Jerry W. Willis (PhD, University of Alabama, Clinical Psychology) is Associate Dean for Research  in the College of Education at Louisiana State University. Prior to joining LSU, he was Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Chief Scientist in the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching at Iowa State University. Dr. Willis has been teaching qualitative research for many years, and has written numerous articles and book chapters on qualitative methods. He has written more than 50 books, conference proceedings and software tutorials, the majority of these works related to teacher education, technology, and higher education. He is also the Editor for the International Journal of Innovation in Higher Education, the Founding Editor of the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, and the Founder of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, which will host its 17th annual conference this year.

• Chapter 1: World Views, Paradigms, and the Practice of Social Science ResearchCase 1. Quantitative ResearchCase 2. Qualitative ResearchThinking about the Foundations and Practice of ResearchWhat This Book Is and Is Not About.What Warrants Our Attention?The Traditional CanonAlternative ParadigmsNew Techniques or New Paradigms?Chapter 2: History and Context of Paradigm DevelopmentPositivism: A Response to Metaphysical and Magical ExplanationsCritical Theory: A Response to Inequities in SocietyInterpretivism: A Response to the Excesses of “Scientific” Social ScienceThe Special Cases of Postmodernism and FeminismChapter 3: Foundational Issues: Postpositivist and Critical PerspectivesSocial Science Research: The View from the Postpositivist ParadigmSocial Science Research: The View from the Critical Theory ParadigmChapter 4: History and Foundations of Interpretivist Research(1) Nature of Reality.(2) Purpose of Research.(3) Acceptable Methodology/Data.(4) The Meaning of Data(5) Relationship of Research to Practice.The Implications of an Interpretivist ApproachWhat Sorts of Research are Worthwhile?Examples of Interpretive ResearchChapter 5: Frameworks for Qualitative ResearchPostpositivist Research“Moments” of Qualitative ResearchSome General Frameworks for Qualitative ResearchChapter 6: General Guidelines for Qualitative ResearchGuidelines for Qualitative ResearchSituated or Contextual Understanding, Not Truth, is the Purpose of ResearchAccept Multiple Sources of InfluenceTake A Foundational Rather Than Technique PerspectivePractice Recursive (Iterative ) and Emergent Data Collection and AnalysisUse Multiple Sources of DataThink of Research as a Reflective ProcessThe Researcher is the Primary Tool for Data Collection and AnalysisAn Emphasis on Participatory versus Nonparticipatory Research.Adopt an Open ApproachDeal With Bias DirectlySelect Natural Contexts for ResearchResearch Should be Holistic, Not AtomisticResearch Involves More Than Induction and Deduction: Analogical Reasoning, Abduction, and Family ResemblancesAlternatives to Postpositivist Criteria for Believability: Validity and ReliabilityAlternative Approaches to Validity and Reliability: Triangulation and MoreConclusions? Aren’t They Generalizations?Chapter 7: Methods of Qualitative ResearchCase 1: Action Research on a Pediatric Surgical WardEstablished Qualitative Research MethodsEthnographyCase Studies: Another Form of Qualitative ObservationInterview ResearchHistorigraphyHistoriography: The Research Methods of History Innovative MethodsParticipatory Qualitative ResearchEmancipatory ResearchCritical Emancipatory Action ResearchChapter 8: Approaches to Data Analysis and IntepretationThe Purpose of ResearchGeneral TheoryObjective DescriptionHermeneutic (Verstehen) UnderstandingStory telling/NarrativeData Analysis FamiliesEyeballing the DataConnoisseurship: A Global PerspectiveHermeneutics as a Data Analysis MethodGrounded TheoryAnalytic InductionA Final Topic: The Ethics of ResearchChapter 9: 21st Century Social Science: Peering into the FutureWill the Cacophony Continue?Why Can’t Social Science Converge on The Answer?CompetitionLinearityDialog as an Alternative to CompetitionThree Approaches to Knowing in Greek ThoughtPlatoAristotleThe HumanitiesChoices 20th Century Social Science MadeSuppose We Chose BadlyTwo Theories That May Help Us Build 21st Century Social SciencePoetic LogicChaos and Complexity Theory: Another Route to a Nonlinea Social Science

"Willis catches the student up on relevant aspects of philosophy, empiricism, history, and prevailing political influences.  This building of chronology is so valuable for students in understanding the origins of specific schools of thought in relations to a paradigm."—Heather T. Zeng, NACADA

Jerry W. Willis (PhD, University of Alabama, Clinical Psychology) is Associate Dean for Research  in the College of Education at Louisiana State University. Prior to joining LSU, he was Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Chief Scientist in the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching at Iowa State University. Dr. Willis has been teaching qualitative research for many years, and has written numerous articles and book chapters on qualitative methods. He has written more than 50 books, conference proceedings and software tutorials, the majority of these works related to teacher education, technology, and higher education. He is also the Editor for the International Journal of Innovation in Higher Education, the Founding Editor of the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, and the Founder of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, which will host its 17th annual conference this year.

