Self-Reflection
Upon completing the latest assignment in the LRNT502 course at Royal Roads University, I am beginning to better understand the concept of “cultures of inquiry” and feel that it is a good time as ever to examine my own innate culture of inquiry. I feel that I must also acknowledge that I have spent considerable time as a student of the social sciences and have internalized many of the paradigms used in sociology and cultural anthropology. This also leads me to consider some of my other biases due to my socio-economic status, generational time-point in history, gender, ethnicity, peer influences and others.
I believe a sensible place to start on this journey of self-reflection, is to start with some foundational research into cultures of inquiry and for that I’m going to reference an excellent book, “Mindful Inquiry in Social Research” written by the duo Valerie Malhotra Bentz and Jeremy J. Shapiro. One of the most basic divisions between those who practice specific cultures of inquiry comes down to beliefs around quantitative versus qualitative data. As captured in the infographic below, you can see that both qualitative and quantitative research methods are not mutually exclusive but “bridge” each other’s gaps. This is a very post-modern assumption as my experiences through the public education system would have me believe that qualitative data was inferior since it cannot be measured easily and is more challenging to interpret. I have come to understand this phenomenon as the positivist backlash to the theological and meta-physical theories of the early nineteenth century. I would argue that qualitative inquiries are a more innately human method of research and that true quantitative research is a learned phenomenon.
Bentz and Shapiro offer some suggestions when exploring cultures of inquiry. They have compiled a list of questions you can ask to determine the nature of any culture of inquiry which will help both to situate yourself and explore other cultures.
Questions
- What are the principal sorts of problems and concerns typically addressed within each tradition?
- What are the underlying epistemological assumptions concerning the sources of knowledge?
- What is the relationship between the researcher and the subject of research in each culture of inquiry?
- What is the nature of attunement between one’s personal style and the culture of inquiry?
(Bentz and Shapiro, p.93-94, 1998)
I’m realizing now, as I am hoping you the reader are, that there is a lot to consider when aligning oneself with a culture of inquiry even at a foundational level. Originally, I had intended to include examples of major cultures of inquiry but this post have left me with much to consider in preparation for part two. In the meantime, my professor has asked us to respond to posts from other members of your cohort and that will be next week’s topic.
Great infographic that outlines the differences between quantitative and qualitative research. Source: http://www.dundas.com/blog-post/analyze-that-a-look-at-your-data/
References
Bentz, V. M., & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.
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