Reflexivity for Restorying the Ontological and Epistemological Truths in Qualitative Research
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5195/ie.2023.339Keywords:
philosophy, praxis, antiracism, critical inquiry, transformative learningAbstract
This article serves to contextualize and problematize reflexivity as a construct for restorying the truths told by doctoral students in qualitative dissertation research. First, it gives an overview of Webster University’s EdD program and its inception of requiring qualitative research coursework for contextualizing the importance of qualitative framing in doctoral research. Then, the authors review and examine the definitions of reflexivity as a construct in qualitative research, the logic-of-inquiry required in dissertation research, the connections of reflexivity to the program ethos, global perspectives on worldview and knowledge construction, and the reframing of ontological and epistemological truths in the literature. The EdD Director and five doctoral candidates recount their positionality and intersectionality and contest the status quo framings of worldview and knowledge construction in educational research. Their resistance to the traditional ontological and epistemological truths and advocacy for restorying via reflexivity is a manifestation of their dedication to transforming the status quo ontology and epistemology in educational research.
References
Allen, B. J. (2012). Introduction. In G. G. y Muhs, Y. F. Niemann, C. G. Gonzalez, and A. P. Harris (Eds.), Presumed incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia (pp. 17-19). University Press of Colorado.
Bengtson, E., Lasater, K. Murphy-Lee, M. M., and Jones, S. J. (2016). The role of research courses. In J.A. Perry (Ed.), The Ed.D. and the scholarly practitioner: The CPED path (pp. 79-104). Information Age Publishing.
Bracken, S. (2010). Discussing the importance of ontology and epistemology awareness in practitioner research. Worcester Journal of Learning and Teaching, 4, 1–9.
Chiseri-Strater, E. (1996). Turning in upon ourselves: Positionality, subjectivity and reflexivity in case study and ethnographic research. In P. Mortensen, & G. Kirsch (Eds.), Ethics and representation in qualitative studies of literacy (pp. 115–133). National Council of Teachers.
Clay, V. (2022, May 13). The racial barriers: An exploration of mental health resources for school counselors in urban schools. In Webster University School of Education Commencement Ceremony, [Speech, unpublished], St. Louis, MO, United States.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
Davis, T., and Harrison, L. M. (2013). Advancing social justice: Tools, pedagogies, and strategies to transform your campus. Jossey-Bass.
Denzin, N. K., Lincoln, Y. S., Giardina, M. D. (2006). Disciplining qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 19(6), 769–782. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390600975990
Dewey, J. (1938). Logic: The theory of inquiry. Read Books Ltd.
Dixon, T. (2022a). Personal reflection I. [Unpublished vignette]. Doctor of Education. School of Education. Webster University.
Dixon, T. (2022b). Personal reflection II. [Unpublished vignette]. Doctor of Education. School of Education. Webster University.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (1998). The souls of black folk: And related readings. McDougal Littell Inc.
Dubnewick, M., Clandinin, D. J., Lessard, S., & McHugh, T. L. (2018). The centrality of reflexivity through narrative beginnings: Towards living reconciliation. Qualitative Inquiry, 24(6), 413–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800417727762
Haynes, K. (2012). Reflexivity in qualitative research. In G. Symon, & C. Cassell (Eds.), Qualitative organizational research: Core methods and current challenges (pp. 72-89). Sage Publications
Humphreys, M. (2005). Getting personal: Reflexivity and autoethnographic vignettes. Qualitative Inquiry, 11(6), 840–860. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800404269425
Kinloch, V. (2022, October 12). Who will join this? [CPED 2022 Convening Opening Speech]. CPED 2022 Convening. Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
Lakoff, G. (2004). Don’t think of an elephant. Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
Lee-Johnson, Y. L. (2023). Whitewashedness in teacher education: Intertextuality between colorblindness and the Ferguson Event. Urban Education, 58(3), 518–546. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085919857803
Lincoln, Y.S. & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.
Meier, A. (1963). Negro thought in America 1880-1915. The University of Michigan Press.
Milner, H. R., IV. (2007). Race, culture, and researcher positionality: Working through dangers seen, unseen, and unforeseen. Educational Researcher, 36(7), 388–400. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X07309471
Milner, H. R., IV. (2022). Interrogating consequential education research in pursuit of truth. American Educational Research Association (AERA) 2023 Annual Meeting Presidential Program Theme. https://www.aera.net/Portals/38/AERA%202023%20AM%20Program%20Theme.pdf
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2018). Epistemic freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and decolonization. Routledge.
O’Connor, K. (2022). Dissertation prospectus [Unpublished manuscript]. Doctor of Education. School of Education. Webster University.
Pasque, P. A., Patton, L. D., Gayles, J. G., Gooden, M. A., Henfield, M. S., Milner, H. R., Peters, A., & Stewart, D. L. (2021). Unapologetic educational research: Addressing anti-blackness, racism, and white supremacy. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 22(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/15327086211060451
Scheurich, J. J., & Young, M. D. (1997). Coloring epistemologies: Are our research epistemologies racially biased? Educational Researcher, 26(4), 4–16. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x026004004
Schwandt, T. A. (2015). The SAGE dictionary of qualitative inquiry. Sage.
Solorzano, D. G., and Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for educational research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103
Stanfield, J. H., II. (1993). Epistemological considerations. In J. H. Stanfield II & R. M. Dennis (Eds.), Race and ethnicity in research methods (pp.16-36). Sage.
Strunk, K. K. & Locke, L. A. (eds.) (2019). Research methods for social justice and equity in education. Palgrave Macmillan. The Florida Senate. (2023, July 1). HB 999: Public Postsecondary Educational Institutions. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/999/?Tab=BillText
Tomar, B. (2014). Axiology in teacher education: Implementation and challenges. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education, 4(2), 51–54. https://doi.org/10.9790/7388-04235154
Valandra, V. (2012). Reflexivity and professional use of self in research: A doctoral student’s journey. Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research, 6, 204–220.
Webster University Website (n.d.). Global. Innovative. Diverse. https://www.webster.edu
Webster University EdD Program Website (n.d.). Doctor of Education (EdD) https://www.webster.edu/education/academics/doctor-of-education.php
Webster University EdD Google Site (n.d.) Doctor of Education (EdD) https://sites.google.com/view/eddwebster
Woodley, H., & Smith, L. M. (2020). Paradigmatic shifts in doctoral research: reflections using uncomfortable reflexivity and pragmatism. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920907533
Yancy, G. (2004). What White looks like: African-American philosophers on the whiteness question. Routledge.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Yin Lam Lee-Johnson, Kerri Fair, Katherine O'Connor, Tamara Rodney, Jennifer Ono, Trezette Dixon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
- Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- the Work is the Author’s original work;
- the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- the Work has not previously been published;
- the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link.