Search results

Students of social research methods in search of a “Haynes manual” type set of instructions are often, if not invariably, thwarted in their ambitions and are either confronted with an abstract description which remains firmly at the level of methodology or, alternatively, an uncritical mechanical template for application. The purpose of this paper is not to rectify these deficits, but rather to make the interplay between epistemological and methodological concerns and those relating to method visible to inspection.

To illustrate this interplay, the authors present one example of a piece of applied policy research which employed a process of framework analysis.

It is argued that rhetorical transparency in the creation of any qualitative account enhances its authenticity, and in part, this article demonstrates that it remains possible to maintain reflexive awareness of epistemological and methodological concerns whilst at the same time pursuing clear and practical methodical guidelines.

This article provides unique approach to providing researchers with a practical guide to framework analysis with theoretical reflection on the wider methodological concerns.

Based on journal articles that focused on epistemological issues in the field (e.g. the field's nature, purposes, borders, knowledge base, uniqueness, etc.), this paper seeks to outline the intellectual discussions in the field of educational administration (EA) since the foundation of its major journals and suggest some lessons for the state of the field at the present time.

The review is based on all papers, scholarly, historical or empirical, that observed philosophical, epistemological and methodological issues and concerns in this field. The papers were analyzed and coded by their purposes, arguments, epistemological questions, criticism, findings and insights.

The major concluding epistemological message of this historical account is of “recycling,” i.e. the field is typically embedded with debates over similar ideas, assumptions, and insights about EA as a field of study throughout the last five decades. Therefore, it is a time for radical changes in the understanding of the field's intellectual missions and boundaries.

The historical overview is likely both to acquaint one with the historical scholarly streams, trends and debates in knowledge development of EA as a field of study, and help international field members understand and mould their professional identity.

Research and debate on the value and deployment of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) has become contentious. While many agree that it is something that is both threatened and valuable, there are enormous conceptual difficulties encountered in framing what, exactly, it is that IK proponents should be fighting to preserve. This chapter uses insights from James C. Scott’s work on legibility and Bruno Latour’s work in the sociology of knowledge to privilege what we call relative epistemological performativity. This framework stands in contrast to attempts to privilege problematic essentialist views of “indigenous,” “Western,” or “scientific” knowledge. With this framework we are able to challenge some of the “antipolitics” implicit in educational development agenda that promote cultural and cognitive homogeneity as well as find space for hybrids like using ICT to strengthen IK. Finally, we conclude that the profound differences in conceptualizing the epistemology and ontology of IK should not detract from widespread agreement on the need for pedagogical practices that protect threatened local languages, cultures, and ecological knowledge.

This article argues that accounting practice is complex. The determination to implement a particular type of accounting practice is not a simple task. It is a decision that necessitates thorough considerations involving knowledge, human needs and interests, and situations surrounding the decision maker. The decision process itself thus represents complex activities. To ease understanding of this complexity, this study suggests to use metaphor, Javanese Language Speech Level metaphor. Metaphor, many have argued, helps to highlight and explain the core idea of a study, and to understand the nature, the significance, and the social dimensions of the phenomena being investigated. In sustaining its arguments, this study provides an illustration of some accounting practices that satisfy the appropriateness of Javanese language as metaphor.

There are over 40,000 microcomputer software packages available in the market‐place today. This article explores some normative relationships between librarianship and computer software as intellectual works. A practical review of seven software directories (Datapro Directory of Microcomputer Software, List, The Software Catalog, PC Clearinghouse Software Directory, Apple Software 1984, IBM PC Expansion and Software Guide, IBM Software 1984) is performed. Directory features reviewed are indexes, entry composition, subject classifications, and coverage overlap.