Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-54txb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-02T12:27:03.700Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 28 - Conducting Interpretive Research in Engineering Education Using Qualitative and Ethnographic Methods

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2015

By
Aditya Johri
Edited by
Aditya Johri  and
Barbara M. Olds
Aditya Johri
Affiliation:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Aditya Johri
Affiliation:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Barbara M. Olds
Affiliation:
Colorado School of Mines
Get access

Summary

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of conducting interpretive research using qualitative and ethnographic methods. The chapter complements Chapters 27 by Case and Light and 26 by Moskal, Reed-Rhoades, and Strong in this volume, which respectively provide an overview of the different qualitative and mixed method approaches to engineering education research. The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide entry-level researchers with background information on how to conduct interpretive research. Because every researcher has his or her own “tricks of the trade,” this chap-ter necessarily presents methods and ap-proaches found useful by this author, and represents an individual perspective on interpretive research. The number of references has been limited to around fifty to avoid overwhelming the target audience; this chapter is not intended as a comprehensive review of interpretive research or of qualitative and ethnographic methods.

Interpretive Research in the Human Sciences

Social scientists currently distinguish interpretive research from other research traditions in that the researcher is taken to be a critical part of the process. The primary goal of the research is to understand participants’ meaning-making, with less emphasis on the typical flow of the scientific method followed in other research methodologies. This type of research requires an investigator to include his or her own perceptions, becoming more of a sense-maker than an objective reporter: Interpretive research is an umbrella term used to describe studies that endeavor to understand a community in terms of the actions and interaction of the participants, from their own perspectives” (Tobin, 1999, p. 487).

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research , pp. 551 - 570
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Geer, B., “First Days in the Field,” in Hammond, P. (Ed.), Sociologists at Work (New York, NY: Basic Books, 1964), pp. 322–344Google Scholar
Bailey, C. (1996/2006). A guide to field research. Pine Forge Press.Google Scholar
Becker, H. (1988). Writing for social scientists. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Becker, H. (1998). Tricks of the trade: How to think about your research while you're doing it. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandt, R. M. (1972). Studying behavior in natural settings. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory. London: SAGE.Google Scholar
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (2000). Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Eisner, E. W. (1991). The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational practice. New York, NY: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Eisner, E. W., & Peshkin, A. (1990). Qualitative inquiry in education: The continuing debate. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (1995). Writing ethnographic fieldnotes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emerson, R. M., Fretz, R. I., & Shaw, L. L. (2001). Participant observation and fieldnotes. In Atkinson, P., Coffey, A., Delamont, S., Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. (Eds.), Handbook of ethnography (pp. 352–368). London: SAGE.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York, NY: Aldine De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Glesne, C., & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers. White Plains, NY: Longman.Google Scholar
Golden-Biddle, K & Locke, K. (2006). Composing qualitative research: Crafting theoretical points from qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Goodall, H. (2000). Writing the new ethnography. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.Google Scholar
Goodman, N. (1978). Ways of worldmaking. Cambridge, MA: Hackett.Google Scholar
Garfinkel, H. (1967). Studies in ethnomethodology. NJ: Englewood Cliffs.Google Scholar
Gubrium, J. F., & Holstein, J. A. (Eds.). (2002). Handbook of interview research: Context and method. Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life and work in communities and classrooms. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Heath, S. B. (1986). Sociocultural contexts of language development. Beyond language: Social and cultural factors in schooling language minority students, 143–186.
Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge, MA: MIT press.Google Scholar
Jordan, B., & Henderson, A. (1995). Interaction analysis: Foundations and practice. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4(1), 39–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
LeCompte, M. D., & Schensul, J. J. (2010). Designing & conducting ethnographic research: An introduction (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.Google Scholar
Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. (2006). Analyzing social settings. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Martin, D., & Sommerville, I. (2004). Patterns of cooperative interaction: Linking ethnomethodology and design. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 11(1), 59–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (1999). Designing qualitative research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
McCracken, G. (1988). The long interview. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merton, R. K., Fiske, M., & Kendall, P. L. (1990). Focused interview: A manual of problems and procedures (2nd ed.). New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Morgan, D. L. (1997). Focus group as qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patton, M. Q. (2001). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Rossman, G. B., & Rallis, S. F. (2003). Learning in the field (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (1998). Qualitative interviewing: The act of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Sacks, H. (1984). Notes on methodology. Structures of social action: Studies in conversation analysis, 21–27.Google Scholar
Scott, J., & Carrington, P. J. (Eds.). (2011). The SAGE handbook of social network analysis. SAGE publications.Google Scholar
Schatzman, L., & Strauss, A. L. (1972). Field research: Strategies for a natural sociology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.Google Scholar
Seidman, I. (2006). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide for researchers in education and the social sciences (3rd ed.). New York, NY and London: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Silverman, D. (1998). Harvey Sacks: Social science and conversation analysis. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Spradley, J. (1979). The ethnographic interview. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research: Perspectives on practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Strauss, A. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques (2nd ed.). London: SAGE.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. J., & Bogdan, R. (1984). Introduction to qualitative research methods. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Tobin, K. (1999). Interpretive research in science education. In Kelly, A. E. & Lesh, R. (Eds.), Handbook of research design in mathematics and science education (pp. 487–512). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis: Methods and applications. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, E. J., Campbell, D. T., Schwartz, R. D., & Sechrest, L. (2000). Unobtrusive measures (Rev. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Wagenaar, H. (2011). Meaning in action: Interpretation and dialogue in policy analysis. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Weiss, R. S. (1994). Learning from strangers: The art and method of qualitative interview studies. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Wolcott, H. F. (1995). The art of fieldwork. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamire Press.Google Scholar
Wolcott, H. (2001). Writing up qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar
Wolf, M. (1992). A thrice-told tale: Feminism, postmodernism, and ethnographic responsibility. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Van Maanen, J. (1988). Tales of the field: On writing ethnography. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Yanow, D. (2006). Thinking interpretively. In Yanow, D. & Schwartz-Shea, P. (Eds.), Interpretation and method: Empirical research methods and the interpretive turn (pp. 5–27). Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.Google Scholar
Yin, R. K. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×