Topic 6

Synthesis of Foundations of Educational Research

北京师范大学研究生课程教育研究的基础：方法论、知识论及本体论

The complexity of the social reality: In light of the ontological characterization of the social reality stipulated by the critical realists and new institutionalists, social and educational researchers are now in a better position to clarify the objects of study confronting them. The features of the social reality may be summarized as follows

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The complexity of the social reality: The primary object of study in social and educational

research is human agent. They are endowed with capacities of meaning creating and understanding, intentional planning and will of carrying out their plans to the ends.

These human agents also endowed with the capacities to work cooperatively and concertedly to fulfill collectively recognized goals. They are able to typify, habitualize, routinize, objectivate, crystalize and institutionalize their concerted efforts into standardized and formalized “rules of the game” known as “institution”(North, 1990, P. 3)

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The complexity of the social reality: Based on the conceptions of social institution

human social interactions are then construed to have possessed the features of regularity, persistence, continuity, and commonality or even universality across space and time. As a result, these features can be studied with statistical-positivistic methods with the objectives of obtaining valid and reliable law-like conclusions and predictions.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The complexity of the social reality: It must be emphasized immediately that these “law-

like” and predictable results are in essence different from those attained in natural-scientific researches. The degrees of universality across space and permanence over time of the results produced in social sciences are not as nomological as those in natural sciences. That is because, in ontological terms, social institutions

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The complexity of the social reality: ….That is because, in ontological terms, social

institutions are context-dependent, that is the institutional features

constituted are “conditioned” by the social-cultural, geo-political, and epochal contexts under which these features are constituted.

transformable by human actions, that is though these institutional features are enduring over time, they can be changed by transformation or revolution by human efforts.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The complexity of the social reality: …..

However of course, as Karl Marx reminded us, “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living” (in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, 1852)

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The complexity of the social reality: These conditionally transformational and

“emancipatable” features of social reality have triggered the theoretical movement of “critical social science” (Habermas, 1971; and 1987). These research tradition as a whole believes that social realities are embodied with biased power hypostatization and distorted ideological hegemony. As a result, social and educational researchers are obliged not only to reveal the meanings embedded in human interactions and the regularities manifested in social institutions, but also to critically assess that plausible biases and distortions embodied in social reality.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The diversity of epistemological perspectives: Given such a complexity found in social and educational reality, the theories of knowledge that could help and guide social and educational researchers are by definition multiple in natures.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The diversity of epistemological perspectives: Aims and “interest” of knowledge: The general aims

and specific objectives of attaining knowledge, or in Habermas terms knowledge-constitutive interest, can therefore be differentiated into to work and to control under the principle of efficacy, to understand or even to agree under the principle of

communicative rationality, and to emancipate under the principle normative reasons and

reasonableness.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The diversity of epistemological perspectives: Forms and substances of beliefs to be justified:

Accordingly, the beliefs or subject matters to be enquired and tested may appear in the following formatsempirical/logical propositions, which can be verified or

falsified with empirical data and/or logical procedures;meaning manifestations and representations, which can be

interpreted, communicated and reciprocally understood in order to reach consensus; and

biased power relationships and distorted ideological hegemony, which can be explanatory criticized and possibly rectified and emancipated.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The diversity of epistemological perspectives: Conceptions of truth: The different types of beliefs

will then be justified against the three different conceptions of truth and their respective principles. They are the objective truth based on the correspondence principle

between propositions and empirical facts; the practical truth based on the principle of communicative

rationality and communicative ethics;the normative truth based on the principle of virtuous, moral

and political reasons and reasonableness.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The diversity of epistemological perspectives: Modes of justifications and explanations: In order to

lend valid justifications to the respective beliefs against the corresponding principles of truth, social and educational researchers have developed, throughout the years, different models of explanations and methods to build up their justifications. They includemodel of causal explanations of antecedent conditions and

subsequent effects, more specifically, the statistical-probabilistic explanation in social research, which employ variety of quantitative methods, such as experiments and survey;

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The diversity of epistemological perspectives: Modes of justifications and explanations : ….

….model of intentional explanation, which employ variety of

research methods in interpretive research to reveal the meanings, intentions and values embedded in different types of human representations, including human actions, social interactions, literal texts, etc.

model of functional-institutional explanation, which mainly employ comparative-historical method to account for the existence, continuity and discontinuity of particular types of social institutions, such as educational institution;

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

The multiplicity in research methods: Confronted with such a complexity of social reality and diversity of theories of knowledge, social and educational researchers could no long adopt the approach of methodological monism and are required to submit to the approach of methodological pluralism, such as quantitative an qualitative research methods listed above.

Synthesis of the Foundations of Social Educational Research

Given all the impasses explored in this course and the conceptual tools introduced in the perspective of Critical Realism and New Instiutionalism, I think we are in the position to provide a preliminary resolution (in sketch) to these methodological, epistemological and ontological disputes.

The Institutional-Realist Synthesis

Ontological Synthesis Methodological Synthesis

Structure

Agents

Typification of Habitual Actions

Routinization

Objectivation

Formalization

Sedimentation

Legitimation of tradition

Institution(as Rules of the game)

Objectively regularity, persistence, continuity, and universality

Subjective meanings

Culturally Integrative Lifeworld

Power-Steering State & Money-steering market

Methodological Collectivism

Analytical-structuralism

Nomolgical-causal Explanation

Functional-institutional Explanation

Intentional Explanation

Rational-choice Explanation

Conscious Being

Methodological Individualism

Interpretive Understanding of Representations, e.g. actions, texts, relics, discourse, etc.

Social Facts as Objective Things

Subjective Meanings

InstitutionalRealism

Ontological Synthesis: Institutional Realism

Structure

Typification of Habitual Actions

Routinization

Objectivation

Formalization

Sedimentation

Legitimation of tradition

Institution

Rules of the game

Objectively regularity, persistence, continuity, & universality

Agents with Subjective meanings

Culturally Integrative Lifeworld

Power-Steering State & Money-steering market

Socialization

Internalization

Role Induction

Role Performance

Taking the role as one’s own:Identification

Resistance

Emancipation

Transformationor Revolution

Reinstitution

Idea Change

Morphostatic & institutional endurance Morphogenetic & institutional Change

Epistemological Synthesis in Institutional Realìsm

Communicative Actions

Interpretation & Intentional Explanation

Practical Truth

Confirmed Interpretation

Explanatory Critique

Verified Universal Causal Law

Objective Truth

Subjective meanings

Empirical-Causal Propositions

Objective- Factual Regularities

Regularity, Persistence,Continuity,Universality

 

Institutional Realism

Legitimation, Sedimentation,Formalization,Objectivation,

Typification

Objective Corresponding Principle

Prediction & Control Universal Causal Law

Subjective meanings

Lifeworld

Practical Corresponding

Understanding & Agreement

Normative Truth

Normative Ground

Power-HypostatizedStructure

 

Ideological-FrozenBelief-system

End

Topic 3Methodological & Epistemological Foundations of

Historical-Hermeneutic Studies

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