Module 2 - More thoughts - Assumptions Inform Research

Creswell, in chapter 2, explains that the qualitative research design process begins with one's philosophical assumptions.  The researcher's assumptions, paradigms, & frameworks should be made explicit in the writing of a study, or at a minimum researchers should "be aware that they influence the conduct of a study" (p. 15).  One's world views, paradigms, or sets of beliefs "inform the conduct and writing of the study" (p. 15).  The way in which philosophical assumptions and world views impact research makes me think of a 'Perception Test' that I recently viewed, based on the work of Simons & Chabris (1999).  In the 'test', viewers are instructed to count how many passes are made by the players in black.  Whe I first watched the short clip, I was quite confident that I could arrive at the correct number of passes.  When I first watched the clip, I was quite confident that I would be able to count the number of passes accurately and arrive at the correct total.  In fact, I did arrive at the correct total, however I was stunned when asked 'Did you notice anything else like the gorilla?'.  The clip that I viewed then re-played the portion of the video with the gorilla ambling across the screen.  Even this evidence was not enough for me.  I went back to the beginning of the original video and watched it again.  Sure enough, there was the gorilla.  I was quite surprised to realize that I had indeed not noticed the gorilla.  Although I have long understood that one's beliefs colour what one sees (thanks in great part to a course I took in ethnomethodology with Richard Heyman years ago), this exercise served to make it crystal clear.  It made me realize that the lenses through which we view the world are often so embedded or enmeshed in our ways of doing and being, that we often don't even know they are there.  We often see what we expect to see or what we have been conditioned to see.  Not only do we believe what we see, but we see what we believe.  In my classroom work I have wondered how my particular lens colours the things that I see.  What could I be missing?  What other lens could I adopt to develop a clearer picture?  Creswell's advice is well-taken and an examination of one's philosophical stance and world views is a necessary step in the qualitative reseach process.  Without this step, we neglect to make conscious decisions about what is important to focus on, and by extension, what is not.