Consistency, Understanding and Truth in Educational Research

Abstract

What do Elliot Eisner's discussions of objectivity mean for the strength of the link between consistency and truth in educational research? Following his lead, I pursue this question by comparing aspects of qualitative educational research with appraising the arts. I argue that some departures from the highest levels of consistency in assessing the arts are compatible with truth and objectivity, and that this is at least suggestive for how consistency in qualitative educational research should be viewed. In the final part of the paper I look at some problems inherent in comparing the value of works of art, and consider whether similar issues arise when we attempt to grade different kinds of educational research.

Exploring Novice Teachers’ Professional Identity in the Indonesian EFL Context

“…Identity is a complex, multifaceted, multilayer, construct, progressive reconstruction, in which a person learns and claims membership that is influenced by power relations [35]- [37]. It was also stated that identity is a complex concept, multifaceted, and socially forms the process of interpreting the situation, and together, identity, social and relationships form a professional identity gradually [38], [39]. Moreover, identity is considered as a psychological, as well as social conception [40].…”

Three minutes of fame: Effects of movie commentary video style on users’ liking and commenting intentions

“…Dramas often, re ecting people's affection, friendship and love, have tragic or at least painful resolutions with profound meaning (Rodero and Lucas, 2021). Viewers are attracted to the plot and characters when watching a drama movie, and reach "a level of consensus" in the sense of being moved (Davis, 2006). In the commentary of drama movie videos, by inserting some tender feeling clips of the movie, commentator expresses and conveys emotions with delicate shots and the expressive gentle voices, so as to impress the viewers and generate emotional resonance (Woo, 2008).…”

Engaging New Audiences: Translating Research Into Popular Media

“…With social-realist narrative films, validity is established less by the dispassionate dissection of methods and data than by the emotional resonance (or its absence) of the story and characters for audiences. Audiences may not agree about the “meaning” of the film, or who the villain or the victim is, but they can achieve “a level of consensus” (Davis, 2006, p. 492) in the sense of being moved to consider the similarities or differences between what is depicted and their own lives, thereby generating new frameworks for interpreting social conditions. For an iconic example in another medium, consider the figure of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman.…”

“…Despite this growing body of literature about the contributions of arts-based epistemologies to education research, there has been persistent debate in more broad-based settings (such as in Educational Researcher) on whether a work of fiction or imaginative art can be considered research or a representation of data (Eisner, 1997); whether a work of fiction is sufficiently amenable to generalization (Davis, 2006;Eisner, 2006); and whether education research should be purely the domain of science (Barone, 2001b;Mayer, 2000Mayer, , 2001. Conversely, just as arts-based research is being criticized for not being "scientific" enough, there are also worries that the work may not be sufficiently "artistic," in that arts practitioners have questioned the extent to which arts-based research products qualify or should aim to qualify as bone fide aesthetic or literary texts (Barone, 2001a;Piirto, 2002;Sanders, 2006).…”