“Answers,” Assemblages,and Qualitative Research

Abstract

Although educational researchers predominately study complex, multidimensional problems, research findings and proposed arguments can sometimes be characterized as definite, simplified, and prone to particular types of answers or expected outcomes. The authors seek to problematize these definite and simplified notions of answers by looking at some historical developments of dialogue and how answers have been conceptualized within these historical discourses. The authors propose that answers be seen not as a final step in the research process but rather as an opening, an assemblage, a jar, or a call to transition into new forms of questions, new outlooks on methods, and new processes of thought. Finally, the renegotiation of the philosophical notion of answers that the authors will discuss in this article exemplifies potential for a renewed commitment to meaningful educational research.