under-
respondence theory of truth, which drives researchers to went an epistemological softening; it was retuned to better
claim to have discovered accurate descriptions (rather serve the interests, structures, and priorities of local com-
than interpretations) of reality, often labeled as an ontol- munities in which educational researchers wished to work.
ogy of naïve realism. Although post-positivism shares with its parent paradigm a
It is easy to appreciate why science educators are philosophy of reasoning based on empirical objectivity and
attracted to positivist research when we reflect on the way mathematical certainty, it has taken a step away from the
science (our primary discipline) has been represented in scientific (moral?) high ground of proving causation and
traditional undergraduate university science curricula as has settled for establishing the next best thing: correlation,
objective and uncontestable facts. A perception of the or compelling evidence that key variables tend to co-occur
implacable objectivity of science has been reinforced by (or are associated) under given circumstances. This has
resulted in the deregulation of quantitative research, with of post-positivist research or that mixed-methods research
a wide range of contemporary research designs: quasi- serves a sinister purpose. Rather, I am arguing that this
experimental designs that dispense with a control group, form of research, as with all research, is limited in what it
correlational designs that dispense with pretesting, and can achieve and that this limitation should be recognized,
survey designs that dispense with sampling across time. especially in graduate research schools.
Sampling theory now includes non-random sampling, pur-
posive sampling, and convenience sampling, among oth- Interpretive Research
ers, and sample sizes have shrunk to as small as a single
Kant revived a distinction, found in Aristotle, between
class size of, say, 25 students.
theoretical and practical knowledge. Theoretical knowl-

The striking feature of many post-positivist research edge refers to states of affairs whose existence can be
designs is the addition of qualitative research methods— checked, tested, and accepted. Practical knowledge . . .
observational checklists, (semi-)structured interviewing— refers to decision making . . . Practical reasoning . . .
as a supplement to the primary quantitative methods, giving relates, therefore, to the application of moral judgments in
rise to hybrid labels such as “quantitative and qualitative the realm of human action.
research” and “mixed-methods research.” Objectivity con- (Hamilton, 1994 p. 63)
tinues to serve as the gold standard, but it too has softened,
with changes to the ways in which validity and reliabil- An intellectual revolution in the social sciences started
ity are optimized. Although the observer–observed dual- in the United Kingdom during the 1970s to 1980s: quali-
ism continues, the researcher–researched relationship is tative program evaluation and qualitative case studies
far less clinical and clear cut. It is commonplace for uni- became prominent among scholars in the field of educa-
versity researchers to work with teachers in school class- tion and training (e.g., Hamilton, 1977; Simons, 1980;
rooms to facilitate improvements to teaching and learning, Walker, 1980). In the United States during the 1980s, Jim
with teachers being empowered as co-researchers. Gallagher (1991) introduced interpretive research into
More than this, post-positivist research has enabled science education, drawing on the scholarship of educa-
teachers themselves to adopt independent teacher- tional anthropologist Frederick Erickson (1986), who had
researcher roles as a core aspect of in-house professional based his ideas on the German social science tradition of
development. For example, armed with a university- hermeneutic-phenomenology.
designed questionnaire that has been previously validated
for obtaining measures of students’ perceptions of selected Interpretive research is the name given to a family of
aspects of the learning environment, a teacher undertakes approaches that includes ethnographic, qualitative, partic-
an action research study for the purpose of improving a ipant-observational, case study, phenomenological, sym-
bolic interactionist, and constructivist research . . . This
particular aspect of student learning, such as the ability
line of research arose over 100 years ago as an attempt
to work collaboratively in small groups on an open-ended by German intellectuals to distinguish between “natural
inquiry. The questionnaire provides a scholarly theoretical sciences” and “human sciences”. This distinction was
framework for shaping the teacher’s innovative teaching viewed as necessary since humans differ from other ani-
approach and, when used as a post-test, generates class mals and inanimate objects in their ability to make and
mean scores that provide a handy snapshot of the percep- share meaning.
tions of the whole class. Subsequently, semistructured (Gallagher, 1991, p. 5)
interviews with selected students help confirm (or perhaps
disconfirm) the validity of the quantitative pattern. The uniquely powerful feature of interpretive research
In this case, the theory–practice gap has narrowed, but is its explicit social constructivist epistemology, which
there is still a one-way bridge to cross, with “expert” theory directs science education researchers to ethnographic
being imported under the assumption of it having universal research methods—prolonged participant-observation,
applicability regardless of the local sociocultural context. non-clinical interviewing, emergent analysis via grounded
Although the teacher-researcher has much greater involve- theorizing, and thick description. These qualitative meth-
ment in controlling and applying the research, this form ods enable interpretive researchers to construct insightful
of mixed-methods research, which is growing rapidly in understandings of the “meaning-perspectives” (i.e., ideas,
popularity among science educators, serves to implement beliefs, values, worldviews) underpinning teachers’ and
a normative theory of teaching and learning, the standards students’ classroom interactions. Interpretive researchers
of which are embedded implicitly in the questionnaire. carefully document the context (physical, social, cultural)
This normative (critical theorists would say “covert”) pur- that shapes and, in turn, is shaped by participants’ interac-
pose is very different from emancipatory research that tions, thereby generating practical knowledge of the com-
aims to enable teachers to generate what Jean McNiff and plexity, context, and dynamics of teaching and learning.
