Where Thunder Strikes:
Affirming the Place of Theory and Methodological Rigor
in Educational Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.
Annette Hemmings, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati
There has been a steady progression of theories that attempt to explain on-going educational challenges such as student resistance and teacher ineffectiveness, unequal educational access and outcomes, and the impact of state and national policy mandates on teaching and learning. These theories have captured the thoughts and imaginations of many ethnographers and qualitative researchers to the point where data is secondary in interpretations of findings. While theories and their seductive power have swelled, rigor in fieldwork research designs has diminished because of IRB requirements, entry barriers, convenience, and other factors. This has led to severe limitations in the gathering of the kinds and amount of thick descriptive data necessary for the generation of accurate, empirically well-grounded understandings of educational phenomena.
Dr. Hemmings keynote address elucidates the nature and consequences of these disturbing trends. It begins with a story about a Sioux Indian student nicknamed "horse" because he liked to horse around in class. The story serves as a backdrop for a discussion about the interpretive perils of putting theoretical "horses" before data "carts" and the trouble with minimalist fieldwork designs that yield limited or insufficient data. The address concludes with suggestions for how ethnographers and qualitative researchers in education can, and should, recapture the place of theory and thick descriptive data in their scholarship.
About the keynote speaker
Annette Hemmings is an Associate Professor in the Educational Foundations Program at the University of Cincinnati. She has conducted ethnographic studies focusing on high school teachers' work lives, Black student achievement, adolescent coming of age processes, youth culture of hostility, and classroom democratic dialogues. Annette received her B.A. in history, M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, and Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
For Dr. Hemmings' biography and list of selected publications, visit http://www.cech.uc.edu/faculty_staff.php?p=biographies_list&cn=HemminA.