TEAC 800

Week 5 - Qualitative Case Study
This week we will turn our attention to qualitative approaches to educational inquiry and research. As Maxine Greene has written, “quantitative approaches are needed at times” and, as we shall see, qualitative studies have their own contributions to make to our understanding as well.
1. Read “A Philosopher Looks at Qualitative Research” by Maxine Greene, pp. 189-207, in section IV in the Jaeger text. As you read, watch for:

  • The types of questions qualitative researchers ask (What is going on here? Why?)
  • Why does perspective matter?
  • The idea of qualitative research as seeing again for the first time something that has always been there. Making the familiar strange.
  • The philosophic history behind qualitative research.
  • The concept of community meaning

Some words you will encounter that you might need to define for yourself:

  • Ontological problems (p. 193): problems of “being” or existence
  • Epistemological problems (p. 193): problems of knowing or the nature of knowledge
  • Dialectic (p. 195):any systematic reasoning, exposition, or argument that juxtaposes opposed or contradictory ideas and usually seeks to resolve their conflict; discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation; tension or opposition between two interacting forces or elements
  • Praxis (p. 196): practical application of a theory
  • Phenomenologist (p. 198): one who studies of the development of human consciousness and self-awareness as a preface to or a part of philosophy
  • Hermeneutic phenomenology (p. 199) (say that five times fast!): the study of the method of phenomenology, which studies a phenomenon from a philosophic vantage point
  • Epistemology (p. 203): study or theory of the nature or grounds of knowledge
  • Phronesis (p. 205) (not an English word): practical judgment (common sense) of a researcher

2. In the second part of our work this week, we will focus on case study research, a type of research that often involves qualitative approaches. Read Swidler’s case “Conversation and Control: Emergent Progressive Pedagogy in the Last of Nebraska’s One-Teacher Schools” (attached above).

3. Study Response Questions for this week, due March 2nd:

a. (author’s view) For both Greene and Swidler, give three points that each states so elegantly or emphatically that you quote them or closely paraphrase them. Why are these points important? What terms or concepts seem important in each chapter/article? What terms still seem fuzzy to you?

b. (reader’s view) How do you feel about what Swidler is saying? What does his article remind you of? Have you read or experienced anything that reiterates or challenges what Swidler says?

c. (field’s view) What can you find out about Maxine Greene and Stephen Swidler?

d. (application) Greene says:

Phenomenologists believe that obstacles become significant only when people name them as obstacles to their own understanding or fulfillment. If someone has no special interest in trying to understand alienated or nonparticipant youngsters in a given classroom, this alienation or nonparticipation is not identified as something standing in the way of understanding; and, not being felt to be an obstacle, it is not confronted as a problem. (p. 200)

Reflect on either an obstacle or something that is not an obstacle in your own classroom. Describe it briefly. What makes this an obstacle or not? Why? How might you investigate this phenomenon in terms of a disciplined inquiry?

e. (peers) Think of three questions to pose to two of your peers’ study responses from week 4. Reply to their posts with your questions. You might ask clarifying questions (I was not sure what you meant by …?), speculation questions (Did you consider …?), or probing questions (Is there other evidence you could cite to support this claim?). At least one of your questions should address something about the credibility scorecard process, and at least one question should address their example of a quasi-experiment.

**Don’t forget that the draft of your Research Analysis Assignment is also due this week. Look under the Research Analysis Assignment folder for the specifics for this assignment.**

TO DO week 5: Feb 25-Mar 2; DUE March 2nd

  1. Your draft of the Research Analysis Assignment is due on Sunday, March 2nd. You will turn this in by attaching it in your Group Discussion Board. (Next week, you will give peer feedback by replying to each other in your Group Discussion Board).
  2. Read Greene’s chapter in your textbook (pp. 189-207). Please know that this chapter is philosophical in nature, and you may find it dense to read. Just do your best.
  3. Read the Swidler article (posted in Assignments: Week 5)
  4. Complete the Study Response Questions for week 5 by Sunday, March 2nd. Note that we are again posting these in the Group Discussion Board this week.

Look ahead on the syllabus at what deadlines are coming up. You may want to read ahead in the textbook to be sure to leave yourself enough time to complete other assignments in coming weeks.