In this paper I sketch the outlines of an emerging postpositivist paradigm for inquiry and research. This new paradigm is the product of recent thinking in philosophy, the natural sciences, and the social sciences—the so-called "new philosophy of science" (Phillips, 1987)— and has been embraced primarily, but not exclusively, by investigators using qualitative methods. Drawing heavily upon the work of Lincoln and Guba (Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Guba & Lincoln, 1989), I delineate the axioms (basic beliefs) underlying this approach and then consider the methodological implications that follow logically from the axioms. Finally, I suggest some applications of postpositivist inquiry in the field of the education of the gifted.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Borland, J.H. (1989). Planning and implementing programs for the gifted . New York: Teachers College Press .
2.
Callahan, C.M. (1983). Issues in evaluating programs for the gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly, 27, 3-7.
3.
Campbell, D.T., & Stanley, J.C. (1966). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Chicago: Rand McNally ,
4.
Cronbach, L.J. (1975). Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology . American Psychologist, 30, 116-127.
5.
Gage, N.L. (1989). The paradigm wars and their aftermath: A "historical" sketch of research on teaching since 1989. Educational Researcher , 18, 4-10.
6.
Geertz, C. (1973). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture. In C. Geertz (Ed.). The interpretation of cultures (pp. 3-32). New York: Basic Books.
7.
Glaser, B.G., & Strauss. A.L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory Strategies for qualitatiue research. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
8.
Guba, E.G. (1990). Subjectivity and objectivity. In E. W. Eisner & A. Peshkin (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry in education: The continuing debate (pp. 74-91). New York: Teachers College Press.
9.
Guba. E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1981). Effective evaluation. San Francisco . Jossey-Bass.
10.
Guba, E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1982). Epistemological and methodological bases of naturalistic inquiry. Educational Communication and Technology,30, 233-252.
11.
Guba, E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1986). The countenances of fourth-generation evaluation . In D. S. Cordray & M. W. Lipsey (Eds.), Eualuation studies review annual: Vol. 11 (pp. 70-88). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Miles, M.B., & Huberman, A.M. (1984). Qualitative data analysis . Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
22.
Nurmi, H. (1974). Causality and complexity: Some problems of causal analysis in the social sciences. Annales Uniuersitatis Turkensis . Ser. B. (Turku, Finland).
Phillips, D.C. (1987). Philosophy, science, and social inquiry. Oxford England: Pergamon Press.
25.
Phillips, D.C. (1990). Subjectivity and objectivity: An objective inquiry . In E. W. Eisner & A. Peshkin (Eds.), Qualitative inquiry in education: The
26.
continuing debate (pp. 19-37). New York: Teachers College Press. Smith , J.K., & Heshusius, L. (1986). Closing down the conversation: The end of the quantitative-qualitative debate among educational inquirers. Educational Researcher, 15, 4-12.
27.
Terman, L. M. (Ed.). (1925-1959 ). Genetic studies of genius (5 vols). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
28.
Terman, L.M., & Oden, M.H. (1947). Genetic studies of genius: Vol. 4. The gifted child grows up. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
