Methodology

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A dispetto della sua ampia diffusione, la ricerca qualitativa continua a essere bersaglio di critiche sulla solidità dei suoi risultati e sulla loro generalizzabilità. Tutti questi addebiti sono solitamente ricondotti a una contestazione più generale, la mancanza di rigore. Questo libro sostiene le ragioni della ricerca qualitativa, proponendo una versione alternativa di rigore, modellata attingendo agli strumenti della teoria dell’argomentazione. L’autore concentra l’attenzione sulle tappe della ricerca qualitativa che precedono e seguono il lavoro sul campo, il disegno della ricerca, l’analisi dei dati e la scrittura. Corredato da un ricco repertorio di esempi, il volume tratteggia un insieme di principi teorici ed epistemologici utili a guidare la pratica della ricerca qualitativa.

Research Paradigms: Researchers’ Worldviews, Theoretical Frameworks and Study Designs


Sayyed Rashid Shah
Faculty of Engineering
King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia

Abdullah Al-Bargi
English Language Institute
King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia




Abstract
For novice researchers, in the fields of educational and social research, the choice of an appropriate research paradigm and relevant methodology is an uphill task. The vast amount of literature on this subject further exacerbates the confusion of early-career researchers. Hence, the current paper introduces them to the philosophical underpinnings of three major research paradigms in research. It delineates the positivistic, interpretive, and critical paradigms with an aim to seek a connexion among the ontology, epistemology, methodology and methods of each paradigm. In addition, it explores various underlying assumptions in educational research that have an impact on researchers’ world views, theoretical frameworks and study designs. 

Keywords: methods; methodology; research paradigms; study designs; worldviews

Ziel dieses Artikels ist es zum einen, mit dem Begriff der diskursiven Exklusion eine Konzeptualisierung von Exklusion zu unterbreiten, welche den theoretischen Anforderungen an einen soziologisch-analytischen Begriff gewachsen ist und zum anderen, methodische Hinweise zur Erforschung von Exklusionsprozessen zu bieten. Ich werde hierzu die drei emergenten Forschungsperspektiven der Diskursanalyse "nach dem Strukturalismus", der Dispositivanalyse, und der wissenssoziologischen Diskursanalyse vorstellen und jeweils danach fragen, welches Analysepotenzial von ihnen ausgeht, um soziale Exklusion soziologisch zu fassen. Dabei wird sich zeigen, dass jede dieser Perspektiven bestimmte Aspekte in den Vordergrund ruckt, dabei aber wiederum andere vernachlassigt. Am Ende des Artikels werden Moglichkeiten einer Kombination der Ansatze diskutiert. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1302199

Cave diving is one of the most technical and potential dangerous forms of diving done today. It may involve use of multiple tanks, regulators and gas mixtures or rebreathers, in combination with powerful long-range diver propulsion vehicles, to penetrate thousands of meters into submerged cave systems where direct ascent to the surface in the case of emergencies is impossible. In order to carry out scientific studies under such difficult conditions, individuals must be highly competent and experienced cave divers. In spite of these problems, numerous scientific investigations in the fields of biology, ecology, microbiology, geology, hydrology and archaeology have carried out by cave diving scientists. Exploratory cave divers have provided the initial impetus for this research by exploring and mapping underwater caves.

Le present article, consacre a la mesure de competences langagieres, met en evidence les similitudes et les differences entre tests informels (utilises en classe) et tests standardises (utilises entre autres pour la recherche). Afin de concretiser les reflexions d'ordre methodologique, il presente les premiers resultats d'une etude longitudinale sur la maturite bilingue en Suisse. Cette recherche montre que les gymnasiens inscrits a cette filiere obtiennent, des le depart, des resultats de tests significativement superieurs a ceux des eleves des classes paralleles servant de groupe temoin. L'article se termine par des considerations sur le debat actuel en rapport avec une eventuelle introduction de standards de formation dans le domaine des langues etrangeres au niveau gymnasial.

