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Explanatory accounts in international and comparative higher education research
Author(s) -
Cantwell Brendan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
higher education quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.976
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1468-2273
pISSN - 0951-5224
DOI - 10.1111/hequ.12246
Subject(s) - explanatory power , meaning (existential) , field (mathematics) , sociology , epistemology , macro , empirical research , positive economics , higher education , power (physics) , social science , political science , economics , computer science , law , philosophy , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics , programming language
Abstract Developing plausible explanations rooted in theory and supported by evidence is a challenge for comparative higher education studies. The purpose of this article is to consider how comparative studies in higher education might develop accounts that allow the research community to enhance explanatory power. Higher education studies can advance explanations about what is happening and why, as well as interpret the meaning of occurrences by drawing broadly on realist scholarly traditions. Rather than prioritising a methodology, the field should prioritise essential questions and address them with all appropriate empirical tools. Avenues for explanatory research include bounded case studies, multi‐method investigations into specific phenomena, mechanism‐based approaches and macro‐social analysis.