Jack Whitehead (2011) call “living educational theory” Interpretive research arrived in science education at a
grounded in the unique authority of teachers’ own profes- fortuitous time: a “constructivist revolution” in teaching
sional experiences. I am not suggesting, however, that the and learning was underway in the early 1990s. Construc-
importation of academic theory is necessarily a weakness tivist theory was introduced into science curricula to create
meaningful learning environments that optimized stu- moved away from the value-neutral standpoint of classical
dents’ engagement in making sense of their experiences. quantitative research to an interventionist role driven by a
Constructivist teachers experimented with radically new moral imperative to improve the human condition, leading
metaphors of knowledge production in their classrooms, them to embrace critical social theory and methods that
focusing on the quality of students’ sense-making pro- are discussed in the section on critical research.
cesses. Innovative researchers adopted person-sensitive The 1990s were an exciting time to be an interpre-
methods of interpretive research to “look into” the hearts tive researcher in science education. The constructivist
and minds of teachers and students, producing insightful revolution in teaching and research was gathering pace
understandings of the affordances and constraints of con- with high-level scholarly support available from a rap-
structivist reform in science education (e.g., Tobin, 1993). idly growing network of social science researchers across
At the same time, mathematics education was under- many disciplines. Pioneering science education research-
going a similar epistemological revolution. Researchers ers, foremost among whom was Ken Tobin, introduced
from both disciplines shared their innovative development advanced scholarship of interpretive research into gradu-
of constructivist theories of teaching and learning and ate research programs, spawning many studies of the
the empirical outcomes of their research (e.g., Eisenhart, social constructivist reform of science teaching and sci-
1988; Wheatley, 1991). An account of the constructivist ence teacher education in colleges and universities (Taylor,
transformation of science and mathematics education is Gilmer, & Tobin, 2002).
beyond the scope of this chapter, but it is important to As the reflective turn in the social sciences became
point out that two contrasting schools emerged—personal increasingly prominent, many interpretive researchers
construct theory and radical/social constructivism—which shifted their focus from an ethnographic perspective on
employed qualitative research in markedly different ways. understanding the culturally different other to the active
Personal construct theory researchers, working from a role of their own subjectivities in constructing that under-
traditional psychology-of-learning perspective, adopted standing. Guba and Lincoln (1989) defined the term “pro-
a conservative approach to curriculum reform by apply- gressive subjectivity” to indicate the importance of the
ing constructivist theory to the focus but not the method- emergent quality of the researcher’s self-understanding
ology of their research. They tended to work within the and the need to make this process transparent in their
classical model of science, designing innovative teaching research reporting. The researcher as reflective practitio-
methods to correct students’ errant understandings of con- ner had arrived (Schon, 1983), giving rise to diverse com-
ventional scientific concepts (i.e., misconceptions, alter- munities of scholars in institutions of higher education
native conceptions). Their preferred research approach interested in improving their own professional practices.
was quantitative: using paper-and-pencil instruments to The field of practitioner research is known variously as
measure the extent of students’ “conceptual change,” at self-study research (Lassonde, Galman, & Kosnik, 2009;
times correlating achievement outcomes with attitude and Pithouse, Mitchell, & Moletsane, 2010), participatory
scientific reasoning. Later, when mixed-methods research action research (Reason & Bradbury, 2001), and living
was introduced, participant observation and structured theory action research (McNiff & Whitehead, 2011),
interviews helped researchers validate their quantita- although there are other variations on these terms. Prac-
tive analyses, which, in turn, helped them validate their titioner researchers draw on personal experience methods
measuring instruments. The valuable but subordinate (Clandinin & Connelly, 1994), biographical methods such
role of qualitative research methods within an overarch- as life writing and autobiography (Smith, 1994), narrative
ing quantitative research design remains a frequently used inquiry methods (Chase, 2005), and auto/ethnographic
mixed-methods approach in science education. However, methods (Reed-Danahay, 1997). As discussed in the next
it seldom involves an interpretive perspective. two sections, they also draw on critical research methods
By contrast, radical/social constructivists applied con- and arts-based research methods to engage in writing as
structivist theory to both the focus and methodology of critical inquiry (Richardson, 1994) and to generate evoca-
their research. They focused on rethinking the funda- tive research texts. In the third edition of the Handbook of
mental assumptions of science teaching and learning, Qualitative Research, we find that Egon Guba and Yvonna
reconceptualized classroom discourse as social inquiry, Lincoln (2005) have assigned the status of paradigm to the
and designed interpretive studies to map the processes of field of practitioner research. However, I am inclined to
constructivist teaching reforms as they worked collabora- regard practitioner research as multiparadigmatic, with its
tively with teacher-researchers. Interpretive researchers practitioners drawing on any or all of the major paradigms
were not simply observing classroom life but were deeply discussed in this chapter, as will become clear in the later
involved in interventions designed to make a difference: section on integral research.
to the teaching and learning experience, to the pedagogy The scholarly status of interpretive research has been
of the curriculum, to the nature and purpose of school- strengthened by the scholarship of naturalistic researchers
ing, and to society at large. As the constructivist reform (Guba & Lincoln, 1988) and contributors to the Handbook
agenda expanded, so did perceptions of the nature and of Qualitative Research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005a). Inter-
purpose of educational research. Interpretive researchers pretive research, with its underpinning social constructivist
epistemology and relativist ontology (multiple realities (discussed later in the section on postmodern research)
exist), is clearly differentiated from objectivism and vari- provides contemporary interpretive researchers with richly
ous realisms of the classical positivist and post-positivist expressive means for writing trustworthy accounts of their
research paradigms. Norman Denzin and Yvonna Lincoln inquiries.
(2000) have identified three “crises” that have arisen in the The trustworthiness criteria address methodological
field of social science research as a result of the emergence issues that are “parallel to” the positivist standards of
of new research paradigms. No longer is there a single internal and external reliability and validity. Guba and Lin-
best way to validate knowledge (crisis of legitimation) or coln’s explicit mapping of the interpretive criteria onto the
to represent the experiences of the researcher and his/her positivist criteria is of great assistance to science educa-
participants (crisis of representation) or to enact the role tion researchers endeavoring to make the counterintuitive
of researcher (crisis of praxis). Each of these fundamental epistemological border crossing from the positivist to the
aspects of research depends on the governing paradigm. I interpretive paradigm. However, Valerie Janesick (1994)
shall now consider appropriate (and inappropriate) quality has warned of the danger of “methodolatory” (i.e., wor-
standards for legitimating interpretive research. shipping method) that arises from focusing fixedly on
methodological criteria to the extent that relationships with
Quality Standards for Interpretive Research one’s participants are distorted by the researcher’s aca-
Many qualitative researchers eschew validity and reli- demic self-interest.
