Quantitative Research is More Effective than Qualitative Research in the Studying of Science Teaching

Quantitative Research --> Not better Can’t full address philosophical concerns of… Ontology Epistemology Ethics

Same can be said of Qualitative Research False-dichotomy Mixed-Method is likely the best

NCLB endorses the “scientific” or quantitative approach: “…clinical trials…the gold standard in medicine…are the only way to be sure about what works in medicine… [the] same rules about what works and how to make inferences about what works… are exactly the same for education practice as they would be for medical practice” (Davis, 2005)

Problem: Seamless transference between medicine and education. Medicine is essentially physics because body is physical. Paths between cause and effect more linear. More discernable through quantitative techniques (random sampling, control of variables, statistical analysis. But is education “physical?”

NCLB statement glosses over an important ontological question: Is man simply matter which, when acted upon like a gas in a piston, will yield predicated results? — or — Is man a complex physical, metaphysical, and social being with volition?

Those that believe that quantitative research is better have adopted the “materialist view” which believes… That the line between the cause of education and the effect of learning can be discerned through quantitative research. This data can then be collected, published, implemented, and expected to yield predictable results.

Those that believe in the value of qualitative research hold a more holistic or “metaphysical” view that holds that… Human behavior is the result of a complex interaction between the knowing subject, the object to be known, and a vast array of mitigating relationships that include nature, nurture, culture, socioeconomic factors, and human volition.

The Goal of Qualitative Research: To capture the unique context of this complex web of interactions.

Another assumption of Quantitative Research: That it is Quantitative. Kuhn: scientific paradigms qualitatively defined frameworks (Analogical-Just So Stories) Validation of paradigms supported by exemplars based on case-studies

Furthermore… Qualitative data can be coded quantitatively. Quantitative data is based on qualitative judgments. This blurs the distinction between quantitative and qualitative data necessary to maintaining superiority claims.

Issue of Validation—Criteria of Truth Difference between Accuracy & Precision Accuracy: comparison of unknown to externally referenced known or “things as they are” or “ought to be.” Qualitative Research not interested in accuracy but rather describing the constructed realities of the subject(s).

Qualitative Research is concerned with precision and have developed protocols (Lincoln, Guba, 1985): Credibility Transferability Dependability Confirmability

Value of Research Quantitative: produce generalization from which outcomes can be predicted. Qualitative: seeks to contextualize and interpret, May not be able to generalize results, May help to narrow the gap between theory and practice.

Ethics Ontological assumptions determine epistemology Once assumptions are made resultant epistemology can only confirm our assumption. Should acknowledge uncertainty of ontological assumptions & resultant epistemologies. Make room for other ways of thinking.

“I believe too much in truth not to suppose that there are different truths and different ways of speaking truth. The science I value acknowledges that there are different truths and that our task as scientists should be to produce different knowledge and produce knowledge differently in order to enlarge our understanding of those issues about which we care deeply” E. St.Pierre, 2006

Mixed-Method: Quant: seeks to describe “things as they are universe” Qual: seeks to describe the personally and socially constructed universe Mixed-Method: recognizes the person is a unique subject that lives in an objective universe while creatively constructing subjective universe. Mixed elucidates both.

Data generated by both quantitative and qualitative research will enable educators and policy makers to make informed decisions as to how to move individuals and groups of people towards the “things as they are” or “we hope them to be” reality that as a free nation we choose to construct.