Studied complex problem solving in the hospitality industry through interviews with six office staff members and managers. Findings show it is possible to construct a taxonomy of problem types and that the most common approach can be termed "trial and error." (SLD)

Studied the normative nature of workplace activity and knowledge in the front offices of four motels. Normative content in these settings was highly situated and related to concrete action directed at the object of the system. (SLD)

Describes a panel discussion on the acceptability of fiction in academic discourse. Gives advice to scholars wondering whether fiction should be considered as knowledge: stop taking yourself so seriously; embrace "scholartistry", the application of the artistry of imaginative powers to scientific inquiry; know that truth changes; explore the…

The author's doctoral dissertation started out as qualitative research--interviews with beginning women teachers exploring the transition from teacher education into the classroom. She explains why the material could be better conveyed in the form of the bildungsroman, a German term for a novel of formation or education. Chapter five of the…

Traditional, textual descriptions of qualitative findings do not adequately reflect the complexity of human behavior. Artful portrayals provide multiple ways of looking at research material and lead to new insights. The use of found poetry in research is described, as well as a course that introduces graduate students to various artful portrayals…

Because the researcher's interpretation is the final word, traditional research reinforces relations of domination. When popular theater is used as research methodology, the interviewer's interpretation is performed immediately following data collection, and interviewees offer their interpretations of the interpretation. This gives voice to those…

A media unit for inner city high school students examined the relationship between youth and advertising by using drama as the medium through which learning and research occurred. Data were presented through scripted dramatic scenes. How the interpretation and generation of data were embedded in the process of writing these scripts is explained.…

In the course of examining the holistic and embodied expressions of self-conceptualization among six women academics from working- and poverty-class backgrounds, artful "happenings" became a generative tool for inquiry and analysis and provided interpretive directions. The author's approach to arts-based inquiry and the value of such an approach…

In arts-based research, the mode of inquiry through an art form generates new insights that would not have been revealed through a traditional written format. Three sets of criteria for evaluating arts-based research are presented that privilege the written word. Additional criteria are offered for visual arts-based research. (Contains 22…

Art learning is an embodied practice learned through praxis. An unconventional style of conducting research on such learning is presented, in which doing the work changes the intent, which in turn changes the work, subsequently changing the intent again, and so on. The process leads to discovery and new insights. (TD)

Traditional discursive practices in reporting research results serve as structures that reinforce dominant ideologies and suppress others. A project in which survivors of childhood trauma represented their experiences in quilt blocks demonstrates how alternative representational forms acknowledge a component of society that neutral, "objective"…

An expressive way of presenting forms of adult education practice was developed using a phenomenological methodology. A case study of a cross-cultural awareness course in Aboriginal Australia illustrates the textual genres used: backgrounding, sketching, poetized reflection, intuiting and distilling using metaphorical and imagistic language, and…

To reverse the decline in volunteerism in education, administrators must understand the difference between true volunteering and participation coerced under the guise of volunteering. Appreciation is essential for promoting volunteerism, for no one wishes to be considered without value. But if coercion and exploitation are part of the growing…

Analysis of all January and June 2000 test scores for Alberta high school seniors found weak relationships between gender and both diploma examination and school-awarded scores. The largest statistical effect for gender was that the difference between the two sets of scores was greater for girls than boys, with school-awarded scores being higher.…

A grade 6/7 teacher and a teacher educator-researcher team-taught science to 29 students by framing science projects as adventure. Ethnographic data revealed that small-group instruction, whole-class discussions, and presentations to outside audiences provided progressive opportunities for students to exchange ideas and motivated students and…