ability as standards for legitimating their scholarly work,
arguing that these gold standards are epistemologically Authenticity. The second set of interpretive research
irrelevant (e.g., Schwandt, 2001). As a result, a range of standards—fairness, ontological authenticity, educative
alternative criteria have arisen—for example, descriptive authenticity, and tactical authenticity—are unique to
adequacy, fidelity, accuracy, comprehensiveness, plausi- this paradigm and are intended to create ethically sound,
bility, believability, authenticity, consistency, coherence empowering, and beneficial relationships between
(in Green, Camilli, & Elmore, 2006), or cogency, efficacy, researchers and their participants. For researchers to act
potency, punch, and persuasiveness (Wolcott, 1990). This fairly, they need to seek a full range of perspectives across
diversity makes it very difficult for novice researchers to the participant group, including conflicting or contradic-
know which criteria to select. For interpretive research, two tory views, and to represent this value pluralism in research
complementary sets of quality standards were designed by reports. Ontological and educative authenticity are opti-
naturalistic researchers Egon Guba and Yvonna Lincoln: mized by researchers actively contributing to participants’
trustworthiness and authenticity. These twin standards self-understandings as well as their understandings of
have been uniquely designed in accordance with the epis- other stakeholders outside their immediate group. Catalytic
temology of social constructivism, as explained initially and tactical authenticity are judged by the extent to which
in Fourth Generation Evaluation (Guba & Lincoln, 1989) researchers facilitate participants’ roles as change agents
and later in the Handbook of Qualitative Research (Guba & within their local context, empowering them to develop
Lincoln, 1994). Here I shall outline these standards before their own standards of judgment for evaluating the effi-
considering the popular standard of triangulation and the cacy of changes to their professional practice. For research
less well-known alternative for contemporary qualitative designs that draw on both the interpretive and critical para-
research, crystallization. digms, the authenticity standards can be combined with
critical research standards.
Trustworthiness. There are four trustworthiness criteria: Although the trustworthiness and authenticity standards
credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirm- are of fundamental importance to interpretive research,
ability. Implementing these criteria helps ensure that they are not intended to serve as a prescriptive straitjacket
researchers construct deep understandings of the mean- for all interpretive research designs. Rather, they should
ing-perspectives of their participants, understandings that be carefully adapted in accordance with the epistemologi-
emerge from prolonged immersion in their participants’ cal nuances and practical feasibility of each study.
social worlds, that have been verified through “member
checking,” and that have been challenged by seeking evi- Triangulation. Triangulation is a popular standard for
dence to disconfirm inferences arising from grounded the- mixed-methods research, but it does not necessarily serve
orizing. Importantly, trustworthiness is optimized also by the epistemological interests of interpretive researchers.
researchers making visible (i) the context of participants’ Triangulation is a metaphor drawn from the field of engi-
social worlds by means of “thick description” and (ii) the neering, in which surveyors use multiple (usually two)
process of fieldwork inquiries by means of narrative writ- observation points at either end of a baseline to calculate
ing in which their unfolding subjectivities are expressed in (via the mathematics of similar triangles) the straight-line
the first person (i.e., “I” and “we”) voice with probabilistic distance to a faraway object such as a mountain. In the
reasoning (i.e., “it seems that . . .,” “it appears that . . .,” “it social sciences, triangulation directs researchers to employ
is likely that . . .”), thereby conveying the implicit uncer- multiple research methods (Mathison, 1988). The classi-
tainty of interpretations. The availability of literary genres cal framing assumption underpinning triangulation is that
multiplicity will help achieve empirical objectivity and What became known as “critical theory” was built upon
inferential certainty. Thus, triangulation is an automatic this legacy. . . . Interdisciplinary and uniquely experimen-
“weapon of choice” to optimize the validity and reliability tal in character, critical theory was always concerned not
of many contemporary mixed-methods research designs, merely with how things were but how they might be and
should be. This ethical imperative led its primary thinkers
situating them clearly in the post-positivist paradigm.
to develop a cluster of themes and a new critical method
Jerry Willis (2007) argues that triangulation is not a
that transformed our understanding of society.
key quality standard for qualitative research underpinned (Bronner, 2011, pp. 1, 2)
by a social constructivist epistemology (i.e., interpre-
tive research), especially when seeking to generate deep
Critical social theory and research methods entered

understandings of participants’ complex social realities. education via the field of curriculum theorizing in the
Triangulation tends to engage researchers in convergent 1970s/1980s, and science educators began to embrace
thinking, that is, seeking confirming evidence (or veri- this approach in the 1990s. Central to the critical research
fication) of the consistency of their participants’ mean- paradigm is a transformative intent to promote social jus-
ing-perspectives (i.e., beliefs, perceptions, values) while tice, with practitioners acting on the world to make it more
overlooking the possibility that they might be holding democratic, fairer, more equitable, and more inclusive.
multiple, perhaps contradictory, perspectives. Triangula- A critical perspective extends the interpretive researcher’s
tion also has a tendency to direct researchers to verify their role of understanding the lived experience of the other
own “etic” (or outsider) perspective rather than uncover (verstehen) to an advocacy ( praxis) role of “making a
the “emic” (or insider) perspective of the culturally differ- difference.”
ent other. This problem has been detected in cultural stud- In the social sciences, critical practitioners employ
ies of science education in which simplistic understanding ideology critique to make visible, analyze critically, and
of complex indigenous perspectives is “discovered” by transform social structures (normative social practices
non-indigenous researchers using structured interview and their governing policies) that suppress the free will,
protocols based largely on prior (armchair) theorizing dignity, and right to self-determination of individuals and
(Abrams, Taylor, & Guo, 2013). Michelle Fine is criti- minority groups—in other words, the less powerful mem-
cal of this naïve and disrespectful practice of “Othering,” bers of society. Kincheloe (2007) calls this a process of
which I take up in the next section on critical research. engaging in “critical democracy.” Critical practitioners
develop a professional praxis for working with socially
Crystallization. Interpretive research needs to be regu- and/or economically disadvantaged communities. Their
lated by standards such as the trustworthiness and authen- transformative goals include fostering a community’s
ticity criteria that direct researchers to seek to construct social conscience, intellectual prowess, and vision of a
multiple and contingent interpretations of participants’ brighter future and facilitating the community’s critical
meaning-perspectives. In this context, Laurel Richard- voice and strategic political skills with which to acquire
son (1994) argues for the metaphor of crystallization that resources for improving its well-being.
