Interactive research in a constructionist perspective

1. Interactive research in a constructionist perspective Dian Marie Hosking geocities.com/dian_marie_hosking

2. science • science = one way of knowing • what is “normal”(science) or ‘orthodox’, abnormal or heretical…changes • narratives in/of science • Naïve realism • Constructivism • Social Constructionism • …

3. Naive realism • reality & relations • singular, universal, ‘object out there’ & • available to be known by separate subject • sense data • provide knowledge of the world (sense taking) • language • re-presents this knowledge (the world) • research interest • knowing ‘the world as it really is’

4. constructivism • sense dataare thebasis for • ‘perception’ …constructivesense making • knower combines what it is ‘in the head’ with what is ‘in the world’ • reality • singular, universal, ‘object out there’ & • available to be known by separate subject • language:re-presents sense-making • research interest: • knowing ‘the world as it really is’

5. Continuing taken-for-granteds • reality • singular • language • representative function • separate ontologies • individual agent, ‘internal’ & ‘external’ worlds • interest: • one voice (Science) defines… • other interests?

6. relational constructionism • reality: • multiple • (re)constructed in inter-action • co-constructed • neither subjective nor objective but • relational ontology • language: • is action, is performative • a local-cultural practice or ‘form of life’ • scientific interests: • what & how of reality construction processes

7. research as a reality construction process • the Received View of Science (RVS) • constructs separate ontologies - • relations between knower & known i.e., • Subject-Object relations this is just one way of constructing relations • self & other & relationship • can be viewed as ongoing (re)constructions • in S-O relations or..?

8. Focusing on construction processes • de- centers persons & relations between persons • centers processes of relating texts: • words, pictures, actions, symbols... • to other words, pictures, actions, symbols... • constructions/relational realities are: • multiple & • partial/local • relating = person & world making • ‘becoming realism’

9. Interactive inquiry • All inquiry is inter-action • a relational constructionist thought style offers ways of self & world making through inter-actions that: • are open to multiple local realities • are provocative (of possibilities) • create ‘power to’ go on in different but equal relations • are reflexive

10. Reflexivity 1 • in RVS: to minimise bias in knowledge claims • revision: making bias visible • post modern: • S cannot speak for O • telling ourselves a story about ourselves (Chia) • opening up to multiple constructions & • multiple self-other relations that are in ongoing re-construction Reflexivity as an epistemological issue

11. Reflexivity & relational constructionism • an aspect of ‘becoming’, of ontology & so: • a feature of the processes of relating • part of ongoing research process • concerns how are we ‘going on’ together • the local realities are we constructing • ‘…a case for the end of knowing & the rediscovery of development’ (Newman & Holtzman)

12. Inquiry as development • methodology as ‘tool & result’ • how we do things – the ‘tool’, the becoming process - matters because we are (re)producing particular forms of life • no theory of truth • no theory of knowledge distinct from opinion Inquiry is now radically reconstituted

13. Inquiry as inter-action • inquiry may be constructed as ‘development’ • constructing ‘solidarities’ (Rorty) & not objectivity • local rationalities as praxis, norms, justifications…, having • ‘only an ethical base, not an epistemological or metaphysical one’ (Rorty, p24)

14. Constructing ‘power to’ • open and appreciative of multiplicity • performative • not ‘just talk’ • focuses on how we participate including • multiloging • who gets to participate and how? • how is multiplicity appreciated?