Reflectivity in Research Practice

Abstract

The article grounds on the assumption that researchers, in order to be not mere technicians but competent practitioners of research, should be able to reflect in a deep way. That means they should reflect not only on the practical acts of research but also on the mental experience which constructs the meaning about practice. Reflection is a very important mental activity, both in private and professional life. Learning the practice of reflection is fundamental because it allows people to engage into a thoughtful relationship with the world-life and thus gain an awake stance about one's lived experience. Reflection is a crucial cognitive practice in the research field. Reflexivity is largely practiced in qualitative research, where it is used to legitimate and validate research procedures. This study introduces different perspectives of analysis by focusing the discourse on the main philosophical approaches to reflection: pragmatistic, critical, hermeneutic, and finally phenomenological. The thesis of this study is that the phenomenological theory makes possible to analyze in depth the reflective activity and just by that to support an adequate process of training of the researcher.

Adjust your own oxygen mask before helping those around you: an autoethnography of participatory research

“…Fields such as education and mindfulness have embraced debates on the ontological and epistemological foundations of research and practice [ 97 , 98 , 132 – 134 ], and the emerging idea of value-based medicine [ 135 , 136 ] emphasizes philosophical underpinnings and patient empowerment [ 20 ]. However, implementation dialogue focuses on the methodological level of what constitutes credible evidence, not philosophical viewpoints of reality and knowledge [ 55 ].…”

“…To capture her own cognitive-social-emotional experience within the work, the GRA wrote general field notes for at least 1 h per week as a process of critical reflection and self-inquiry in which she “play[ed] at the same time the role of subject who reflects and object who is reflected” [ 98 ] (p. 1). True to theoretically informed ethnography [ 110 ], she iteratively integrated evidence-based concepts and classical theories from other fields [ 112 ] so that the fieldnotes were simultaneously data collection and data analysis.…”

“…What autoethnography lacks in conventional control and a priori systemization is made up for by ongoing, interdisciplinary, theoretical dialogue, and critical reflection. Critical reflection [ 96 – 98 ] has not been explicitly explored as a method of implementation inquiry above and beyond the standard integration of reflexivity within qualitative studies. However, in fields such as education and cognitive science, critical reflection is practiced and studied as a process “that allows us a rigorous approach to the scientific work…because it enhances the capability of the mind to go in depth in its life” [ 98 ] (p. 7).…”

“…Critical reflection [ 96 – 98 ] has not been explicitly explored as a method of implementation inquiry above and beyond the standard integration of reflexivity within qualitative studies. However, in fields such as education and cognitive science, critical reflection is practiced and studied as a process “that allows us a rigorous approach to the scientific work…because it enhances the capability of the mind to go in depth in its life” [ 98 ] (p. 7). Intentionally embracing such a subjective method within implementation science poses various limitations, particularly within dominant (post-) positivist paradigms.…”

Reflection of Preservice Teacher Professional Performance for Promoting Transdisciplinary Learning in Primary School Education

“…Self-reflection is defined as an activity of thinking about one's own feelings and behaviour and the reasons that may lie behind them (Cambridge Dictionary, 2019). Mortari (2015) describes this process as 'a turning back on oneself', where the inquirer -at once -is both the observed and the active observer. Schön (1987) distinguishes reflection in action, reflection on action (after action) and reflection on reflection (student's metacognition).…”