conveys a holistic, multifaceted, and dynamic perspective In the field of science education, critical researchers
when compared to the two-dimensional fixity of trian- have embraced a range of sociocultural theories imported
gulation (based on plane geometry). Richardson favors from the fields of philosophy, anthropology, and sociol-
the metaphor of the multifaceted crystal (based on light ogy. For more than 25 years, science educators have
theory) that reflects externalities and refracts within itself, employed critical feminist theory to identify how girls
creating a spectrum of dynamic and colorful images. In have been disadvantaged historically by “boy-friendly”
relation to narrative research writing, crystallization val- science instruction and to create gender-inclusive curri-
ues texts that provide “a deepened, complex, thoroughly cula and pedagogies. In the past decade, there has been an
partial, understanding of the topic” (p. 934). This is made upsurge in cultural studies of science education, with criti-
possible by arts-based research genres discussed in the cal researchers identifying how “First World” science cur-
postmodern research section. So it seems that crystalliza- ricula and research practices transmit a Western modern
tion rather than triangulation is a better fit for interpretive worldview that excludes and therefore delegitimates the
research when it comes to understanding and representing cultural capital of minority and indigenous communities
the complexity of social realities. by reproducing a narrow range of cultural values, beliefs,
aspirations, languages, and identities (Mutua & Swadener,
Critical Research 2004).
A contemporary focus of critical science educators is
Philosophy has evidenced a subversive element from
its inception. Plato’s Apology tells us how Socrates was
development of “socially responsible” science curricula
condemned by the Athenian citizenry for corrupting the and pedagogies for facilitating students’ higher-order crit-
morals of the young and doubting the gods . . . Socrates ical literacy skills (Taylor, Taylor, & Chow, 2013) for par-
called conventional wisdom into question. He subjected ticipating in social decision making about the appropriate
long-standing beliefs to rational scrutiny and speculated (ethical) use of science and technology in improving the
about concerns that projected beyond the existing order. human condition. Socially responsible science engages
students in critical reflective thinking and critical dis- than mutually annihilating in the way we understand the
course on contentious issues such as human-induced cli- interaction of matter and antimatter. In order for demo-
mate change, genetically modified crops, destruction of cratic societies to survive and thrive, it is important that
ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, and biomedical inter- neither individual entitlement nor social responsibility is
ventions, among many other issues. privileged over the other; both must co-exist, much in the
For postgraduate researchers, the critical paradigm pro- way that we understand light to have both particlelike and
vides conceptual tools for ideology critique, self-decoloni- wavelike properties. A coherent yet vital democratic soci-
zation, and visionary thinking and supports development ety flourishes by means of the creative energy generated
of transformative professional practices (or praxes). An by its citizens working productively with the ongoing dia-
emancipatory interest (after Habermas; see Young, 1990) lectical tension between competing ideologies.
fuels the mission of critical researchers to identify and lay A number of contemporary qualitative researchers
bare the hegemony of powerful systems of social thought have integrated dialectical thinking into their research
and action that have colonized historically their societies perspectives. Michelle Fine (1994) evokes a dialectical
and continue to maintain a powerful presence by virtue of perspective when she argues for interpretive researchers
their invisibility, such as the ideologies of scientism and to “work the self–other hyphen”; that is, to focus self-
“crypto-positivism” (Kincheloe & Tobin, 2009) embed- consciously on the relationship between the researcher
ded in the Western modern worldview. Adopting a critical (self) and his/her participant (other) rather than on either
epistemology enables postgraduate researchers, especially one alone, thereby maintaining critical awareness of the
those from newly independent nations in Africa and Asia process of achieving mutual understanding: “When we
with multilingual indigenous populations, to explore ways construct texts collaboratively, self-consciously examin-
in which their cultural identities may have been suppressed ing our relations with/for/despite those who have been
by culturally insensitive imported curricula, to reconcep- contained as Others, we move against, we enable resis-
tualize their cultural identities, values, and aspirations, tance to, Othering . . . Our work will never ‘arrive’ but
and to develop transformative philosophies for their future must always struggle ‘between’” (pp. 74, 75). Wolff-
professional practice. Michael Roth (2005) signifies the dialectical relationship
To help avoid hubris—the seductive tendency to between the individual and society by use of the slash
occupy the higher moral ground and prescribe how oth- (“/”) in the term “auto/ethnography” and argues for “auto/
ers should change for the better—critical practitioners ethnography” as a critical method for science educators to
engage in critical subjectivity. While engaging in ideology engage in research that critically explores cultural prac-
critique, they turn a critical eye inward and examine their tices, values, and beliefs through the lens of the life his-
own belief systems, via critical self-reflection (or critical tory of individuals embedded in those cultures. Steinar
reflexivity), in order to identify their (perhaps unwitting) Kvale (1996) has developed a dialectical approach to
complicity in reproducing repressive social structures and qualitative interviewing, an approach that dispenses with
power relationships (Brookfield, 1995). The practice of the classical interview method of searching for interpre-
pointing the critical finger ever outward to identify exter- tive coherence in participants’ meaning-perspectives and
nal sources of repression, while insulating from critique focuses instead on revealing and responding to the con-
one’s “revolutionary” values, runs the danger of courting tradictions in their everyday lives. According to Kvale,
cultural narcissism (Malisa, 2010). The science education “If social reality is in itself contradictory, the task of
community witnessed this process in the early 1990s when social science is to investigate the real contradictions of
constructivist revolutionaries contested established behav- the social situation and posit them against each other”
iorist psychology, and again, soon after, when advocates (p. 57). Dialectical thought is concerned also with new
of the newly emerging interpretive research paradigm developments in the social world, not only with being but
contested advocates of the entrenched classical positiv- also with becoming, thereby fostering an action orienta-
ist research paradigm. Both sides engaged in prolonged, tion toward changing the world—or as critical theorists
impassioned, and critical finger pointing until “paradigm call it, with praxis.
