This commentary addresses the gap in the literature regarding discussion of the legitimate use of Constant Comparative Analysis Method (CCA) outside of Grounded Theory. The purpose is to show the strength of using CCA to maintain the emic perspective and how theoretical frameworks can maintain the etic perspective throughout the analysis. My…

The purpose of this article is to consider what methods from ethnopoetics--a field at the intersection of linguistics and anthropology--may add to narrative inquiry in mathematics education. I build a theoretical framework to argue for the use of narrative inquiry and ethnopoetics in studies of teacher knowledge. I report ethnopoetic analyses of…

The purpose of this essay is to draw out key insights from Dewey's important text "Logic: The Theory of Inquiry" to provide theoretical and practical support for the emergent field of teacher research. The specific focal point is the argument in Cochran-Smith and Lytle's "Inside/Outside: Teacher Research and Knowledge" on the significance of…

In this article, we critique two recent theoretical developments about collaborative inquiry in evaluation--using logic models as a means to understand theory, and efforts to compartmentalize versions of collaborative inquiry into discrete genres--as a basis for considering future direction for the field. We argue that collaborative inquiry in…

The notion of a community of inquiry has been treated by many of its proponents as being an exemplar of democracy in action. We argue that the assumptions underlying this view present some practical and theoretical difficulties, particularly in relation to distribution of power among the members of a community of inquiry. We identify two…

In this paper, the author aims to share some of the efforts, successes, challenges and lessons learned over approximately two decades of professional development projects both large and small. In retrospect the author contends that efforts toward change, improvement and advancement were always bumping against culture. So, this address attempts to…

Furlong and Oancea's influential framework for assessing the products of applied and practice-based educational inquiry raises some important issues about the criteria by which research should be judged. They begin by outlining the current significance of the issue, and some of the uncertainties surrounding the definition of applied and…

This essay examines the effects of commercialization on education with particular focus on corporatization of academic research. This trend results from a business model of education, which I identify as profit-based inquiry. I contrast profit-based inquiry with Nicholas Maxwell's conception of wisdom-based inquiry and conclude that the business…

Explores scientific inquiry as philosophical and behavioral model for online search specialist and information retrieval process. Nature of scientific research is described and online analogs to research concepts of variable, hypothesis formulation and testing, operational definition, validity, reliability, assumption, and cyclical nature of…

Contrasts the naturalistic research paradigm with the scientific model, noting that the naturalistic paradigm assumes multiple reality, subject-object interrelatedness, and contextuality. Skills required for the pursuit of naturalistic inquiry are described. (JEG)

This article discusses the preceding articles by Way, Hultgren, and Plihal as a contrast set of inquiry paradigms. It points to strengths and limitations of each inquiry paradigm and raises several questions about paradigms. (Author/JOW)

Five major differences between the rationalistic and naturalistic paradigms of inquiry are accounted for: the nature of reality; the nature of the inquirer-object relationship; the nature of truth statements; assumptions about causal relationships; and the role of values within disciplined inquiry. Thirty-one sources are appended. (EJS)

Reviews Kenneth Pike's tagmemic theory and its application to rhetorical concerns generally. Explains his epistemological assumptions. Presents a model for speech classroom use, which allows rhetors to channel their thought processes consciously and to vary their perspectives in search of a fuller understanding of any subject. (PD)

Reviews the basic assumptions of two paradigms of inquiry, the rationalist and the naturalist, to determine which one provides the best fit for one-to-one formative evaluation of instructional materials focusing on learnability issues. Conclusions suggest the naturalistic assumptions are more suitable. (13 references) (LRW)

It is intriguing and frustrating that while research evidence on characteristics of effective staff development programs has existed for some time, these features are not commonly in practice. Most of the staff development conducted with K-12 teachers corresponds with the short-term transmission model, with no concern for what is already going on…