Causal Explanation, Qualitative Research, and Scientific Inquiry in Education Export

@article{citeulike:4922431, abstract = {A National Research Council report, Scientific Research in Education, has elicited considerable criticism from the education research community, but this criticism has not focused on a key assumption of the report--its Humean, regularity conception of causality. It is argued that this conception, which also underlies other arguments for "scientifically-based research," is narrow and philosophically outdated, and leads to a misrepresentation of the nature and value of qualitative research for causal explanation. An alternative, realist approach to causality is presented that supports the scientific legitimacy of using qualitative research for causal investigation, reframes the arguments for experimental methods in educational research, and can support a more productive collaboration between qualitative and quantitative researchers. 10.3102/0013189X033002003}, author = {Maxwell, Joseph A.}, citeulike-article-id = {4922431}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189X033002003}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://edr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/33/2/3}, doi = {10.3102/0013189X033002003}, journal = {EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER}, keywords = {education, methodology, methods, qualitative, research}, month = {March}, number = {2}, pages = {3--11}, posted-at = {2009-06-22 12:47:02}, priority = {2}, title = {Causal Explanation, Qualitative Research, and Scientific Inquiry in Education}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189X033002003}, volume = {33}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4922431 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4922431 N2 - A National Research Council report, Scientific Research in Education, has elicited considerable criticism from the education research community, but this criticism has not focused on a key assumption of the report--its Humean, regularity conception of causality. It is argued that this conception, which also underlies other arguments for "scientifically-based research," is narrow and philosophically outdated, and leads to a misrepresentation of the nature and value of qualitative research for causal explanation. An alternative, realist approach to causality is presented that supports the scientific legitimacy of using qualitative research for causal investigation, reframes the arguments for experimental methods in educational research, and can support a more productive collaboration between qualitative and quantitative researchers. 10.3102/0013189X033002003 IS - 2 JF - EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER EP - 11 TI - Causal Explanation, Qualitative Research, and Scientific Inquiry in Education VL - 33 SP - 3 KW - education KW - methodology KW - methods KW - qualitative KW - research AU - Maxwell, Joseph PY - 2004/03/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0013189X033002003 ER -