Critical realism: an explanatory framework for small-scale qualitative studies or an ‘unhelpful edifice’?

IF 1.5 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

International Journal of Research & Method in Education Pub Date : 2021-08-12 DOI:10.1080/1743727X.2021.1966623

K. Stutchbury

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引用次数: 4

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper describes how critical realism was operationalized to provide an explanatory framework for a small-scale qualitative study in the field of teacher education in a sub-Saharan African context. Critical realism combines a realist ontology (there is something to find out about) with a relativistic epistemology (different people will come to know different things in different ways). An attraction of this approach is that it seeks to explain observed phenomena through processes of inference, thus providing the opportunity to make changes for the better in the situation under investigation. The stratified view of reality provided a framework for the analysis of data, which led to the identification of two underlying causal mechanisms and new understandings of teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa. The approach is not without challenges, including the potentially intrusive nature of the enquiry and the positioning of the researchers. Despite these challenges, the evidence from this study is that the approach has the potential to provide new insights which have informed on-going international development projects in teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa.

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批判现实主义:小规模定性研究的解释性框架还是“无益的大厦”?

本文描述了批判性现实主义是如何运作的，为撒哈拉以南非洲地区教师教育领域的小规模定性研究提供了一个解释框架。批判现实主义结合了现实主义本体论(有些东西需要去发现)和相对论认识论(不同的人会以不同的方式认识不同的事物)。这种方法的一个吸引人的地方是，它试图通过推理过程来解释观察到的现象，从而为在调查的情况下做出更好的改变提供机会。现实的分层观点为数据分析提供了一个框架，从而确定了两种潜在的因果机制，并对撒哈拉以南非洲的教师教育有了新的认识。这种方法并非没有挑战，包括调查的潜在侵入性和研究人员的定位。尽管存在这些挑战，但本研究的证据表明，该方法有可能提供新的见解，为撒哈拉以南非洲地区正在进行的教师教育国际发展项目提供信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Research & Method in Education EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

5.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The International Journal of Research & Method in Education is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal that draws contributions from a wide community of international researchers. Contributions are expected to develop and further international discourse in educational research with a particular focus on method and methodological issues. The journal welcomes papers engaging with methods from within a qualitative or quantitative framework, or from frameworks which cut across and or challenge this duality. Papers should not solely focus on the practice of education; there must be a contribution to methodology. International Journal of Research & Method in Education is committed to publishing scholarly research that discusses conceptual, theoretical and methodological issues, provides evidence, support for or informed critique of unusual or new methodologies within educational research and provides innovative, new perspectives and examinations of key research findings. The journal’s enthusiasm to foster debate is also recognised in a keenness to include engaged, thought-provoking response papers to previously published articles. The journal is also interested in papers that discuss issues in the teaching of research methods for educational researchers. Contributors to International Journal of Research & Method in Education should take care to communicate their findings or arguments in a succinct, accessible manner to an international readership of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners from a range of disciplines including but not limited to philosophy, sociology, economics, psychology, and history of education. The Co-Editors welcome suggested topics for future Special Issues. Initial ideas should be discussed by email with the Co-Editors before a formal proposal is submitted for consideration.