[ Some Approaches ]
Positivism: Positivism adheres to a view that only ‘factual’ knowledge gained through observation (the senses), including measurement, is trustworthy.  The role of the researcher is limited to data collection and interpretation.


Post-positivism: A stance that critiques and amends positivism; postpositivists accept that theories, background, knowledge and values of the researcher can influence what is observed.


Interpretivism: There is no one-to-one relationship between ourselves ( the subjects ) and the world ( the object ).  It looks for ‘culturally derived and historically situated interpretations of the social life-world.’


Constructionism: Truth and meaning do not exist in some external world, but are created by the subject’s interactions with the world


Critical Theory:  A school of thought that stresses the reflective assessment and critique of society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities.


Symbolic Interactionism:  A micro-level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society. Communication, the exchange of meaning through language and symbols, is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds.

Realism: Representing a person, thing or situation as accurately as possible.


Anti-oppressive research:  Essentially research that is compatible to traditional social work values and missions; it doesn’t oppress what’s being researched essentially through falsities.

Indigenous knowledge(s): Understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings.


Critical Race Theory: Theory in the social sciences that is used to examine society and culture as they relate to race, law and power
	Narrative and storytelling:
	Race as a social construct:


Intersectionality: An analytic framework that attempts to identify how interlocking systems of power impact those who are most marginalized in society.

[ Some Elements of Practice ]
Steps for coming up with a research question:
Arts-based methods:
	Participatory
	Researcher created
	Photography
	Photovoice
	Collage

Ethics:  This pertains to doing good and avoiding harm while researching - since some forms of research do include generalizations and be considered an invasion of privacy, ethical applications are meant to avoid problems.

[ History and present of unethical research ]
Risk management: This technique is used for uncertain events in which a multitude of outcomes are possible that all have potential consequences.
Informed consent: An essential part of all research endeavors, a dynamic is provided that denies violation of privacy/protects human rights throughout any data collection, analysis or dissemination.
Confidentiality :
Anonymity :
“Vulnerable” groups:
Doing research with Indigenous peoples:

Object-based research:
Talking Circles: An indigenous-centered method of determining public policy, programming and practice.  ( Evident within Native American culture, for example. )

[ Interviews, Focus Groups, Surveys ]
	Benefits and limitations of each:
	When to use them:
	Good and Bad questions:
	Common pitfalls:

[ Analyzing Data ]
Memoing: A tool used to enhance the research in qualitative methodologies; the act of recording reflective notes about what the researcher is learning from the data.
Open-coding: An analytic process by which concepts to the observed data and phenomenon are attached during qualitative data analysis.
Focused Coding: The researcher re-codes the transcripts guided by a specific thematic issue.
Sensitizing Concepts: derived from the research participants' perspective, using their language or expressions, and that sensitize the researcher to possible lines of inquiry.

[ Some knowledge producers learned from who are not included in readings ]
Fausto-Sterling:
Hall:
Campos:
Brant-Castellano: Known for her work in development of indigenous research ethics.
Jade Huguenin: Known for her aide in

[ Key People ]
Tuhiwai Smith: A scholar of education and critic of persistent colonialism in academic teaching and research. She is best known because of her book, Decolonizing Methodologies.
Tuck and Yang: Known for their work in ‘Decolonization is not a Metaphor.’