Abstract
It is important, at the outset, to recognize what naturalistic inquiry is and what it is not. Naturalistic inquiry is a paradigm of inquiry; that is, a pattern or model for how inquiry may be conducted. While it is frequently asserted that its distinguishing features are: that it is carried out in a natural setting (and hence the term naturalistic), that it utilizes a case-study format, and that it relies heavily on qualitative rather than quantitative methods, none of these features define naturalistic inquiry. While all of these assertions are essentially correct, no one of them, nor indeed all of them together, capture the full significance of the term paradigm. Paradigms differ from one another on matters much more fundamental than the locale in which the inquiry is conducted, the format of the inquiry report, or the nature of the methods used. Paradigms are axiomatic systems characterized by their differing sets of assumptions about the phenomena into which they are designed to inquire.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bahm, A.J. “Science is not value-free.” Policy Sciences, 2 (1981), 391–6.
Campbell, D.T., and Stanley, J.C. “Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research on teaching.” In: N.L. Gage (ed.), Handbook of Research on Teaching. Chicago, Illinois: Rand, McNally and Company, 1963.
Cook, T. D. and Campbell, D. T. Quasi-Experimentaiion: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings. Chicago, Illinois: Rand, McNally and Company, 1979.
Cook, T.D., and Reichardt, C.I. (eds.) Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Evaluation Research. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, 1979.
Cronbach, L.J. Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 30 (1975), 116–27.
Cronbach, L. J. and Suppes, P. Re search for Tomorrow’s Schools: Disciplined Inquiry in Education. New York, New York: Macmillan Company, 1969.
Denzin, Norman K. “The logic of naturalistic inquiry.” In: Norman K. Denzin, (ed. ) Sociological Methods: A Sourcebook. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., 1978.
Eisner, Elliot, The Educational Imagination. New York, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1979.
Filstead, W.J. “Qualitative methods: a needed perspective in evaluation research.” In: T.D. Cook and C.I. Reichardt (eds.), Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Evaluation Research. Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, 1979.
Glaser, B.G., and Strauss, A.L. The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago, Illinois: Aldine Publishing Company, 1967.
Guba, Egon G. Toward a Methodology of Naturalistic Inquiry in Educational Evaluation. Monograph Series, no. 8. Los Angeles, California: Center for the Study of Evaluation, University of California, 1978.
Guba, Egon G. “Criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of naturalistic inquiries.” Educational Communication and Technology Journal, 29 (1981), 75–92.
Guba, Egon G. “The search for truth: naturalistic inquiry as an option.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Reading Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 1982.
Guba, Egon G., and Lincoln, Yvonna S. Effective Evaluation. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1981.
Hofstadter, D.R. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. New York, New York: Basic Books, 1979.
Homans, G.A. “What kind of a myth is the myth of a value free social science?” Social Science Quarterly, 58 (1978), 530–41.
Kelman, U.C. A Time to Speak: On Human Values and Social Research. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1979.
Krathwohl, D. R. “The myth of value-free evaluation.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 2 (1980), 37–45.
Kuhn, T.S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. International Encyclopedia of Unified Science. Vol. 2, no. 2 (2nd ed.). Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1970.
Lincoln, Yvonna S. “The utility of naturalistic inquiry for special education studies.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Council on Exceptional Children, Houston, Texas, April 1982.
Lincoln, Yvonna S. and Guba, Egon G. “Do evaluators wear grass skirts? Going native and ethnocentrism as problems of utilization in evaluation.” Paper presented to the Joint Annual Meeting of the Evaluation Network and the Evaluation Research Society, Austin, Texas, September 1981.
Lincoln, Yvonna S. and Guba, Egon G. “Establishing Dependability and Confirma-bility in Naturalistic Inquiry Through An Audit.” Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, New York, April 1982.
Lincoln, Yvonna S., and Guba, Egon G. Issues in Naturalistic Inquiry. In preparation.
Mill, J.S. A System of Logic (1843). New York, New York: Longmans, Green, and Company, 1947.
Polanyi, M. The Tacit Dimension. New York, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1966.
Scriven, M. “Objectivity and subjectivity in educational research.” In: L.G. Thomas (ed.) Philosophical Redirection of Educational Research. 71st Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education. Part 1. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Tranel, Daniel D. “A lesson from the physicists.” Personnel and Guidance Journal, 59 (1981), 425–8.
Webb, E. et al. Unobtrusive Measures. Chicago, Illinois: Rand McNally and Company, 1966.
Weir, Eric. “Types of explanation in educational evaluation.” Paper and Report Series, no. 34. Research on Evaluation Project, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon: The Laboratory, 1980.
Wiles, D.K. “Thelogicof Y = f(X) in the study of educational politics.”Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 3 (1981), 67–74.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1983 Kluwer-Nijhoff Publishing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Guba, E.G., Lincoln, Y.S. (1983). Epistemological and Methodological Bases of Naturalistic Inquiry. In: Evaluation Models. Evaluation in Education and Human Services, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6669-7_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-6669-7_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-6671-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-6669-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive