Over the past 30 years, qualitative research has emerged as a widely accepted alternative to the quantitative paradigm for performing research in educational communications and technology. As the new paradigm has evolved, it has spawned a variety of theoretical perspectives and methodological techniques that have both increased its potential…

This paper presents Dialectical Inquiry (DI) as a structured qualitative research method for studying participant models of organizational processes. The method is applied to rich secondary anecdotal data on technology transfer, gathered by subject-matter experts in a large firm. DI assumes that the imposition of a dialectical structure will…

Notes the need for researcher accountability in qualitative analysis, examining strategies used in working with doctoral students and offering suggestions for assessing and publicly disclosing the methodological rigor and analytical defensibility of qualitative research. Introduces tabular strategies for use in documenting the relationship between…

When conducting a two-year college program review, there are several advantages to supplementing the standard quantitative research approach with qualitative measures. Qualitative research does not depend on a large number of random samples, it uses a flexible design which can be refined as the research is executed, and it generates findings in a…

This article discusses how interpretive research can challenge the special education field to think differently about what is already known and to factor in different ways of knowing and different meanings. Three dimensions of interpretive research are explored: "truth" value and accuracy, context and relations, and utility and relevance.…

In this volume, researchers, practitioners, participants, and scholars address the proliferation of methodologies, ethical and disciplinary concerns, and issues of equity and diversity such research raises from a wide variety of viewpoints. "Acts of Inquiry in Qualitative Research" also presents a broad assortment of articles by authors…

Dismissing research that is not theory driven, hypothesis testing, or generalization producing does injustice to the variety of contributions that qualitative research can make. Studies conducted through qualitative approaches are reviewed to summarize the desirable outcomes that can result. No research model has a monopoly on quality. (SLD)

In this article, we have examined how historical events shape the research process, even when research is carefully planned and rigorously executed. Through an examination of our experiences conducting international data collection during a three-year SSHRC funded period in which the War on Terrorism and the War in Iraq began, we suggest that…