peace” was established, although the rapprochement will Critical practitioners maintain a critical awareness of
become truly universal only when advocates of both sides the ever-present danger of the dialectic collapsing into a
relinquish their hubris. seductive singularity that resolves naively the tension in
To further help avoid the hubris associated with engag- people’s lives. In examining the dialectic between the
ing single-mindedly in “win-lose” dualistic thinking, astute dominant ideological press for social conformity and
critical practitioners employ dialectical reasoning. There the resistant struggle for individual freedom, it can be
are numerous forms of dialectical reasoning, but Hegel’s tempting to abandon the emancipatory struggle in favor
thesis-antithesis-synthesis has proved to be highly produc- of complacency or cynicism. The challenging task for the
tive (Osborne, 1992). From this perspective, long-standing critical practitioner, therefore, is to help maintain opportu-
antinomies, such as individual free will versus conformity nities for dialectical thought and critical discourse associ-
to established social norms, are regarded as being comple- ated with social change. In this regard, critical theorists
mentary (in the sense of mutually presupposing) rather are contributing to growing disquiet worldwide about the
neoconservative political agenda that is reasserting the was shaped by a new sensibility, by doubt, by a refusal to
positivist research imperative (Denzin & Giardina, 2006). privilege any method or theory . . . researchers continued
to move away from foundational and quasi-foundational
Quality Standards for Critical Research criteria . . . [toward] criteria that might prove evocative,
moral, critical, and rooted in local understandings.
For the interpretive research paradigm, I outlined two
(Denzin & Lincoln, 2005b, p. 3)
important sets of quality standards—trustworthiness and
authenticity—which support a social constructivist epis-
The 20th century witnessed the unfolding of a postmodern
temology. Guba and Lincoln (1989) designed these
sensibility—the linguistic (or narrative) turn—especially
(epistemic and ethical) criteria to ensure that interpretive
in the arts. The literary turn was due in large part to conti-
researchers seek to establish and maintain relationships of
nental philosophers such as Michel Foucault, Jacques Der-
mutual understanding and mutual benefit with their par-
rida, and Jean-Francois Lyotard. Foucault made explicit
ticipants. The authenticity criteria are applicable also as
the largely hidden relationship between power and knowl-
quality standards for regulating the emancipatory work of
edge, exposing ways in which the individual mind (and
critical researchers, ensuring that they avoid hubris and
thus one’s social identity) is controlled by the official dis-
engage in mutually empowering relationships with their
courses of institutions that define the meaning of concepts
participants.
such as reason and normality. He argued that these con-
In summary, the following quality standards serve to
cepts should be understood not as stable and inevitable but
regulate critical research and its reporting, ensuring that
as contingent and mutable, changing over time according
critical research practitioners sustain a transformative
to the needs of authority to control and regulate the behav-
intent to establish educational policies and practices that
ior of the individual (Stokes, 2002). For the oppressed to
enshrine an emancipatory interest in improving the human
gain power involves resisting having one’s lifeworld colo-
condition.
nized (unwittingly) by the sociocultural norms that inhere
in the official discourse of the powerful other. Derrida
Ideology critique. Does the text express a critical per-
deconstructed the structuralist myth of the fixed meaning
spective on the dominant ideologies that frame social
of terms (or signifiers) in language, arguing that languages
norms and police normative social practices associated
(including scientific discourse and mathematical symbol
with educational policy and/or practice?
systems) are cultural systems of representation rather than
deliverers of a single authoritative truth about the world
Critical subjectivity. Does the author demonstrate criti-
(the signified). Language is differential rather than refer-
cal awareness of her/his own cultural history, explicate
ential (Belsey, 2002).
the contradictions that beset her/his professional life, and
Lyotard (2004) argued that, given the postmodern con-
examine critically and insightfully her/his own complic-
dition of postindustrial societies, the tradition of using
ity in its uncritical reproduction in the context of his/her
“grand narratives” to legitimate social knowledge as
professional practice?
overarching (or secure) truth is no longer tenable. Grand
narratives (or metanarratives) comprise philosophies of
Authentic relationships. Does the author demonstrate
history, or totalizing ideologies (or paradigms), that pre-
an educative relationship with his/her research partici-
scribe ethical, epistemological, and political means of
pants that seeks to foster their development of critical
legitimating knowledge production and regulating social
consciousness and empowers them, in the context of
decision-making (consensus forming) processes, driven
their professional roles, as agents of social and cultural
by the seductive modernist worldview of progressively
reconstruction?
liberating humanity. They range from the emancipatory
goal of neo–Marxism favored by critical social theorists to
Vision. Does the author articulate a vision for more
the aspirations of positivist science (or scientism) favored
socially just, equitable, and/or inclusive professional poli-
by many science education researchers. Lyotard’s post-
cies and/or practices?
modern sensibility rejects the grand narrative status of
all paradigms, including post-positivism, interpretivism,
Postmodern Research and criticalism (and postmodernism!): “Simplifying to the
extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward meta-
Postmodern knowledge is not simply a tool of the authori- narratives” (Lyotard, 2004, p. xxiv).
ties; it refines our sensitivity to differences and reinforces
Of particular relevance to science education is Lyotard’s
our ability to tolerate the incommensurable. Its principle
is not the expert’s homology, but the inventor’s paralogy.
consideration of quantum theory, fractal geometry
(Lyotard, 2004, p. xxv) (Mandelbrot), meta-mathematics (Godel’s Incompleteness
Theorem), catastrophe theory (Rene Thom), and game
The postmodern and postexperimental moments were theory (Rapoport). He concludes that the legitimacy of
defined in part by a concern for literary and rhetorical knowledge generated by these forms of “postmodern sci-
tropes and the narrative turn, a concern for storytelling, for ence” relies not on the classical realist correspondence
composing ethnographies in new ways . . . this moment theory of truth, in which a perfect match is sought between
nature and knowledge, but by paralogy. Paralogy consti- as a means of excavating, reimagining, and reconstructing
tutes deferring consensus (or seeking dissensus) by focus- her/his culturally storied identity (Ellis, 2004). The role of
ing one’s inquiry on the unintelligible, counterexamples, imagination in reconstructing identity in narrative inquiry
undecidables, “fracta,” conflicts of incompleteness, insta- is explored by Theodore Sarbin (2004) and Cynthia Light-
bilities, anomalies, paradox, and irony and with “new rules foot (2004).