• Chapter 1: World Views, Paradigms, and the Practice of Social Science ResearchCase 1. Quantitative ResearchCase 2. Qualitative ResearchThinking about the Foundations and Practice of ResearchWhat This Book Is and Is Not About.What Warrants Our Attention?The Traditional CanonAlternative ParadigmsNew Techniques or New Paradigms?Chapter 2: History and Context of Paradigm DevelopmentPositivism: A Response to Metaphysical and Magical ExplanationsCritical Theory: A Response to Inequities in SocietyInterpretivism: A Response to the Excesses of “Scientific” Social ScienceThe Special Cases of Postmodernism and FeminismChapter 3: Foundational Issues: Postpositivist and Critical PerspectivesSocial Science Research: The View from the Postpositivist ParadigmSocial Science Research: The View from the Critical Theory ParadigmChapter 4: History and Foundations of Interpretivist Research(1) Nature of Reality.(2) Purpose of Research.(3) Acceptable Methodology/Data.(4) The Meaning of Data(5) Relationship of Research to Practice.The Implications of an Interpretivist ApproachWhat Sorts of Research are Worthwhile?Examples of Interpretive ResearchChapter 5: Frameworks for Qualitative ResearchPostpositivist Research“Moments” of Qualitative ResearchSome General Frameworks for Qualitative ResearchChapter 6: General Guidelines for Qualitative ResearchGuidelines for Qualitative ResearchSituated or Contextual Understanding, Not Truth, is the Purpose of ResearchAccept Multiple Sources of InfluenceTake A Foundational Rather Than Technique PerspectivePractice Recursive (Iterative ) and Emergent Data Collection and AnalysisUse Multiple Sources of DataThink of Research as a Reflective ProcessThe Researcher is the Primary Tool for Data Collection and AnalysisAn Emphasis on Participatory versus Nonparticipatory Research.Adopt an Open ApproachDeal With Bias DirectlySelect Natural Contexts for ResearchResearch Should be Holistic, Not AtomisticResearch Involves More Than Induction and Deduction: Analogical Reasoning, Abduction, and Family ResemblancesAlternatives to Postpositivist Criteria for Believability: Validity and ReliabilityAlternative Approaches to Validity and Reliability: Triangulation and MoreConclusions? Aren’t They Generalizations?Chapter 7: Methods of Qualitative ResearchCase 1: Action Research on a Pediatric Surgical WardEstablished Qualitative Research MethodsEthnographyCase Studies: Another Form of Qualitative ObservationInterview ResearchHistorigraphyHistoriography: The Research Methods of History Innovative MethodsParticipatory Qualitative ResearchEmancipatory ResearchCritical Emancipatory Action ResearchChapter 8: Approaches to Data Analysis and IntepretationThe Purpose of ResearchGeneral TheoryObjective DescriptionHermeneutic (Verstehen) UnderstandingStory telling/NarrativeData Analysis FamiliesEyeballing the DataConnoisseurship: A Global PerspectiveHermeneutics as a Data Analysis MethodGrounded TheoryAnalytic InductionA Final Topic: The Ethics of ResearchChapter 9: 21st Century Social Science: Peering into the FutureWill the Cacophony Continue?Why Can’t Social Science Converge on The Answer?CompetitionLinearityDialog as an Alternative to CompetitionThree Approaches to Knowing in Greek ThoughtPlatoAristotleThe HumanitiesChoices 20th Century Social Science MadeSuppose We Chose BadlyTwo Theories That May Help Us Build 21st Century Social SciencePoetic LogicChaos and Complexity Theory: Another Route to a Nonlinea Social Science

"Willis catches the student up on relevant aspects of philosophy, empiricism, history, and prevailing political influences.  This building of chronology is so valuable for students in understanding the origins of specific schools of thought in relations to a paradigm."—Heather T. Zeng, NACADA

Jerry W. Willis (PhD, University of Alabama, Clinical Psychology) is Associate Dean for Research  in the College of Education at Louisiana State University. Prior to joining LSU, he was Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Chief Scientist in the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching at Iowa State University. Dr. Willis has been teaching qualitative research for many years, and has written numerous articles and book chapters on qualitative methods. He has written more than 50 books, conference proceedings and software tutorials, the majority of these works related to teacher education, technology, and higher education. He is also the Editor for the International Journal of Innovation in Higher Education, the Founding Editor of the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, and the Founder of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, which will host its 17th annual conference this year.

