Epistemology in Qualitative Educational Research: A Review of Published Articles

Abstract

This study explores the epistemological basis for qualitative educational research studies. Within this context, 20 qualitative studies on education were analysed and three dimensions were sorted out: (1) the purpose or aim of the study, (2) the rationale for the study, and (3) the occurrence of epistemological aspects (theory, paradigm, methodology and reflexivity). The study employed a retrospective descriptive approach to analyse research studies that have been conducted. Based on an examination, a random sample of 20 articles published between 2014 and 2015 in the Taylor & Francis Group content were determined. Based on the results, majority of the evaluated articles were found to have epistemological features. 

Keywords

• epistemology,qualitative methods,research methods,educational research

Epistemology in Qualitative Educational Research: A Review of Published Articles

Abstract

This study explores the epistemological basis for qualitative educational research studies. Within this context, 20 qualitative studies on education were analysed and three dimensions were sorted out: (1) the purpose or aim of the study, (2) the rationale for the study, and (3) the occurrence of epistemological aspects (theory, paradigm, methodology and reflexivity). The study employed a retrospective descriptive approach to analyse research studies that have been conducted. Based on an examination, a random sample of 20 articles published between 2014 and 2015 in the Taylor & Francis Group content were determined. Based on the results, majority of the evaluated articles were found to have epistemological features. 

Keywords

• epistemology,qualitative methods,research methods,educational research

References

1. Becker, H. S. (1996). The epistemology of qualitative research. In R. Jessor, A. Colby, & R. Shweder, Ethnography and human development: Context and meaning in social inquiry ( pp. 53–71). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
2. Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1998). Qualitative research in education: An introduction to theory and methods (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
3. Goddard, W., & Melville, S. (2004). Research methodology: An introduction. Juta and Company Ltd.
4. Gringeri, C., Barusch, A., & Cambron, C. (2013). Epistemology in qualitative social work research: A review of published articles, 2008–2010. Social Work Research, 37(1), 55- 63.
5. Guba, E., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). Paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Ed.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 183–216). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
6. Hallett, R. E., Miller, P. M., & Skrla, L. (2015). Homeless and highly mobile students: equity, access and institutional response. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(6), 637-640.
7. Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. (2011). The practice of qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
8. James, N. (2015). Using email interviews in qualitative educational research: creating space to think and time to talk. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, (ahead-of-print), 1-14.

9. Koch, T., & Harrington, A. (1998). Reconceptualizing rigour: The case for reflexivity. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 28, 882–890.
10. Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques. New Age International.
11. Liou, D. D., Martinez, A. N., & Rotheram-Fuller, E. (2015). “Don’t give up on me”: critical mentoring pedagogy for the classroom building students’ community cultural wealth. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, (ahead-of-print), 1-26.
12. Mack, L. (2010). The philosophical underpinnings of educational research. Polyglossia, 19, 5-11.
13. Mackenzie, N., & Knipe, S. (2006). Research dilemmas: Paradigms, methods and methodology. Issues in educational research, 16(2), 193-205.
14. Metcalfe, A. S. (2015). Visual juxtaposition as qualitative inquiry in educational research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(2), 151-167.
15. Mustafa, R. F. (2011). The POE Ms of educational research: A beginners’ concise guide. International Education Studies, 4(3), p23.
16. Ng Hà, D. M. (2011). Analyses of the prevailing research paradigms in education. Pascale (2010). Cartographies of knowledge: Exploring qualitative epistemologies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
17. Rimpiläinen, S. (2015). Multiple enactments of method, divergent hinterlands and production of multiple realities in educational research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(2), 137-150.
18. Rowe, A. D., Fitness, J., & Wood, L. N. (2015). University student and lecturer perceptions of positive emotions in learning. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(1).
19. Scotland, J. (2012). Exploring the philosophical underpinnings of research: relating ontology and epistemology to the methodology and methods of the scientific, interpretive, and critical research paradigms. English Language Teaching, 5(9). Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory . Sage Publications, Inc.
20. Takacs, D. (2003). How does your positionality bias your epistemology? NEA Higher Education Journal, 19, 27–38.
21. Tikkanen, J., Bledowski, P., & Felczak, J. (2015). Education systems as transition spaces. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(3), 297-310. Vavrus, F. (2015). More clever than the devil: ujanja as schooling strategy in Tanzania.
22. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(1), 50-71. Walther, A., Warth, A., Ule, M., & du Bois-Reymond, M. (2015). ‘Me, my education and I’: constellations of decision-making in young people’s educational trajectories. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(3), 349-371.