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PARADIGM WARS WHAT COUNTS AS KNOWLEDGE?, Disagreements about what counts…
PARADIGM WARS
WHAT COUNTS AS KNOWLEDGE?
Why the Wars?
What Is Contested?
Methods dispute
Qualitative versus quantitative research
Deeper dispute
Assumptions about reality and knowledge
Central question
Are some research approaches superior?
Three Critiques
Anti-naturalists
Society cannot simply be studied like nature
Interpretivists
Seek actors' meanings and social context
Critical theorists
Question inequality, power and domination
Historical Backdrop
Shifting traditions
Positivism; Weber; diverse social inquiry
Escalation
1980s paradigm disputes; 1996 science wars
Gage's sketch
Imagined futures, not a factual aftermath
Responses & Relevance
Three Positions
Same methods
Social science follows natural science
No social science
Scientific study of society is impossible
Distinct science
Possible, but different from natural science
Proposed Ways Forward
Pring
Rejects the strict qualitative/quantitative dualism
Pragmatism
Transactional knowledge; mixed methods are possible
Phronesis
Practical wisdom, situated judgement, values and power
Evidence & Education Policy
What works?
Policy prizes systematic reviews and gold standards
What knowledge?
Universal evidence versus local practitioner knowledge
Whose voice?
Narratives reveal context, meanings and values
WHOSE KNOWLEDGE COUNTS?
Who gains? What is desirable? What should be done?
Disagreements about what counts as science
Critiques motivate methodological alternatives
Assumptions affect which evidence is privileged
Methods alone do not define a paradigm.
Pragmatic use of methods does not remove all philosophical disagreement.