ABSTRACT
Many institutions of higher education list critical thinking-using sound criteria on which to base an idea or opinion-as one of the principle goals of student learning (Baxter Magolda, 2001). Judging the merit of inquiry is an outgrowth of the concern with how to distinguish between “true and false appearances” and “belief or opinion,” which dates back to ancient Greek philosophers (Smith, 1993, p. 3). Because criteria for judging the worthiness of an argument or a study have traditionally been grounded in the positivistic paradigm, tensions exist related to judging qualitative work. These tensions revolve around the topics below, the exploration of which is the purpose of this chapter:
1. Qualitative studies should be judged on different criteria than quantitative studies. Criteria to determine worthiness include general research guidelines and paradigmatic criteria.
