Foundations of Inquiry

Guoping Zhao is a Professor at Oklahoma State University, USA. She works in the fields of continental philosophy, comparative philosophy, philosophy of education, and theoretical foundations of inquiry. She is the author of Subjectivity and Infinity: Time and Existence (2020, Palgrave MacMillan), the editor of Levinas and the Philosophy of Education (2018, Routledge), and the co-editor of Re-Envisioning Chinese Education: The Meaning of Person-Making in a New Age (2015, Routledge).Lucy E. Bailey is professor at Oklahoma State University and Director of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies. She conducts research and teaches in the fields of qualitative methodologies, feminist and diversity studies, and foundations of education. She is co-editor of the Research in Life Writing and Education book series (Emerald Press) and has published co-edited books on race and life writing, educational embodiment, and women’s civil war letter writing.

• Introduction and OverviewAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsPart IChapter 1: The Legacy of Positivism in Social ResearchOrigins and Development of PositivismPositivism and Empirical Research: Embedded Assumptions & Guiding BeliefsCritique and Fall from ProminencePositivist LegacyReview Questions and PromptsChapter 2: Post-PositivismThe Rise of Post-PositivismPost-Positivism as a ParadigmImplications for MethodologyDiscussionExamples of Post-Positivist ResearchReview Questions and PromptsPart IIChapter 3: General InterpretivismThe Rise of General InterpretivismThe Interpretivist Turn and Constructionist PhilosophyGeneral Interpretivism as a ParadigmDiscussionImplications for methodologyExamples of Interpretivist ResearchReview Questions and PromptsChapter 4: PhenomenologyHusserl’s Transcendental PhenomenologyMartin Heidegger’s Hermeneutical PhenomenologyMaurice Merleau-Ponty’s Existential PhenomenologyPhenomenology as Philosophical Reflection MethodPhenomenology as a Paradigm for the Social SciencesDiscussionImplications for MethodologyExamples of Phenomenological InquiryReview Questions and PromptsChapter 5: HermeneuticsModern HermeneuticsHermeneutics as a Paradigm for Social ResearchDiscussionMethodological ImplicationsExamples of Hermeneutic StudyReview Questions and PromptsChapter 6: Symbolic InteractionismThe Rise of Sociology and the Chicago SchoolSymbolic Interactionism as a ParadigmMethodological Alignment With SI: EthnographyDiscussionImplications for MethodologyExamples of Symbolic Interactionism ResearchReview Questions and PromptsPart IIIChapter 7: Critical TheoryPrelude: Marx and the Critical PerspectiveThe Rise of Western Marxism and the Frankfurt SchoolCritical TheoryCritical Theory as a ParadigmImplications for Methodology: Critical InquiryDiscussionExamples of Critical InquiryReview Questions and PromptsChapter 8: Critical Race TheoryHistory, Development, and ResponsesCore Propositions of CRTCRT as a ParadigmImplications for Methodology: CRT’s Methodological InnovationsDiscussionExamples of and Resources for Critical Race StudiesReview Questions and PromptsChapter 9: FeminismThe Feminist Movement and the Rise of Feminist EpistemologyFeminist PerspectiveFeminist Perspective as A ParadigmImplications for Methodology: Feminist ResearchDiscussionExamples of Feminist ResearchReview Questions and PromptsChapter 10: Philosophical Grounding for Mixed Methods ResearchThe Rise of Mixed Methods ResearchThe Struggle for Philosophical Justification: The Paradigmatic StancesThe Struggle for Philosophical Justification: Paradigms for MMRDiscussion: The Current State of MMRExamples of Mixed Methods ResearchReview Questions and PromptsPart IVChapter 11: Post-StructuralismThe Development of PoststructuralismDiverse Components of PoststructuralismPoststructuralism as a ParadigmDiscussionImplications for MethodologyExamples of Poststructuralist ResearchReview Questions and PromptsChapter 12: Indigenous ParadigmsIndigenous Worldviews and Ways of KnowingThe Legacy of Colonization and the Decolonizing Inquiry PracticesThe Emergence of Indigenous ParadigmsImplications for MethodologyDiscussionExamples of Research Approaches that Honor and Exemplify Indigenous Ways of Knowing and CommitmentsQuestionsReferencesIndex

This book dives into the importance of understanding your paradigm and approach to research before starting a project, thus providing students with a good foundation to conduct high quality research.