A View from Somewhere: Explaining the Paradigms of Educational Research

Abstract

In this paper I ask how educational researchers can believe the subjective perceptions of qualitative participant-observers given the concern for objectivity and generalizability of experimental research in the behavioral and social sciences. I critique the most common answer to this question within the educational research community, which posits the existence of two (or more) equally legitimate epistemological paradigms – positivism and constructivism-- and offer an alternative that places a priority in educational research on understanding the purposes and meanings humans attribute to educational practices. Only within the context of what I call a transcendent view from somewhere,-- higher ideals that govern human activities – can we make sense of quantitative as well as qualitative research findings.