Since our first class and discussion on truth, my quick write on this topic revealed that I had a pragmatic worldview-the focus on research outcomes. At first I was surprised since I thought my writing would have fallen under social constructivism or maybe the advocacy/participatory researchers’ view. As I reread this section in Creswell (2007), it occurred to me that I would definitely feel comfortable using multiple methods of data collection in my own research. I also connected with the other beliefs of pragmatism that Creswell (2007) outlined and discussed where he states that this approach offers the freedom of choice for individual researchers to choose the methods, techniques, and procedures to meet their purposes and needs.
As I thought more about the topic of truth, a vivid childhood memory surfaced of my mother explaining the concept of Rashomon after a beautiful vase ended up on the floor broken in pieces as my sister and I played a little too closely to the china cabinet. After two dramatic and Oscar worthy performances from my sister and me on the fate of the vase, we were shocked that we each had different views about how that vase ended up broken. We were both there when the vase crashed to the floor but we were each telling a different “truth” from our own point of view.
(Rashomon, a film by Kurosawa, is the story of four people that witness a crime and proceed to describe what they saw from four different viewpoints.)
FYI-connecting back to qualitative research, I came across this interesting article-
Heider, K. G. (1988). The rashomon effect: When ethnographers disagree. American
Anthropologist, 90(1), 73-81. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198103757?accountid=10932
Ethnographers rarely disagree with each other's interpretations of a culture, and when disagreements do arise they are usually handled by discreet avoidance or confused partisanship.
Thinking about what your reflection of the broken vase makes me think about my own quick write about truth. I believe that truth lies some place in between what is said and what is observed. It is the line that gets covered over in the aftermath as people try to conceal the truth. It is only through reflection, that truth gets revealed.
ReplyDeleteIn research, you read through many articles thinking about the truth that lies within and critique the written words based on the evidence presented as it is not always valid. This past week, I went to a session in a conference and during one of the table discussions, a teacher made mention of the importance of teaching students to be able to validate sources of information on the web. There we go... She was not talking about teaching high school or college students about the truth. Rather, she was talking about teaching elementary and middle school students about being able to find the truth in articles they find on the web. As new academic standards come into play in the next year, as educators, we are going to have to help young students find the truth. The new standards are about helping students develop as readers and writers who are able to position themselves and take a stand based on their own personal, cultural, and historical experiences. As students read and write from different genres, they will be able to find the truth.
Thinking about truth as it applies to research makes me wonder about its virtual counterpart--bias. It creeps in a lot, which is something we as students/readers/practitioners need to look out for, and what we've been cautioned about in one of our courses last year. Looking at bias from another perspective, however, that of the researcher, I can see where leaning toward bias would be tempting. I imagine that before even a word is written, authors might hope that results will prove consistent with a point they wish to make. Professors have said that one can even make statistics slant a certain way. That's why I appreciate the focus now on evidence-based--not just scientifically-based--teaching practices. I think there's something more truthful and therefore more valid in that.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the rashomon reference. I'm going to look it up!
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