EPS 411: Philosophical Issues in Educational Research
Spring 2000
Prof. Nicholas C. Burbules
Office 378 (phone 244-0919)
Office hours: M 12-1 and by appt.
E-mail: burbules@uiuc.edu
This seminar is designed to orient students to a range of issues in the philosophy of science and social science, and their significance for educational research. Topics to be addressed include: the nature of theory; the process and criteria for adopting or abandoning theories; whether there are or can be laws covering social events; what it means to "test" a hypothesis; the processes of explanation and prediction; whether social explanation is fundamentally different from scientific explanation; wholism, reductionism, functionalism, structuralism, and other isms; the significance of actions as a locus of social explanation; how actions can be understood, explained, or interpreted; the "textualization" of social phenomena and what that might mean for social research; standards of validity in research; and whether quantitative and qualitative methods of research are dichotomous or compatible.
In the first half of the course, our focus will be exploring the philosophical issues raised by different research approaches to knowledge and understanding. In the second half if the course, we will apply these perspectives to a series of issues pertaining to educational research.
The readings for the course are substantial in quantity, but not overwhelming in difficulty. I have not assumed any background with the particular literatures of philosophy of science or philosophy of social science, but do expect participants to be comfortable with philosophical ideas and forms of argument generally. I have tried to combine both primary and secondary materials to provide an overview of some basic issues. The readings will be available from Dup-it Copies, 808 S. Sixth.
I expect seminar participants to complete the readings for each session. My lectures and class comments will not substitute for the readings, and classroom discussions will be hindered if everyone does not have the same basic background to draw from. Classroom participation will be a factor in final grades.
The written requirement for this course will take place in an unusual form. After each class session, I will email everyone a case study or problem for analysis. I expect each student to respond to this case study or problem, via the class email discussion list, before the following class session. Please write at least 400 words for your initial contribution (roughly one screen full). I certainly encourage participants also to discuss the contributions of others, but this is not required. I will save the contributions of all class participants, and the written component of your final grade will be based on these commentaries and analyses.
Jan 18 INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
Jan 20 THE ROOTS OF POSITIVISM
Moritz Schlick, Positivism and Realism
Hans Reichenbach, The Verifiability Theory of Meaning
Jan 25 THE HUMAN SCIENCES
Peter Winch, The Idea of a Social Science, selections.
Charles Taylor, Interpretation and the Sciences of Man
Jan 27 IS SOCIAL SCIENCE DIFFERENT?
Karl Popper, Unity of Method in the Natural and Social Sciences
Richard Rudner, On the Objectivity of Social Science
Mary Hesse, Theory and Value in the Social Sciences
Feb 1 THE METHODS AND AIMS OF RESEARCH
Jurgen Habermas, Knowledge and Human Interests, selections
Brian Fay, The Basic Scheme of Critical Social Science
Feb 3 POST-POSITIVISM
Bryan Magee, Karl Popper, chs. 2, 3
Pierre Duhem, Physical Theory, Mathematics, and Experiment
D.C. Phillips, After the Wake
Feb 8 THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF RESEARCH
Helen Longino, Science as Social Knowledge, chs. 2, 4
Richard Rorty, Science as Solidarity
Feb 10 KUHN, AND AFTER
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Imre Lakatos, Falsification and the Methodology of Scientific Research Programs
Ian Barbour, Paradigms in Science
Feb 15 WHAT IS A THEORY?
Patrick Suppes, What is a Scientific Theory?
Norman Campbell, Definition of a Theory
Carl Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science,, ch. 6
Feb 17 THEORY AND WAYS OF SEEING
Margaret LeCompte & Judith Preissle, The Role of Theory in the Research Process
Norwood Hanson, Observation
Norwood Hanson, Observation and Interpretation
Feb 22 THEORY AND EXPLANATION
Carl Hempel, Philosophy of Natural Science,, chs. 2, 3, 5
Feb 24 SOCIAL EXPLANATION: WHOLISM AND REDUCTIONISM
Michael Lessnoff, Explanation in Social Science
May Brodbeck, Methodological Individualisms
Feb 29 SOCIAL EXPLANATION: STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
Russell Keat & John Urry, Structure and Structuralism
D.C. Phillips, Structure and Function
Mar 2 SOCIAL EXPLANATION AND THE EXPANATION OF ACTIONS
Keat & Urry, The Explanation and Understanding of Social Action
Alan White, The Philosophy of Action, Introduction
Lawrence Davis, Explanations of Actions
Mar 7 SOCIAL EXPLANATION: RATIONALITY AND NARRATIVE
J.W.N. Watkins, Ideal Types and Historical Explanation
F. Michael Connelly & D. Jean Clandinin, Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry
Mar 9 SOCIAL EXPLANATION AND INTERPRETATION
Clifford Geertz, Thick Description
Paul Ricouer, The Model of the Text
Mar 21 EXPANSION JOINT
Mar 23 THE QUALITATIVE/QUANTITATIVE SPLIT
Yvonna Lincoln & Egon Guba, Naturalistic Inquiry, ch. 1
John Smith and Lous Heshusius, Closing Down the Conversation
Kenneth Howe, Against the Quantitative-Qualitative Incompatibility Thesis
Mar 28 VALIDITY IN SOCIAL RESEARCH
Margaret LeCompte and Judith Preissle, Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Educational Research, ch. 9
Patti Lather, Issues of Validity in Open Ideological Research
Mar 30 THE RHETORICS OF RESEARCH
Charles Bazerman, Codifying the Social Scientific Style
Margaret J. Marshall & Loren Barritt, The Rhetoric of AERJ
Robert Donmoyer, Educational Research in an Era of Paradigm Proliferation
Apr 4 ACTION RESEARCH
Louis Cohen &Lawrence Manion, Action Research
Patti Lather, Research as Praxis
Apr 6 THE "HIDDEN CURRICULUM"
D.C. Phillips, Nicholas Burbules, Who Hides the Hidden Curriculum? pts. 1 & 2
Apr 11 MUST YOU ASK?
Rachel Sharp & Anthony Green, Education and Social Control, ch. 2
Gary Fenstermacher, A Philosophical Consideration of Recent Research on Teaching Effectiveness
Apr 13 INSIDER/OUTSIDER PERSPECTIVES
Pertti Pelto, Anthropological Research, ch. 4
Alasdair Macintyre, The Idea of a Social Science
Maria Lugones & Elizabeth Spelman, Have We Got a Theory for You!
Apr 18 ETHICS OF RESEARCH I
Leslie Roman, Double Exposure
Harry Wolcott, On Seeking — and Rejecting — Validity in Qualitative Research
Apr 20 ETHICS OF RESEARCH II
Michael McKenna et al., Whole Language: A Research Agenda
Carole Edelsky, Whose Agenda is This, Anyway?
John Smith, The Stories Educational Researchers Tell
Apr 25 ETHICS OF RESEARCH III
Frederick Crews, The Revenge of the Repressed, pts. 1 & 2
Correspondence on Crews
Apr 27 REPRESSED MEMORY (cont’d)
Frontline video
May 2 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS