Module 1 Introduction to Qualitative Research (1) - Philosophical Assumptions

In each week of each module you are required to respond to or evaluate two peer postings with at least a 125-word response. This will cause you and your peers to generate creative ideas and concepts for your Case Assignment and SLP. As required for all discussion questions, your response must be appropriately referenced and supported.

Please respond to the following questions (and thoroughly explain your answer):

Week 1, Module 1

A friend of mine who teaches in another university believes that quantitative research in education is almost impossible because there are too many external factors that cannot be controlled. She believes that qualitative research is more appropriate for research in education, health, or social science research. Do you agree or disagree with her?

Week 2, Module 1

On the Module 1 homepage, there is a discussion of the epistemology of qualitative research. After reading this introduction, please reviewResearch Paradigms and Meaning Making: A Primer(by Steven Eric Krauss), and respond to the following questions:
How should a research paradigm be treated in professional practice? For example, do you need to treat one paradigm of research as the "right" paradigm and pay attention to the research generated from that paradigm? Or should you consider all the major paradigms as having some validity and pay attention to research based on any of the major paradigms? Or, do you believe another approach is better than either of these?