Our research study - the methodological approach

So, what methodological approach are we using? What are the theoretical bases for our research? How would we describe the research design? These three questions probably justify more than one blog post but we will try to summarise our answers to all three questions here.

Our methodology is qualitative and  interpretive, as befits an initial exploratory study of a research area. Our intention is to make sense of the ways that reclaimed materials are used in early childhood settings. We want to gain some understanding of the beliefs and attitudes of practitioners in relation to the uses of these materials in their settings.

This qualitative, interpretive methodology fits with the ecological, contextualist theories that underpin our research. We recognise that knowledge in the social world is created and recreated between people. Our sources of knowledge about reclaimed materials are the actions and voices of practitioners, and children, within their workplaces - accessed and developed through our interactions with them. We are aware, like Anne Edwards, that contexts shape and are shaped by those who participate in them[i]. We are beginning to explore the systems theory that those researching and writing about education for sustainability draw upon. 

Overall, our motivation for undertaking the study is to appreciate uses of reclaimed materials - as a first step towards researching and promoting education for sustainability within early childhood education.

The research design is a 'collective case study', as defined  in The Art of Case Study Research. In this book, Robert E. Stake differentiates intrinsic, instrumental and collective case study approaches. Intrinsic cases arise from curiosity and interest in the distinctive features of a particular case; whereas instrumental cases require the study of people or programs to answer a research question, in order to gain more general understanding of an issue. Collective case studies are instrumental in nature but allow for the study of more than one person or setting to contribute to the inquiry.

This collective case study approach is chosen here in order to include different types of early years setting, from varying geographical areas, and so reflect something of the diversity of early childhood provision. The four settings within this study are not separate cases but rather each informs the shared, collective case to maximise what can be learned about uses and understandings of reclaimed resources.

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[i] Edwards, A. (2004) Understanding context, understanding practice in early education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 12 (1) 85 – 101.