Modern-day zoos and aquariums market themselves as places of education and conservation. A recent study conducted by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) (Falk et al., 2007) is being widely heralded as the first direct evidence that visits to zoos and aquariums produce long-term positive effects on people’s attitudes toward other animals. In this paper, we address whether this conclusion is warranted by analyzing the study’s methodological soundness. We conclude that Falk et al. (2007) contains at least six major threats to methodological validity that undermine the authors’ conclusions. There remains no compelling evidence for the claim that zoos and aquariums promote attitude change, education, or interest in conservation in visitors, although further investigation of this possibility using methodologically sophisticated designs is warranted.

This article presents a preparation methodology for making clear yield pseudoplastic fluids so that repetitive and consistent rheological measurements can be made using two types of Carbopol 980 and Carbopol Ultrez-10. The methodology calls for gentle agitation while dispersing the polymer, leaving it static for 30 minutes for air bubble removal and neutralization while agitating with NaOH followed by 1 hour for the 980 type and 5 hours for the Ultrez-10. Results are presented for the change of rheological parameters with polymer type, polymer concentration, with hydration time, and temperature. Almost all samples exhibited rheological behavior which could be very well described by the Herschel-Bulkley rheological model. Carbopol 980 solutions appear to be very suitable as model clear yield pseudoplastic fluids while Ultrez-10 solutions present some peculiarities rendering them not so suitable as model fluids.

This paper presents the implementation of the recent methodology called Adaptable Time Warping (ATW) for the automatic identification of mixture of crystallographic phases from powder X-ray diffraction data, inside the framework of a new integrative platform named hITeQ. The methodology is encapsulated into a so-called workflow, and we explore the benefits of such an environment for streamlining discovery in R&D.

In this paper we present and discuss standardized T score systems for neuropsychological test data. Both linear and normalized T scores were calculated for 141 normal subjects and a group of 141 patients with diffuse or focal brain damage. Many standard neuropsychological tests have skewed raw score and linear T score distributions, and we argue that normalized T scores have practical advantages because they permit simple descriptions of both patient groups and individual test score distributions. We also argue that skewness can be partially explained by ceiling effects and other test construction artefacts and that skewed raw score distributions do not necessarily reflect skewed distributions of the underlying mental abilities. Consequently, use of normalized T scores seems appropriate in many research and clinical contexts.

Les avancées scientifiques et techniques des sciences de la vie ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives d’application à l’homme. Or, ces perspectives semblent défier l’analyse et la représentation, par la multitude des possibilités offertes, ce qui fait problème. Pour remédier autant que possible à cette difficulté, nous avons proposé, dans un premier temps, de procéder à une analyse de la structure anthropologique de l’imaginaire humain pour discerner les grands types de réalisations auxquels l’humanité aspire. En effet, ces motivations profondes sont les plus puissants moteurs de l’histoire envisageables. En un second temps, il s’agissait de passer quelques unes de ces grandes motivations au crible de ce qui paraît scientifiquement et techniquement possible, afin de cerner assez rigoureusement quelques perspectives plausibles. Ainsi peut-on espérer formuler un essai de prospective philosophique raisonné, permettant pour partie d’éclairer la façon dont le développement des sciences de la vie va s’incarner en l’homme.

Multicore embedded systems introduce new opportunities and challenges. Scaling of computational power is one of the main reasons for a transition to a multicore environment. Parallel design patterns, such as Map Reduce, Task Graph, Thread Pool, Task Parallelism assist to derive a parallel approach for calculating the Fast Fourier Transform. By combining these design patterns, a robust application can be obtained. The key issues for concurrent calculation of a Fast Fourier Transform are determined at a higher level avoiding low-level patch-ups.

Online interviews are deemed an effective and appropriate approach for accessing discourse about the online experiences of people with disabilities. Some of the central arguments in support of conducting discursive research online, a type of qualitative approach, are delineated. Various practical benefits are considered for researchers, as well as participants—especially those with disabilities. Ethical issues surrounding access to, and the analysis of, readily available data in online communities are brought to the fore. In light of ethical dilemmas surrounding naturalistic data collection online, an alternative approach is offered, which utilizes online interviews with people with disabilities about their online experiences. A description of the data-collection process is given, including participants and recruitment, materials and procedures, rapport building, and security and ethics. Reflections on the process highlight how methodological pitfalls were managed and, in some cases...