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Benefits of naturalistic methods in research in science education
Author(s) -
Smith Mary Lee
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660190802
Subject(s) - naturalism , naturalistic observation , generalization , construct (python library) , science education , interview , educational research , ethnography , field (mathematics) , mathematics education , epistemology , psychology , inductive reasoning , philosophy of science , nature of science , qualitative research , sociology , computer science , social science , social psychology , mathematics , philosophy , anthropology , pure mathematics , programming language
The author argues that naturalistic (e.g., qualitative, ethnographic) research is appropriate for studying science education. Field methods such as indepth interviewing and observation are used, and the logic of the inquiry is inductive rather than hypothetico‐deductive. The stages of naturalistic research are explained and illustrated with material from the NSF‐sponsored Case Studies in Science Education. Problems in traditional research methods (construct validity, ecological generalization) are presented as justification for inductive models or models based on multiple methods, perspectives, and operations.