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ERIC Number: EJ1149237
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1029-8457
EISSN: N/A
Research as Praxis: Perspectives on Interpreting Data from a Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Project
Nhalevilo, Emilia Afonso; Ogunniyi, Meshach
African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, v18 n2 p210-218 2014
This article presents a reflection on an aspect of research methodology, particularly on the interpretation strategy of data from a Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems Project (SIKSP) in a South African university. The data interpretation problem arose while we were analysing the effects of a series of SIKSP-based workshops on the views of a group of participating science teachers concerning the importance and place of their religious, cultural and philosophical beliefs relative to their professional practice. When interpreting the data we noticed what seemed to us to be an incongruity in the data. In one instance teachers seemed to favour subjectivity in science teaching, but in another instance the views of science from the same teachers were distinctly objective. For some time we tried to make sense of this incongruity. In the midst of the confusion an emergent perspective surfaced concerning our own subjectivities in interpreting the data. We postponed the initial intention in interpreting the data--to evaluate the impact of the workshops--and our problem became the contradiction found in the data. Our emergent research questions underlying this article thus focused on methodological issues in terms of: (1) which epistemological standpoint did we take in analysing the data? (2) what possible different standpoints were taken by the subjects? and (3) what are the implications if different standpoints are taken? The purpose of this article, therefore, is to present our developing engagement with the data, a meta-reflection about the lenses we used in interpreting the data.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A