Abstract
More comprehensively explanatory research findings result when multiple methods (such as both survey and interview, or both observation and document review) are used in studying college teachers and teaching. In the New Faculty Project investigation, multiple-method research strategies were used in three studies: a study of faculty stress employed both survey and interview data; a study of novice teachers’ knowledge about student understanding used multiple interviews and classroom observation, and a study of new teachers’ discipline-specific pedagogical content knowledge drew from surveys, interviews, class observations, student essays, and faculty reflections. Several other chapters in this volume also report studies employing multiple methods and/or data sources. Use of such multiple methods raises three important issues: the fact that triangulation provides not convergent but often richly divergent perspectives that require reconciliation by the investigator; the difficulty in mixing inquiry paradigms; and the importance of complete methodological description.
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Dinham, S.M. (2002). Use of Multiple Methods in Research on College Teachers. In: Hativa, N., Goodyear, P. (eds) Teacher Thinking, Beliefs and Knowledge in Higher Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0593-7_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0593-7_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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