Closing Methodological Divides

The interpretivist methodological framework made its appearance in educational research in the late 1970s, posing a fundamental and far-reaching challenge to the hitherto dominant positivist framework and opening up a number of divides that many have perceived as fundamental and unbridgeable. In the first part of the book Howe examines the issues involved and demonstrates that the divides can in fact be closed. The subsequent chapters set out the compatibilist perspective within which Howe analyses the interpretive turn, constructivist epistemology, research bias and ethics. The concluding chapter sets out a conception of democratic education research that shapes research methodology to meet the requirements of democratic politics.