SYNTHESIS PAPER

Topic: Thinking Big (and Critically) about Qualitative Research Trends, Visions and
Challenges for the Future of Qualitative Social Science by Ms. Lynda Cheshire

Measuring performance which cannot be easily quantified is definitely difficult to engage

in. I agree with what Ms. Cheshire had said that one of the challenges in conducting qualitative
research is the emergence of big data. Also, qualitative research is indeed a diverse form of
social inquiry with many theories and approaches. Thus, a researcher should be careful in
determining the factors taken into consideration and choosing the proper methods or techniques
to deploy in gathering data in order to derive an objective and fair conclusion of a particular
study. Meanwhile, Ms. Lynda Cheshire mentioned in this article that there is a richness to the
data in terms of the insights gained about the categories and concepts used by administrators to
describe the phenomena and the people they work with which may not otherwise be revealed to
researchers through an interview. She told that she encountered some students’ work whereby
students complete a wonderful thesis and then undermine the whole value of what they have just
done by arguing that their work is not generalizable, based on too small a population and/or only
one – often atypical – case study. However, it would be better for a researcher not to think that
way. She believes that it is not intended to exercise the researcher’s technique of understanding
things but rather a mere desire to improve oneself on what and how he does such particular study.

In addition, she told that qualitative research serves as the foreground of any quantitative
research because it enables you to prove of your assumptions and practices. Also, she claimed
that it is possible to formulate criteria for good quality qualitative research that is not clearly tied
to any epistemological position, never mind a scientific one. These criteria are: a) The
formulation of a worthy topic; b) Rich rigor – demonstrating rich descriptions and explanations
that are simultaneously based on due diligence in methods, analysis and time in the field; c)
Sincerity – honesty and transparency about the research process and the researcher’s role in it; d)
Credibility: the trustworthiness, credibility and plausibility of the research findings and account;
f) Resonance: the researcher’s ability to meaningfully reverberate and affect an audience; g)
Significant contribution; h) Ethical research in both means and ends; and i) Meaningful
coherence – a consistency between theories and methods; aims and approach. Despite the
emergence of these criteria, there is a lack of agreement among qualitative researchers around
the formulation of quality criteria that is why this is still a continuing challenge nowadays. Based
on what she shared, everyone can reflect upon their respective practice and assumptions so that
they can continue to progress as a community in terms of their scholarly practice, relevance,
skills and knowledge.
 REACTION PAPER
Topic: Educational Research in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities for
Scientific Effectiveness by Omar A. Ponce and Nellie A. Maldonado

Educational research means investigating educational practices, the effect of these

practices on learning and the study of education problems (Ponce, 2016). During the industrial
revolution, researching education is of interest and was given the attention in developing it
scientifically because at that time, educators believed that scientific research could improve
public education as it had in other professions. In the early 21st century, educational researchers
tried to understand the relationship between education, schooling and university education with
the development of society. And it was during this time that the language of education has been
replaced by business concepts like standards of effectiveness rather than goals and objectives,
indicators rather than achievements, and accountability rather than evaluation. Education on the
21st century showed that learning pinpoint competencies that the educators need to meet the
standards; education is more of a training rather than a formal learning and assessment no longer
describes the learning but shows how many achieve what is expected.

The aim of educational research is to make education an effective profession in shaping

the new generations of citizens and professionals (Ponce, 2016). Its focus is the education that
occurs in the education system and its effectiveness. Three challenges were identified that affect
the effectiveness of educational research on 21st century. First is the political nature of education,
since education is being regulated by the government, it is difficult to investigate the social and
political ideals that are embedded in educational systems. Second is the problem of lack of
definition of educational research as a science, by its development, educational research was
considered to be constructive plurality not scientific relativity (Walters, Lareau & Ranis, 2009).
Third is the dislocation between educational research and the practice of education because
educational research has a little influence on the practice of education or worse, non-existent.
The article also mentions about several opportunities for educational research to achieve
scientific effectiveness. One, consensus on the knowledge of education towards a paradigmatic
alignment. Since the time of Copernicus, scientific research has been well known as the search
for knowledge but at the beginning of the 21 st century, the attention is longer be at the search for
knowledge but on how useful that knowledge be in the field of education to make it effective.
Two, the utility of knowledge in the practice of the profession means that the usefulness of
knowledge depends on the needs of the learners. The challenge lies in linking educational
research with the practice of education and the usefulness of knowledge. We believe that this
knowledge will improve the education process and would eventually affect effectively the
development of our country.