Category: Quotes

So it happens, we read and discussed an article in our Philosophies class this week that gave me food for thought.

“What discussions of trustworthiness, credibility, reliability, validity seem to lack is the sense that research has a purpose. (not the “Statement of Purpose”) …I am interested in what we think research that we do is for: What is the point?”  (p.155)

“What I think we need to show to our research students is how the constructs we build in the educational research get transported into arenas of professional practice, into the settings in which they can be used. My experience is that this transportation is not always successful” (p. 156)

Ethics and Rigor.

Justifying research in terms of knowledge for its own sake is NOT ENOUGH:

All propositional knowledge is in the service of action, and action is clearly normative. (p. 156)

“Propositional knowledge is knowledge that some proposition is true. It thus contrasts with knowledge-how and perhaps with knowledge-who and knowledge-which.”  (Moser, 1987, p.91)

Research rationale partially satisfies the need for the normative premise.

“Quality” and “value” of educational research extend beyond “reliability” and “validity” because if research knowledge must be translatable into action (see the previous argument), then it will always be subject to the educator’s experience and theoretical viewpoints. Therefore, here steps in rigor.

The “Limitations” section explains how “practicality may compromise rigor” (p. 157).

“reliability is a rhetorical device rather than an epistemological one” (p. 158) (emphasis added).

Rigor and Rhetoric.

Sandelowski’s assertion (p. 2, 1993, as cited in Munby, 2003, p. 158):

“Rigor is less about adherence to the letter of rules and procedures than it is about fidelity to the spirit of qualitative work”

Munby’s comment:

Fidelity to the spirit of qualitative work is not enough. There must be rhetoric.

The language of statistics is but one form of rhetoric; however, it is a rhetoric that, for certain audiences and in certain circumstances can be more compelling and more functional than a case study, poem, or autoethnographical report
(Gergen and Gergen, 2000, p. 1033 as cited in Munby, 2003, p. 158)

However, rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and is, therefore, also subjective.

The rhetorical tradition realizes the limitations of philosophical argument as a vehicle for persuasion, especially when addressed to those who lack the training to follow the arcane, arid argumentation relish by that tradition. The rhetorical tradition recognizes a fundamental fact, namely, that people are creatures of flesh and blood, of passionate desire and aversion.
(Shrag, 1992, p. 272, as cited in Munby, 2003, p. 158)

Munby’s conclusion: RESEARCH IS ABOUT PERSUASION.

Big Question: How Does My Idea Measure Up in Terms of Rigor, Ethics, and Rhetoric?

• Am I interested in understanding HOW Becky creates connections with other people, including me?
  Yes!
• Am I interested in what ways her connections with others are different from neurotypical individuals’ connections with others?
  Yes!
• Is it enough to pass it for rigorous research?
  No! (according to Munby)
  Unless, of course, I can persuade other academics that my work translates into action. Somehow.

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