3.2: Qualitative Research
3.2.2 Research triangulation
Research triangulation is the convergence of truth from data (Adami and Kiger, 2005). Denzin and Lincoln state that triangulation "reflects an attempt to secure an in-depth understanding of the phenomena in question" (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994, cited in Adami and Kiger, 2005). Many researchers would argue that this in-depth understanding is best identified through the use of a mixed method of data analysis (Bentley et al., 2011, Flick, 2002, Schutt, 2006, Taylor and Wallace, 2007). As described previously, qualitative research
can lend itself to queries into research validity (Bentley et al., 2011, Bryman, 2008, Flick, 2002, Schutt, 2006, Silverman, 2006, Taylor and Wallace, 2007). The use of empirical data in qualitative research eliminates many of the validity issues such as interpretation (Bentley et al., 2011, Flick, 2002, Schutt, 2006). In order to address the issues with validity this research used a triangulation approach. The mixed methods that were employed in this research are described from Section 3.5 onwards. These methods are divided amongst the three primary stages of this research, the contextual analysis, the analysis of professional practice and the development of the intervention. Each of these sections will now be described with relation to the triangulation approach that was employed as well as reference to the validity of this approach.
For the contextual analysis, described in Section 3.5, both qualitative and quantitative elements were used to improve validity. Concerning the teacher educator interviews, the validity of these interviews was improved by capturing opinions of a relative large sample set of teacher educators, ensuring the results could be generalized. Accuracy is also ensured as the interviews were representative of the teacher educators, who would have had no reason to be untruthful. There may have been issues with measurement and bias in the interviews. In order to reduce the issue with measurement the interviews were designed to be semi- structured, allowing for the researcher to rephrase a question if it was misinterpreted. Also, while there is an issue with bias in one of the questions, it is actively acknowledged within the research, and there are no impacts to the data because of this bias. The observations of pre-service education were based on the interpretations of observations of the primary researcher. In order to ensure validity these observations were assessed by the lecturer to ensure that no area was misinterpreted. The lecturer agreed with each point that will be described. Finally the textbook analysis used qualitative data and a blind coding method to ensure validity. The blind coding method ensured that the results were repeated before the measurement tool was applied throughout the study.
The sections relating to professional practice, Section 3.5, and the intervention, Section 3.6, employed similar methods. These included qualitative observations combined with quantitative coding. The discovery and intervention observations were observed and interpreted by the primary researcher. In order to remove any bias or personal interpretations the analytical framework was then used to code the observations. This ensured that when a
the researcher stated that the lesson comprised a majority of Engagement activities, this could be verified by the coding applied. Blind coding was also employed to ensure that the measurement tool was accurate before the data analysis began. The PCK studies also included a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods. The CoRes tool has been verified through many research projects as a tool to capture snapshots of PCK (Berry et. al. 2008). The interpretations of the CoRes were also verified by the teachers who were asked to identify if an error in interpretation had occurred. The credibility of the data collected was ensured through the methods that were employed. By video recording observations, the data collected could be continually assessed and referred for different elements. This reduced the issue of the researcher omitting element of the lesson due to time passing or misinterpreting the data during the observations.
As it can be seen this research attempted to account for many issues in validity in social science research. The triangulation approach including qualitative and quantitative data allowed for qualified statements to be made on the various observations that form the majority of the data collection. The tools employed were also verified by blind-coding methods where possible. The area of concern in relation to this research applied to generalizability. Generalizations cannot be made about the entire teaching community based on the observations of these four teachers, however, as described previously, Stake (1995) describes "petite generalizations" which are generalizations that can be made on a small number of case studies which capture a large quantity of data. This case study approach will be discussed in Section 3.3.
3.2.3: Exploratory Research
Snape and Spencer (2003) describe how there is no simple, accepted way of doing qualitative research. McCaslin and Scott (2003) propose a five question method to decide whether a researcher should carry out a Biography, Phenomenology, Ethnography, Case Study or Grounded Theory. Demetriou (2009, p.203) highlights the value of the case study design, which is generally qualitative in nature, in that it is “versatile” and it facilitates understanding of “a complex issue or object and brings with it a familiarity to the case that no other research approach is able to do”. This research seeks to develop a “thick” (Holloway, 1997) description of the nature of IBSE in Irish primary schools in order to inform future efforts for teacher professional development in primary science. The guiding philosophy and methodology of this work, therefore, is Exploration which Stebbins defines as:
Social science exploration is a broad-ranging, purposive, systematic, prearranged undertaking designed to maximise the discovery of generalizations leading to and understanding an area of social or
psychological life. Such exploration is, depending on the standpoint taken, a distinctive way of conducting science – a scientific process – a special methodological approach (as contrasted with confirmation), and a pervasive personal orientation of the explorer. The emergent generalizations are many and varied; they include the descriptive facts, folk concepts, cultural artefacts, structural arrangement, social processes, and beliefs and belief systems normally found there.
(Stebbins, 2001, p.3)
As it can be seen from the quote at the beginning of this chapter, exploratory research is suited to studies where there is only a small body of knowledge available on the subject. Investigations of Irish primary science are confined to one primary source, which is the NCCA study introduced in Chapter 1 which is predominantly quantitative in nature.
The quote also states that exploratory researchers believe there is something worth discovering. This works aims to discover and analyse evidence of IBSE in Irish primary schools and as such represents what Stebbins (ibid) describes as a form of “limited” exploration where there is a specific focus in the exploration. Exploratory research, being strongly linked to Grounded Theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) is primarily inductive in nature where observations lead to identification of patterns of categories and which in turn generate tentative hypotheses. If research design allows for the significant accumulation of data this may in time lead to theory development which has confirmatory power. Stebbins (ibid, p.5) refers to this as the process of “Concatenation” and argues that “early weaknesses in sampling, validity, and generalizability tend to get corrected over the course of several exploratory studies”.
Stebbins (2001) argues that the most significant form of exploration occurs at the beginning of the longitudinal concatenation process where categories and patterns are identified that are further refined and grounded in subsequent cases. This implies a role for the researcher as “Interpreter” (Stake, 1995, p.97) who seeks to make these patterns comprehensible to others. While this is the case it is critical that the researcher needs to “…liberate the reader from simplistic views and illusion. The researcher is the agent of new interpretation, new knowledge, but also new illusion.” (Stake, 1995, p.99). Stake continues to argue that this recognises the essential nature of human knowledge as constructed rather than discovered.
The researcher then is cognisant of the fact that he is not engaging in a simple process of exploration but rather that the patterns and categories that emerge from data interpretation are a function of his lived experience. Conscious of this every attempt has been made to enhance the credibility of findings, as described below.
This work seeks to begin this process of the exploration of Irish primary school IBSE through a series of case studies of Irish primary school teachers. According to Stake (1995, p.3) this represents a form of “instrumental” case study where particular cases may illuminate a “puzzlement, a need for general understanding”. It is hoped that the findings presented here will help to reduce anecdotalism about the practice of IBSE in Irish primary schools through deepening an understanding of same. In recognising the potential power of naturalistic generalisations for professional practitioners and cognisant of Fullan’ s warnings that educational change depends on “what teachers do and think – it’s as simple and as complex as that” (Fullan, 2007, p.129) and that teachers are most convinced by the practices of other teachers (ibid., p.133), much of the findings of this work have been synthesised in the intervention. The researcher would like to note the potential for this intervention to scaffold and support the concatenation process towards developing a Grounded Theory of primary school IBSE in Ireland which is reflective of the contested nature of IBSE (see Section 2.3) and its cultural representation in Ireland.