Critical Autoethnography for Social Justice Research in Doctoral Education

As autoethnography and other methods for self-as-subject research continue to increase in use across doctoral education, this guide proposes to inform the methods in this area specific to critical autoethnography for doctoral scholars desiring to conduct the many forms of social justice research. This includes indigenous research, contemporary feminist research, and arts-based research, which have also seen rise across dissertation research among many disciplines. While many works exist to describe critical autoethnography within specific contexts, few research guides examine critical autoethnography specific for use by the doctoral scholar and specific examples across research focused on societal change and/or disruption of existing power dynamics, lack of parity, or historical trauma from acculturation and/or dispossession. Thus, this chapter offers a concise research methods resource for doctoral scholars and their research supervisors to facilitate use of critical autoethnography across disciplines and among diverse research problems of inquiry.

Action Research Approaches

The contemporary use of action research draws on the exploratory, inductive nature of many qualitative research approaches—no matter the type of data collected—because the type of research problems studied are complex, dynamic, and located in rapidly changing contexts. When action research is undertaken to support social and organizational change, support from stakeholders affected by the research problem is essential, creating further complexity. Action research may serve as an alternative to more traditional views of social science. In this chapter, the authors describe action research as envisioned by Kurt Lewin, its originator. They show how two variants of action research—action science and collaborative developmental action inquiry—advance insight into how action research can be used to develop personal capability to address system changes that action research seeks to unveil. They conclude with reflections on criteria for rigor and relevance in action research in today's post-modern, complex world.

Contextualizing Action Research

This chapter focuses on designing and conducting action research in diverse settings. Action research is a collaborative approach to problem solving. It involves consultative problem identification, reflects context, encourages reflexive examination, and ultimately encourages and empowers beneficiaries for desirable change. In that regard, it puts all stakeholders at the core of the change process. The process of change from research project conceptualization to analysis and policy implications is thus made more understandable and meaningful to community actors (beneficiaries). The chapter features three empirical models from diverse parts of the world. These are Model 1: Photo-voice as a form action research depicting an underused footbridge in Barbados; Model 2: DANIDA Community Water and Sanitation Project, Ghana; and REACH After School Enrichment Program, USA. All these models show that action research process is people and community-centered, attentive to the views of people as individuals with their own unique needs, resources, and interests.

Researching Teaching in Higher Education

Grounded theory, since Glaser and Strauss conceived of it, has been applied to myriad research situations. Variation characterises the use of grounded theory, and the landscape of grounded theory is ‘messy' and difficult to navigate, especially for novice researchers, and subsequently, many existing studies lack transparency and detail, employing only loosely grounded theory methodologies. The authors argue for the value of grounded theory research in education, especially for teacher researchers, but this value can only be realised if researchers attend in-depth to articulating clearly their methodologies and justifying how the methodology can be considered grounded theory. In the chapter, the authors aim to provide a primer on grounded theory, and to stimulate discussion around grounded theory as a research method in teaching, especially in higher education, for the purpose of generating knowledge as a basis for improving the quality of university teaching.

The Democratic Potential of Narrative, Poetry, and Performance

This chapter will present an overview of three particular methodologies of arts-based research: narrative, poetry, and performance. This chapter will discuss the ways in which these methodological approaches to research may be effective means through which to capture and share the knowledge possessed by community stakeholders. This chapter has positioned community stakeholders as partners in arts-based research. When university faculty and community stakeholders form reciprocal, mutually beneficial partnerships, it becomes possible to create and disseminate the knowledge needed to support a democratic society.

Case Study and Self Study as Means for Program Improvement in Teacher Education

Proponents of the evidence-based movement in education maintain that decisions around policy and practice should be grounded in data outcomes. However, insufficient research exists on data use in teacher education programs as much of the research on data use is concentrated on K-12 programs. The purpose of this case study was to investigate the data use practices of an educator preparation program so as to facilitate program improvement efforts. The collective qualitative data described in this study was key to informing continuous improvement areas within this educator preparation program. Therefore, this case study offers insight as to how qualitative data can support and inform program improvement efforts.

A Review of Single Case Study and Multiple Case Study Research Designs

In the field of education, case study is a widely used qualitative research methodology. While there are a broad range of approaches to case study, the resources available to researchers is limited. Therefore, this chapter aims to shed some light on what defines a case study and some of the possible methodological variations. The goal of this chapter is to provide the reader with a foundational understanding of a case study as a methodology and how this methodology aligns within various research contexts in the field of education.

Participatory Action Research in Adult Education

Participatory action research (PAR) is an embodied form of inquiry that engages those most affected by an issue or problem in creating knowledge and developing solutions. PAR epistemology intersects with a critical approach to adult education in its belief that programs, methods, and content must be relevant to learner needs and challenges and ought to lead to greater social justice. The purpose of this chapter is to offer a review of three critical, participatory inquiry methods that are connected to the ontological and epistemological anchors of PAR. The authors present readers with a useful description of how to enact these onto-epistemological anchors through these methods in diverse contexts. They conclude that these methods have great potential for critical educators to live out their own onto-epistemological commitments, better understand and meet learner needs, and facilitate positive social change.

The Importance of Qualitative Methods in Mixed Methods Studies

This chapter presents a thorough review of the literature dedicated to learning more about mixed methods research design. Explanatory sequential mixed methods studies and exploratory sequential mixed methods studies are the two types of mixed methods research design models that this chapter presents in detail. To contextualize different ideas related to research design, the author provides examples of research studies that exemplify different research designs falling within mixed methods. The main objective of this chapter is to highlight the important role that qualitative research design plays in mixed methods research. Such a presentation of the literature aims to argue that qualitative data substantiates quantitative data as a means to heighten the regard which the qualitative methodology receives.

Valuing Indigenous Research Paradigms in the Context of Language Acquisition

The purpose of this chapter is to justify the value of Indigenous research paradigms, specifically in the context of research on language acquisition. This argument has implications not only for research on language acquisition and the practice of language instruction but also for qualitative research, more broadly. Specifically, depending on the context of a given research project, it may be critical for educational researchers to value and respect Indigenous epistemologies and worldviews; otherwise, educational research endeavors may be adding to knowledge at the expense of devaluing research participants and local communities.