Critical investigation of a qualitative research article from ontological and epistemological perspectives

Öz

Research can be defined as a systematic inquiry or investigation, through the process of which data is collected, analyzed and interpreted with the aim of understanding, describing, predicting or controlling a phenomenon. The definition by itself has a complex ontological and epistemological background, whose interpretation lead to different research paradigms such as positivism, post-positivism, interpretivism/constructivism and the critical theory. In that respect, the aim of the present study is to critically analyze a qualitative research article on teacher education and curriculum with respect to the paradigm it adopts. For the analysis of the article, the description of the critical research paradigm by Allison and Pomeroy (2000) adapted from Guba & Lincoln (1994) is used as criteria. The findings indicate that the selected article adheres to the analysis criteria. The findings are discussed in the conclusion section.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Research Paradigms,Ontology,Epistemology,Critical Theory,Qualitative Research

Kaynakça

1. Allison, P., Pomeroy, E. (2000). How shall we “know?” Epistemological Concerns in Research in Experiential Education. Journal of Experiential Education, 23(2), 91-98.
2. Burns, R.B. (1997). Introduction to research methods. (3rd ed.) Australia: Longman.
3. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2006). Research Methods in Education (5th ed.). London : Roultedge.
4. Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th Edition). London: Routledge.
5. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative and mixed methods approaches. London: SAGE.
6. Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks: Sage.
7. Guba, E. ( 1990). The Paradigm Dialog. London: Sage.
8. Guba, E. G., Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In . K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 105-117). Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.

9. Guba, E.G., Lincoln, Y.S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. California: Sage Publications.
10. Habermas, J. ( 1974). Theory and Practice. London: Heinemann
11. Irene, D. (2014). The ontological and epistemological foundations of qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 2(10), 1-17.
12. Mangan J. (2004). Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Methodologies in Logistics Research. International Journal of Physical and Logistics Management, 34(7), 565-578.
13. Mertens, D.M. (2005). Research methods in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative and qualitative approaches. (2nd ed.) Thousand Oaks: Sage.
14. Morgan, D.L. (2007). Paradigms Lost and Pragmatism Regained: Methodological Implications of Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), 48-76.
15. Pring, R. (2000). Philosophy of educational research. London: Continuum.
16. 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), 1-16.
17. Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. London: Sage Publications.