On the problem of theorising: an insider account of research practice

Clegg, Sue

doi:10.1080/07294360.2011.634379

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Clegg (2012) argued for a "greater sociological and epistemological sophistication in understanding how we theorise" (p. 409), believing that "the movement from theory to data and back again is problematic" (p. 409). While Dillow (2009) and Clegg (2012) provide autoethnographic accounts of coming to theory, we still have little empirical understanding of how students come to belong and contribute to an academic milieu (Holbrook & Johnston, 1999). This study, then, sought to understand how students grapple with theoretical constructs to identify a theoretical home from which to design and implement a qualitative dissertation.…”

Section: Teaching Qualitative Research To Doctoral Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some students described the changing nature of the theoretical framework, such as Emily's desire to reexamine her theoretical frame at a later time to understand how it continues to develop over time. Across the narratives, like Clegg (2012), students came to recognize the ways they fit into theories and the theoretical frameworks that gave them a language to fit within a community of scholars.…”

Section: Students' Reflections On Creating and Sharing Theoretical Namentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

“I Found a Fit”: Doctoral Student Narratives of Coming to a Theoretical Home in a Qualitative Research Class

deMarrais¹,

Moret

Pope

2018

IRHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A critical aspect of learning qualitative research methodology in a doctoral program is to develop deep knowledge of the theoretical frameworks informing one’s research. An in-depth reading of those theories is necessary for them to be used to inform and guide dissertation research. Based in narrative inquiry, this study examined the journeys of 18 novice qualitative researchers as they came to understand theory and develop a theoretical home to inform their doctoral research. Findings include 1) the emotional concerns, uncertainty, and confusion when asked to engage with theory and theoretical frameworks to inform their research for the first time; 2) supports and strategies used to engage deeply with theories; and 3) students’ use of metaphors to describe their relationships with theories over the course of their doctoral studies as they came to a “theoretical home”. Implications for doctoral training in qualitative research include the need to engage pedagogically with students around the complexities and messiness of the role of theory in research.

show abstract

Section: Teaching Qualitative Research To Doctoral Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Students' Reflections On Creating and Sharing Theoretical Namentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Found a Fit”: Doctoral Student Narratives of Coming to a Theoretical Home in a Qualitative Research Class

deMarrais¹,

Moret

Pope

2018

IRHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…But she does not explicitly unpack how we can theorise and what the process of theorising might entail. In her discussion of her own work, it becomes apparent that for her (Clegg 2012), the process of drawing on different theorists in order to explain emergent themes in the data, themes that were not evident in the theory that she had begun her research with, constitutes theorising. Drawing on Wright Mills' notion of intellectual craftsmanship, Clegg (2012) explicates how she goes about assembling the theoretical tools that helped her think through research problems.…”

Section: Theory Use Versus Theorisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like Clegg (2012), I also return to my sociological roots and draw, more broadly, on the sociological imagination as a heuristic to help think about theory in professional academic development.…”

Section: Theory Use Versus Theorisingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This article, which is located in the on-going discussion on the role of theory in higher education (see, for example , Trowler 2012;McArthur 2012;Clegg 2012), argues for greater consideration of context in theorising in the field of professional academic development. It draws on Wright Mills' idea (2000) of the sociological imagination, which provides a useful way of exploring the interplay of private troubles and public issues, and related concerns for theory and practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Against theoretical evangelism: Imagining the possibilities of a critical approach to theorising in professional academic development

Naidoo

2016

SAJHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article contributes to dialogue on theorising in higher education, with particular reference to professional academic development. It provides a critique of the evangelical adherence to dominant theories and argues that their uncritical use cannot contribute to addressing social injustices in higher education. It also argues for theorisation in professional academic development that is more sensitive to context. Drawing on insights from C. Wright Mills (2000), the article suggests that, by viewing theorisation through the lens of a sociological imagination, it is possible to engage critically with dominant discourses and come up with creative solutions that are aligned with a viewpoint that promotes social justice in professional academic development, as well as addressing social inequities and injustices in higher education.

show abstract

Sociomaterialism, Practice Theory, and Workplace Learning

Hopwood

2015

Professional and Practice-Based Learning

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This chapter provides a detailed overview of contemporary sociomaterial and practice-based approaches, focusing in particular on their implications for conceiving workplace learning. It lays the theoretical foundations for the analysis and arguments developed in Parts II and III. It sets out an ontological position, and key concepts that are not so much applied in the subsequent empirical work, but tangled up in it (including in the approach to ethnographic fieldwork. These foundations are set in a broader context, namely sociomaterial approaches. The way in which contemporary theorists are 'rethinking the thing' is highlighted, based on performative, diffractive and non-representational ontologies. The 'practice turn' is located within these wider, diverse, traditions, and Schatzki's practice theory is presented as an overarching framework for this book. Next, research on workplace learning is considered, highlighting the metaphor of emergence and its links to concepts of knowledge. Here Gherardi and others' practice-based studies are significant, emphasising knowing in practice and aesthetics. The chapter then shifts gear introducing the key arguments that are developed in the remainder of the book. Times, spaces, bodies and things are introduced as four essential dimensions of professional practice and learning, and then a distinctive view of professional learning in an asymmetrical and non-reversible relationship with practice is presented. Learning and practice are viewed as entangled, but analytically distinguishable, and criteria for specifying this distinction are presented.

show abstract

On the problem of theorising: an insider account of research practice

Cited by 23 publications

References 35 publications

“I Found a Fit”: Doctoral Student Narratives of Coming to a Theoretical Home in a Qualitative Research Class

“I Found a Fit”: Doctoral Student Narratives of Coming to a Theoretical Home in a Qualitative Research Class

Against theoretical evangelism: Imagining the possibilities of a critical approach to theorising in professional academic development

Sociomaterialism, Practice Theory, and Workplace Learning

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About