• Chapter 1: World Views, Paradigms, and the Practice of Social Science ResearchCase 1. Quantitative ResearchCase 2. Qualitative ResearchThinking about the Foundations and Practice of ResearchWhat This Book Is and Is Not About.What Warrants Our Attention?The Traditional CanonAlternative ParadigmsNew Techniques or New Paradigms?Chapter 2: History and Context of Paradigm DevelopmentPositivism: A Response to Metaphysical and Magical ExplanationsCritical Theory: A Response to Inequities in SocietyInterpretivism: A Response to the Excesses of “Scientific” Social ScienceThe Special Cases of Postmodernism and FeminismChapter 3: Foundational Issues: Postpositivist and Critical PerspectivesSocial Science Research: The View from the Postpositivist ParadigmSocial Science Research: The View from the Critical Theory ParadigmChapter 4: History and Foundations of Interpretivist Research(1) Nature of Reality.(2) Purpose of Research.(3) Acceptable Methodology/Data.(4) The Meaning of Data(5) Relationship of Research to Practice.The Implications of an Interpretivist ApproachWhat Sorts of Research are Worthwhile?Examples of Interpretive ResearchChapter 5: Frameworks for Qualitative ResearchPostpositivist Research“Moments” of Qualitative ResearchSome General Frameworks for Qualitative ResearchChapter 6: General Guidelines for Qualitative ResearchGuidelines for Qualitative ResearchSituated or Contextual Understanding, Not Truth, is the Purpose of ResearchAccept Multiple Sources of InfluenceTake A Foundational Rather Than Technique PerspectivePractice Recursive (Iterative ) and Emergent Data Collection and AnalysisUse Multiple Sources of DataThink of Research as a Reflective ProcessThe Researcher is the Primary Tool for Data Collection and AnalysisAn Emphasis on Participatory versus Nonparticipatory Research.Adopt an Open ApproachDeal With Bias DirectlySelect Natural Contexts for ResearchResearch Should be Holistic, Not AtomisticResearch Involves More Than Induction and Deduction: Analogical Reasoning, Abduction, and Family ResemblancesAlternatives to Postpositivist Criteria for Believability: Validity and ReliabilityAlternative Approaches to Validity and Reliability: Triangulation and MoreConclusions? Aren’t They Generalizations?Chapter 7: Methods of Qualitative ResearchCase 1: Action Research on a Pediatric Surgical WardEstablished Qualitative Research MethodsEthnographyCase Studies: Another Form of Qualitative ObservationInterview ResearchHistorigraphyHistoriography: The Research Methods of History Innovative MethodsParticipatory Qualitative ResearchEmancipatory ResearchCritical Emancipatory Action ResearchChapter 8: Approaches to Data Analysis and IntepretationThe Purpose of ResearchGeneral TheoryObjective DescriptionHermeneutic (Verstehen) UnderstandingStory telling/NarrativeData Analysis FamiliesEyeballing the DataConnoisseurship: A Global PerspectiveHermeneutics as a Data Analysis MethodGrounded TheoryAnalytic InductionA Final Topic: The Ethics of ResearchChapter 9: 21st Century Social Science: Peering into the FutureWill the Cacophony Continue?Why Can’t Social Science Converge on The Answer?CompetitionLinearityDialog as an Alternative to CompetitionThree Approaches to Knowing in Greek ThoughtPlatoAristotleThe HumanitiesChoices 20th Century Social Science MadeSuppose We Chose BadlyTwo Theories That May Help Us Build 21st Century Social SciencePoetic LogicChaos and Complexity Theory: Another Route to a Nonlinea Social Science

"Willis catches the student up on relevant aspects of philosophy, empiricism, history, and prevailing political influences.  This building of chronology is so valuable for students in understanding the origins of specific schools of thought in relations to a paradigm."—Heather T. Zeng, NACADA