"To study a methodology is not simply to understand the exercise of method. Rather, it is to study a way of knowing; in other words methodology and epistemology are linked" -Paul Hart

"Epistemology is (not) a bloodless abstraction; the way we know has powerful implications for the way we live. . .every epistemology tends to become an ethic, and every way of knowing tends to become a way of living. ." - Parker Palmer

*Required Readings and Activities

Module One: Broad Qualitative Concepts
1.1 Articulates philosophical issues related to research: epistemological, ontological, ethical, etc.

A. Readings: Clandinin & Connelly, Chap 1 - 3

Constas, Mark. 1998. The Changing Nature of Educational Research and a Critique of Postmodernism. Educational Researcher. Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 26-33.

*Alderson, Priscilla. 1998. The Importance of Theories in Health Care. British Medical Journal. Vol. 317, No. 7164, pp. 1007-1011.

*Keyes, Maureen and Capper, Colleen. Tradition and Alternative in Educational Practice: Three Stories of Epistemological Conflict. Journal for a Just & Caring Education. Vol.5, No. 4, pp. 502-520.

Reason, Peter. 1996. Reflections on the Purposes on Human Inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry. Vol. 2. No. 1, pp 14-15.

B. Web and Other Links:

*Kathy Dittnam's Story and Science Issues
*Research as Improvisation: Dancing among Perspectives in the Qualitative Report by Glenda Mae and Shirley
*Glenda Mae Green's Story and Knowledge Issues
Freed's Epistemological Model: Knowing
*Theory/Practice Dicotomy
Prayer of a Qualitative Researcher

C. Discussion Starters/Reflective Journal Topics: (Choose one topic and start or continue a discussion thread.)

1. What kinds of life experiences shaped your understanding of what "knowledge" is, how you acquire it, and which knowledge is of most value?

2. In what ways does the Western scientific tradition (also known as positivism) seem to influence your research activities? the kinds of questions you ask? the methods that seem to make sense?

D. Experiences/Activities:

1. Interview several people about a) the purpose of research - their own and others, b) connections between philosophy and research methods and/or c) how they come to "know" what they "know".

E. Portfolio Documentation:

1. Reflections on varous philosophical perspectives, highlighting your current position - questions, qualms and quibbles as they relate to research!