The contributors and editor of this work are to be commended for their successful efforts in delineating many of the concerns current within education and in calling for frank debate on these issues by all interested parties. Furthermore, they have stimulated good scholarship by readily admitting to the current state of affairs being one of more questions than answers and more confusion than clarity. They thus remind us that the search for knowledge is one fraught with conflict in a public arena. The appropriate audience for this volume is assessed to be the reader who derives satisfaction from critical thinking. It would be appropriate for graduate students in education, human services, social sciences, or theology, or any person committed to the endeavor and process of education. "The Paradigm Dialog is one of those rare books that simultaneously stretches the mind while projecting one into self-reflection. For the applied practitioner, whether teacher, counselor, or consultant, the possibility of gaining further insight into the underlying assumptions which constrain one′s pedagogy or practice is highly possible upon a critical reading." --The Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling Is scientific positivism, long the reigning paradigm for research in the social sciences, the "best way" to conduct social research? This is the central question examined in The Paradigm Dialog. Recently three key challengers have appeared--postpositivism, critical theory, and constructivism. All three offer researchers new methodological approaches, and all three present fundamental questions that must be addressed. Can research be conducted between paradigms? Are they equally useful in answering questions of applied research? What constitutes good, or ethical, research in each? In this volume, these and other significant questions are examined by a multidisciplinary group of leading figures in qualitative research. Not surprisingly, there is no agreement on the "best" paradigm question, but the dialog offered in this compelling volume deftly explores important issues in selecting the proper paradigm for tackling a variety of research questions. With a group of contributors that reads like a veritable who′s who in qualitative research, The Paradigm Dialog is a must for anyone conducting research in the social sciences.

Table of Contents:
Foreword - Egon G Guba PART ONE: SETTING THE STAGE The Alternative Paradigm Dialog PART TWO: POINTS OF VIEW Postpositivistic Science - Denis C Phillips Myths and Realities Whose Future? Whose Past? Notes on Critical Theory and Methodology - Thomas S Popkewitz The Making of a Constructivist - Yvonna S Lincoln A Remembrance of Transformations Past The Meaning of Alternative Paradigms for Practice - Elliot W Eisner PART THREE: THE NEED FOR DIALOG: ISSUES AND INTERPRETATIONS Introduction - Egon G Guba Accomodation Accommodation - William A Firestone Toward a Paradigm-Praxis Dialectic Social Accomodation - Thomas M Skrtic Toward a Dialogical Discourse in Educational Inquiry Discussion on Accommodation - Ann Austin Ethics Ethics, Field Studies and the Paradigm Crisis - Louis M Smith An Ethics of Qualitative Field Studies - Ernest R House Discussion on Ethics - Thomas Gregory Goodness Criteria Alternative Research Paradigms and the Problem of Criteria - John K Smith Goodness Criteria - Catherine Marshall Are They Objective Realities or Judgment Calls? Discussion on Criteria - Lois Heshusius Implementation Toward a Dialog about Implementation Within a Conceptual Cycle of Inquiry - Judith L Green and Susanne Chandler Peering at Paradigms Through the Prism of Practice Improvement - David P Crandall Discussion on Implementation - Corinne Glesne Knowledge Accumulation Three Views on the Nature and Role of Knowledge in Social Science - Jennifer C Greene Emergent Paradigms. How New? How Necessary? - Margaret D LeCompte Discussion on Knowledge Accumulation - Judith Preissle Goetz Methodology Paths to Inquiry in the Social Disciplines - Thomas R Schwandt Scientific, Constructivist and Critical Theory Methodologies Ruminations on Methodology - Gail McCutcheon Of Truth and Significance Discussion on Methodology - Marion Lundy Dobbert Training So-Called Training in the So-Called Alternative Paradigm - Shulamit Reinharz A Response to So-Called Training in the So-Called Alternative Paradigm - Jeri R Nowakowski Reactions to the Dark Half Discussion on Training - Judy Barford Values Reinscribing Otherwise - Patti A Lather The Play of Values in the Practices of the Human Sciences Show and Tell - Madeleine Grumet A Response to the Value Issue in Alternative Paradigms for Inquiry Discussion on Values - John P Beck PART FOUR: SUMMATION AND PROJECTION Introduction - Egon G Guba A Postnote - Alan Peshkin Tales from the Rear Next Steps - Harbans S Bhola The Auditors′ Report Carrying on the Dialog - Egon G Guba