Tag: research

reflecting on the forest past the boundary of post-positivism

Creswell talks about the 4 worldviews that shape the  research goals, objectives, methods, interpretive measures, and sense making of researchers.  I inherited a post-positivist outlook from my formative years working in a machine shop with designers, engineers, craftsmen,  and other shop rats. My years of experience as a planner in the Army helped me appreciate […]

Reflecting on world views and mixed methods designs of research

Image by Wonderlane via Flickr Comparison of Creswell’s continuum of research and Edmondson’s methodological fit chart. 1. Creswell describes a single continuum that connects qualitative and quantitative research at the endpoints with mixed methods in the middle. This model implies that there is a single dimension along which methodology can be arrayed. I don’t think […]

Reflecting on theory and practice, and how research questions connect them; part 2

A continuation of the reflection on theory and practice in our doctoral cohhort discussion. Weick (1995) talked about the continuum from mature, accepted dominant theory to the first conjecture arising out of some anomalous observation. There is a continuum between the generalist inquiring into the purest of theoretical distinctions, and the pragmatist seeking to add […]

Reflection 2 on the practitioner-scholar divide: a case where it was the thinnest of veils, unknown to any of us

I will answer this from my preferred pragmatist and action research perspective I believe most interesting problems originate in the practitioners world, and that most chief decision-makers (who approve projects, set priorities and allocate resources) MUST be practitioners first, if only to satisfy political and social constraints. I believe our action groups that solve problems […]

Reflections on closing the gap between practitioners and scholars

We are having a discussion in our doctoral cohort about the gap between  practitioners and scholars. Here my thoughts on closing the gap between practitioners and scholars: 1. A post-positivist might want to confirm the gap exists, measure its dimensions, identify possible causes for the existence of it, and hypothesize if the cause and effect relationships […]

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