in the games of reasoning” (Lyotard, 2004, p. 54). Lyotard Denzin and Lincoln (2005b) describe the contempo-
draws on Wittgenstein’s notion of “language games” to rary qualitative researcher responding to the literary turn
argue that postmodern science and narrative inquiry share in the “postmodern and postexperimental moment” as a
the goal of searching for imaginative new insights, that this bricoleur concerned with the aesthetics of representa-
is achieved by practicing locally determined (but distinctly tion as s/he stitches together narratives, stories, poems,
different) rules of reasoning, and that both tell stories in screenplays, and the like into meaningful and significant
the form of “little narratives.” Postmodernism promotes “montages” (or wholes). For Clandinin and Connelly
plurality of language games and directs incredulity at the (2000), in narrative research, qualitative data texts (aris-
imperialism of positivist science’s claim to a privileged ing from fieldwork) are subjected to narrative analysis
status in the academy. to produce research texts, a creative writing process that
A postmodern sensibility arose from the dissolution involves achieving balance between “authorial voice,”
of the “two cultures” dichotomy separating art and sci- “signature,” and “audience.” Donald Polkinghorne (1997)
ence that had been perpetuated by the positivist paradigm draws on Ricoeur and Bourdieu to make a case for “dia-
(Snow, 1993). In the social sciences, this dissolution came chronic” research reports that portray narratively the tem-
to be known as the blurred genres moment (Denzin & poral sequence of events comprising research as unfolding
Lincoln, 1994), bringing a literary look and feel to social human action and experience. The sequencing is carefully
science research, especially a focus on “developing exper- “configured” and “smoothed” as a narrative discourse in
imental voices that expand the range of narrative strate- the form of a story with a plot told by multiple voices:
gies” (Tierney & Lincoln, 1997, p. x). The blurred genres “In a narrative research report, researchers speak with the
moment is characterized by an “ideology of doubt” asso- voice of the storyteller . . . in the first person as the teller
ciated with the Derridean crisis of representation, which of their own tale. Stories are told to (written for) audi-
states that rather than lived experience being captured by ences . . . The voices of the subjects who participated in
the researcher’s text, “it is created in the social text written the research are allowed to speak” (pp. 15–16).
by the researcher” (p. 11); “language produces meaning, Literary genres embody rationalities (or “rules of rea-
creates social reality” (Richardson, 1994, p. 518). Central soning”) distinctly different from the “pure cold logic”
to this is the issue of voice. of the Cartesian/Newtonian mechanistic “regime of rea-
Thanks to the literary turn, social science researchers son” (Pinar, 1997). One such alternative is a compelling
have access to new literary genres such as creative non- counter-narrative proposed by Joe Kincheloe and Shir-
fiction (Barone, 2008), literary tales (van Maanen, 1988), ley Steinberg (1993). Drawing on physicist-philosopher
poetic inquiry (Prendergast, Leggo, & Sameshima, 2009), David Bohm’s concept of the “implicate order” of nature,
blogs (Runte, 2008), and literary fiction (Banks, 2008). In consciousness, and society (Bohm & Peat, 1987), Kinche-
post-positivist research, writing is restricted to the classi- loe and Steinberg outline a system of post-formal thinking
cal realist genre that prescribes an objective (authorless) that comprises metaphoric, critical, reflective, dialectic,
voice set in the past tense. In stark contrast, the multiplic- deconstructive, imaginative, relational, spiritual, emo-
ity of voices expressed artfully by literary genres enhances tional, holistic, and place-based modes of thinking/being/
the rhetorical power and transparency of research, greatly acting. Post-formal thinking is sensitive to the dynamic,
enriching the process of research writing as “a method of indeterminate, nonlinear, and self-transformative nature of
inquiry” (van Manen, 1990; Richardson, 1994). complex living and social systems that characterize edu-
Writing as inquiry involves generating qualitative “data cation (Davis & Sumara, 2006). In contemporary qualita-
texts” of lived experience. These narrative constructions tive research, post-formal thinking embedded in literary
embody the researcher’s ethnographic impulse to under- genres enables researchers to explore aesthetic and emo-
stand deeply the other’s lifeworld experience made acces- tional aspects of lived experience and construct narratives
sible by postmodern “interviewing,” which takes the form that illustrate the complexity, contingency, and emergence
of dialogue (Gubrium & Holstein, 2003). In contrast to of social realities (Barone & Eisner, 2012).
the semiclinical interview practices of post-positivism, Increasing interest in aesthetics has accelerated the
the traditional boundary between interviewers and inter- expansion of arts-based research, an emerging field
viewees is blurred in postmodern research as both parties engaging contemporary social science researchers across
engage collaboratively in “good conversations,” which the disciplines. Eliot Eisner (2008) explains the unique
Steiner Kvale (1996) has playfully labeled “InterViews” contribution of the arts to the production of knowledge
and which Mary Gergen (2004) recognizes as “joint in social science research: “Through art we come to feel,
constructions.” Narrative constructions embody also the very often, what we cannot see directly” (p. 8); “The arts
researcher’s auto/ethnographic impulse to “self-dialogue” are a way of enriching our awareness and expanding our
humanity” (p. 11). The Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative mindfulness toward children . . . Such pedagogical text
Research (Knowles & Cole, 2008) presents a collection of needs to possess an inspirational quality together with a
new genres—literary forms, performance, visual art, new narrative structure that invites critical reflection and possi-
media, folk art, and popular art forms—for enhancing art- bilities for insight that leads to a personal appropriation of
ful representations of the process and outcomes of social a moral intuition” (pp. 8, 9). In developing his postmodern
science research into the human condition. Among the human science approach of “hermeneutic-phenomenol-
nondiscursive categories are visual images, dance, music, ogy,” van Manen (1990) argues that in order to engage
painting, and photographs. The arts have added an expres- the reader in pedagogical thoughtfulness, research writing
sive dimension to social science research, giving rise to needs to be “oriented,” “strong,” “rich,” and “deep” if it is
arts-based (educational) research approaches such as per- to display a dialogical quality.

