ABSTRACT
In this book we are taking a particular stance on educational research. Essentially, we are presenting a description of educational research activity as the production of a coherent set of statements. These are established and located within explicitly stated theoretical and empirical contexts. The research process, conceived in this way, begins with vagueness and hesitance and plurality and moves towards precision and coherence. You can think of this as the imposition of order, which we refer to as a constructive view. Alternatively, you may consider yourself to be engaging in the discovery of order-a realist view.1 For the record, we are inclined towards the former and, in this chapter, we have for the most part chosen our language accordingly. We feel that this is appropriate, especially as the language chosen throughout the earlier chapters is probably more consistent with a realist position. However, constructivism and realism are epistemological and not methodological positions. They are concerned with the origins of structure rather than its practical description or production. From our perspective, then, it is no more necessary to resolve your epistemology in your empirical research than it is to incorporate a declaration of your religious affiliation. Unfortunately, however, the tendency to make a pass at epistemological discussion is commonly presented in lieu of adequate theoretical development.
