Preface
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Our Research Story: A Prelude
Making Implicit Explicit: Our Intentions and Assumptions
CLUSTER 1 • UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH: MAKING SENSE OF UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS
Chapter 2: How Do We Know? That Is the Question
Musing Upon the Everyday: Enquiring Minds Want to Know
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: The Meaning of “Research”
Research Scenario: Researching Through Collective Values: The Feminist Research Collective
Synthesis: An Open Dialogue
Chapter 3: Research, Identity, and Relational Processes
Musing Upon the Everyday: The Presentation of Self
Research Scenario: A Collaborative Action Research Project
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 4: Ethical Considerations Across the Spectrum of Research
Musing Upon the Everyday: What Would You Do?
Narratives and Conceptual Interludes: On Being Ethical in Research Practices
Research Scenario: Marginalia: Sara McClelland
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 5: Knowledge and Meaning in Research
Musing Upon the Everyday: Understanding Meaning
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: Different Ways of Knowing
Research Scenario: My “Fat Girl Complex”
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 6: Sociopolitical Conditions of Research
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes
Research Scenario: Making a Difference as a Researcher
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 7: Validity in the Context of Research
Musing Upon the Everyday: Validity in (Mis)understanding
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: Do We Really Know the Truth?
Research Scenario: Validity and Assessment: David Rutkowski
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
CLUSTER 2 • WHAT IS THE MEANING OF “DATA”?
Chapter 8: What Am I Looking For?
Revisiting Research and Identity in the Context of Data
Musing Upon the Everyday: Solving Problems That Matter to Us
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: A Researcher and Their Organizing
Research Scenario: Studying a Rare Condition: Jenny Downs
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 9: Defining Data
Musing Upon the Everyday: How Much Should I Pay for My First Home?
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes
Research Scenario: The Effects of Power on Ethnographic Research: Ke Li
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 10: Generating and Acquiring Data
Musing Upon the Everyday: How Should I Make That Lasagna?
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: A Day in the Life of a Researcher
Research Scenario: Making Choices About Data Generation
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 11: How Do I Know I Have “Enough” Data? How Do I Know I Have “Good” Data?
Musing Upon the Everyday: How Did the Lasagna Turn Out?
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: Creating the Perfect Recipe
Research Scenario: Evaluating the Data Generation and Acquisition Process
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
CLUSTER 3 • HOW DO WE CONCEPTUALIZE “INFERENCE”?
Chapter 12: Understanding Inference as a Process
Musing Upon the Everyday: The World of Iris
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes I: Making Sensible Interpretations
Narrative and Conceptual Interlude II: Applying the Insights of Critical Pragmatism to Social Research
Research Scenario: Understanding and Serving Today’s College Students. The Problem of Basic Needs Insecurity: Katharine Broton
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 13: Description and Inference in the Research Sphere
Musing Upon the Everyday: The Process of Making Choices
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: What to Make of the GRE?
Research Scenario: Making Decisions
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 14: Making Inferences About Trends and Experiences
Musing Upon the Everyday: Obesity Is Contagious
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: Making Inferences That Matter
Research Scenario: Youth Encounter Programs in Israel: Karen Ross
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 15: Writing Up Research
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes
Research Scenario: Double Writing in Participatory Action Research: Meagan Call-Cummings
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 16: Coming Back Full Circle: Implications of the Inferential Process
Musing Upon the Everyday: What Is in My Food?
Narrative and Conceptual Interludes: Research Impact— for What, for Whom, and by Whom?
Research Scenario: Extrapolating Social Change From Research: Positionality, Iterativity, and Envisioning: Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams
Synthesis: Points for Reflection
Chapter 17: Postlude
Appendix A: Statistical Tests Used to Establish Causal Inferences
Appendix B: Statistical Tests Used to Establish Correlational Inferences
Appendix C: Getting Clarity About the Vision of Your Class Project
Appendix D: A Generic Rubric for Evaluating Empirical Research Articles
Glossary of Terms
About the Contributors
References