formance ethnography (Denzin, 2003), evocative auto/
ethnography (Ellis, 1997), testimonio (Beverley, 2000), Performative criteria. A special issue of the journal
life writing (Smith, 1994), ethnodrama and ethnotheatre Qualitative Inquiry (June 2000) contains a set of articles
(Saldana, 2008), and reader’s theatre (Donmoyer & Don- by leading practitioner-theorists of postmodern experi-
moyer, 2008), among many others. mental writing in which they discuss criteria for judging
the quality of postmodern research writing. Denzin (2003)
Quality Standards for Postmodern Research draws on the literary and aesthetic criteria of Carolyn
Postmodern social science research is a diverse and mov- Ellis, Art Bochner, and Laurel Richardson and the cultural
ing target with a key concern to promote pluralism and criticism of Patricia Clough to outline a set of seven per-
deconstruct imperialism, especially the imperialism of formative criteria. He values auto/ethnographic texts that
the classic validity standards associated with the objec- “(1) unsettle, criticize, and challenge taken-for-granted,
tivist epistemology of the positivist paradigm (Lincoln & repressed meanings; (2) invite moral and ethical dialogue
Denzin, 1994). There is a range of quality standards for while reflexively clarifying their own moral positions;
regulating writing as inquiry. Here is what some of the (3) engender resistance and offer utopian thoughts about
leading exponents of postmodern research recommend. how things can be made different; (4) demonstrate that they
care, that they are kind; (5) show instead of tell, using the
Authorial voice. John van Maanen (1988) argues for rule that less is more; (6) exhibit interpretive sufficiency,
postmodern ethnographers to expand the range of their representational adequacy, and authentic adequacy; and
authorial voices beyond classical realism by adopting the (7) present political, functional, collective, and committed
literary genres of confessional and impressionistic writ- viewpoints” (pp. 123–124). Theoretical discussion com-
ing, drawing on literary standards of narrative rational- bined with practical examples of these criteria in action
ity such as plausibility and verisimilitude (see below). can be found in Denzin and Giardina’s (2008) book on the
Writing should avoid the conceit of both positivism and politics of evidence and Denzin’s (1997) book on interpre-
solipsism and be judged in terms of its interest, coherence, tive ethnography for the 21st century.
and fidelity. The following literary devices are offered for
writing impressionistic tales: textual identity, fragmented
knowledge, characterization, and dramatic control (see Integral Research
also Taylor, 2002).
That science is value-free is a myth, and I think that when
we realize that this is the case, we do better science . . . We
Verisimilitude. This literary standard is based on the need to blend scientific data (what I call “science sense”)
classic French theatrical concept of vraisemblance and with intuition, common sense, indigenous knowledge, and
has been taken to mean that an “authentic” text draws qualitative research, as we try to comprehend the world in
readers into the lifeworlds of its characters because it which we’re immersed.
corresponds with what readers recognize from their own (Bekoff, 2009)
experiences (Adler & Adler, 1994). For Ellis (2004),
auto/ethnographic texts achieve verisimilitude inasmuch In the introduction to this chapter, I argued that the trans-
as they evoke “a feeling that the experience described is formative potential of qualitative research is yet to be fully
lifelike, believable, and possible” (p. 124), with the goal realized by science educators due to their traditional affili-
of broadening the researcher’s and reader’s perspectives, ation to positivism, the “mother ship” of traditional science
helping them understand empathically the different other education. Too often we resolve this conflict of interest by
and thus overcome their own self-absorption. importing qualitative research methods into post-positivist
research designs, thereby privileging the so-called gold
Pedagogical thoughtfulness. Max van Manen (1991) standard of objectivity. There is a danger that such mixed-
argues for writing that engages both researcher and reader methods research designs breed epistemic blindness among
in reflecting critically on their values and beliefs about novice researchers that prevents them from expanding the
teaching and learning in order to develop “pedagogical boundaries of science education beyond the confines of the
thoughtfulness [which] is a multifaceted and complex traditional Cartesian/Newtonian worldview.
The four-paradigm taxonomy commonplace in (Esbjorn-Hargens & Zimmerman, 2009), a textbook for
advanced educational research textbooks—post-positivism, ecologists and environmentalists inspired by Wilber’s
interpretivism, criticalism, postmodernism—provides a integral theory. The authors explain that their book:
helpful structure for understanding important fundamental
differences between quantitative research and qualitative . . . demonstrates that there are numerous approaches to
research, differences that are grounded in paradigmatic ecology and the environment—philosophical, spiritual,
ways of knowing, being, representing, and valuing rather religious, social, political, cultural, behavioural, scien-
than (simplistically) in contrasting types of data or methods tific, and psychological. Each highlights an essential com-
ponent while ignoring other dimensions. To overcome this
of collection/analysis. This structure also helps us under-
fragmentation, Integral Ecology provides a way to weave

stand the broad scope of contemporary qualitative research all approaches into an environmental mandala, an ecology
with its interdisciplinary origins in the arts and humanities. of ecologies.
However, this structure is not without challenge. How can (p. 486)
we justify mixing and matching contrasting epistemolo-
gies, especially from the so-called qualitative and quantita- From an integral research perspective, it is less helpful
tive paradigms, given that the philosopher Thomas Kuhn to distinguish between qualitative and quantitative forms
(1962) defined paradigms as intrinsically incommensu- of research and more productive to think holistically about
rable worldviews? The justification needs to be more pro- the prospective contribution of multiple research para-
found than is allowed for by the simple assertion that it is digms (from post-positivism to postmodernism), asking
pragmatically feasible. what unique range of research questions can we address
Postmodern thinking provides us with a helpful way by adopting an integral research perspective? Integral
out of this impasse by pointing out that dualistic “either/ research design is in its infancy, but already graduate
or” reasoning is not the only or best way of creating coher- students in science education have successfully designed
ent systems of thought. A fundamental problem with dual- research methodologies that integrate multiple paradigms
istic reasoning is its tendency to make us think in terms of (e.g., Neumayr & Taylor, 2001; Taylor & Wallace, 2007).
binary opposites and to treat these oppositional categories By way of illustrating at least one possible approach,
as mutually exclusive, resulting in win-lose discrimina- the following are synopses of doctoral dissertations that
tion based on, for example, gender (masculine/feminine), have integrated multiple research paradigms to create
ethnicity (White/Black), social class (rich/poor), or body arts-based critical auto/ethnographic research designs
shape (fat/lean)—and, in the case of educational research, (see also Taylor, 2013).
