This essay about the work of a famous anthropologist is an attempt to illuminate one way that researchers could apply their findings about the behavior of people in particular groups to ethical considerations of social relations. I argue that Gregory Bateson (1904-1980) is a good example because he applied a few seminal ideas to a wide range of…

To illustrate how theoretical studies should blend with empirical research, this article describes how scholars changed the ways they thought about schools and poverty. It begins with a historical review of the perspective of educational theorists and public policy prior to the 1970s. Taking a Marxist perspective, Bowles and Gintis (1976)…

The keynote address on which this article is based considers four stages or types of studies that qualitative researchers undertake in the field of education. The reason that I explored this focus was to illustrate the benefits and the dangers of designing studies to serve policy makers. The research that I selected sought to uncover information…