paradigm preference. As I have discussed, numerous
modes of reasoning are available to us, including post- Exemplar 1
formal thinking, for which there is a precedent in the phys- Emilia is a science teacher educator at a university in
ical sciences in the form of dialectical reasoning about the Mozambique, a multicultural and multilingual Southern
nature of light (i.e., the visible part of the electromagnetic African nation that gained political independence from
spectrum), allowing for the tension-filled co-existence of Portugal in 1975. She brought to her doctoral research a
the oppositional metaphors of light as particles and light concern that science education should enable her country
as waves. to embrace the modern science and technology of a rap-
For the purpose of my current argument, I shall make idly globalizing world while not, at the same time, serving
use of an inclusive mode of reasoning, vision-logic, as a neocolonial agenda of Westernization. Emilia’s ambi-
discussed recently by the evolutionary philosopher Ken tion was to develop a culturally inclusive philosophy of
Wilber (1999). Vision-logic draws on Western and Eastern science teacher education that would transform her own
wisdom traditions, seeking to integrate matter, mind, and professional practice and the practice of science teaching
spirit to generate a holistic understanding of ourselves and throughout her country. To this end, she designed an arts-
our connectedness to one another and to the planet that based critical auto/ethnography to address two research
sustains us. From a vision-logic perspective, each of the questions: What are the prospects of creating culturally/
paradigms comprising the current taxonomy of educa- inclusive science teacher education in Mozambique, and
tional research is an integral part of a larger system, called what obstacles need to be overcome? Her theoretical per-
the integral paradigm. The integral paradigm values abso- spective combined aspects of postcolonial theory, radical
lutely the unique contribution of each and every paradigm constructivism, and holistic curriculum inquiry. As befits
(none is privileged) to our ultimate endeavor as educational interpretive research, another research question emerged
researchers to help create curricula policies and pedagogi- during the inquiry: How can I promote good communi-
cal practices that prepare future generations for a world in cation in my classes and avoid impediments in commu-
growing need of its living and nonliving inhabitants being nication that reduce my students to the status of things?
treated with ethical sensitivity (for details, see Taylor, Emilia’s theoretical perspective continued developing
Taylor, & Luitel, 2012). The integral paradigm is already with the inclusion of cultural theory, philosophy of sci-
well established in shaping scientific thinking and practice, ence, transformative learning, deep ecology, discourse
as evidenced by the recent publication of Integral Ecology theory and semiotics, and indigenous knowledge theory.
She employed a range of qualitative research methods to engagement in writing as a method of inquiry, taking her
excavate and interrogate her lived experience, including reader with her on a deep philosophical journey to reimag-
narrative inquiry, autobiography and student testimonials, ine science evolving from modernist to postmodernist to
writing as inquiry and ironic writing, logics of poetry, and integral science (for details, see Stack, 2006).
metaphor. The diachronic dissertation structure reflects
the unfolding process of Emilia’s inquiry as she develops
Coda
a decolonizing eco-pedagogy for science education (for
details see Afonso-Nhalevilo, 2010. The integral paradigm has opened our doors of perception
(Huxley, 1959) to exciting and powerful possibilities for
Exemplar 2 the way we conceive of the interrelationship among the

Yuli Rahmawati is a science teacher educator at an Indo- interpretive, critical, and postmodern research paradigms.
nesian university and came to Australia to work on a Already doctoral researchers are occupying this multipa-
nationally funded research project on co-teaching and co- radigmatic research space and are conducting insightful
generative dialogue in secondary school environmental research aimed at transforming science (and mathematics)
science. She focused her doctoral research on the develop- education policies and practices. Beyond this, the integral
ment of her own pedagogy, in particular, the emergence paradigm is also challenging us to reconceptualize the
of her teaching identity. Yuli designed an arts-based criti- relationship between qualitative and quantitative research
cal auto/ethnography not only to understand deeply her perspectives. The popular mixed-methods approach has
(cultural and religious) teaching self but also to develop been a good first step in this direction. However, as I
as a transformative science educator committed to educa- have argued, the transformative potential of contempo-
tion for sustainability. She employed a range of qualitative rary qualitative research can be readily blunted by simply
research methods, including narratives of lived experience, importing qualitative methods into post-positivist research
stories, informal interview excerpts, vignettes of observed/ designs. The challenge for future researchers is less about
recalled activities, evocative images, boxed quotes, and how to combine qualitative and quantitative research
poems. This self-study methodology allowed theoretical methods and more about how to integrate the disparate
ideas and questions to emerge and interact throughout the and seemingly conflicting theories of knowing, being, rep-
inquiry, including identity theory, philosophy of science, resenting, and valuing of multiple paradigms. A key issue
Islamic precepts, and “green” chemistry principles. The for these integral researchers is to ensure that appropriate
dissertation takes the reader on a journey through Yuli’s quality standards are employed to regulate the research
life as she reflects critically on how her teaching identity methods associated with their parent paradigms.
was shaped by her lived experiences since childhood.
The journey continues into the present as she reconcep-
Acknowledgments
tualizes her teaching identity in relation to her vision as
a transformative science teacher educator (for details, see I thank Professor Ken Tobin, City University of New York,
Rahmawati, 2012). and Professor John Wallace, University of Toronto, who
reviewed earlier drafts of this chapter and gave me very
Exemplar 3 helpful advice that contributed to a more succinct style
Sue Stack brought to her doctoral thesis a unique variety of writing and confidence to cite my own publications.
of professional experiences: industrial scientist, sculptor, I also thank Professor David F. Treagust, Curtin Univer-
journalist, and secondary school teacher of science and sity, whose close editorial reading of the penultimate draft
journalism. She also brought an inquiring mind that had enabled me to correct some errors of fact and contributed
long grappled with the thorny issue of the relationship to the wording of the subtitle of the chapter. These con-
between science and spirituality, especially in the context structively critical peer reviewers helped to significantly
of creating an authentic and meaningful science educa- improve the coherence of this chapter.
tion. For doctoral research, Sue designed an arts-based
critical auto/ethnography and employed narrative inquiry;
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Handbook of Research on Science Education

Norman G. Lederman, Sandra K. Abell

Contemporary Qualitative Research

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Toward an Integral Research Perspective

theoretical and practical knowledge. Theoretical knowl-

Critical social theory and research methods entered

arts-based (educational) research approaches such as per- to display a dialogical quality.

fragmentation, Integral Ecology provides a way to weave

Exemplar 2 the way we conceive of the interrelationship among the

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