The Promise and Perils of Alternative Forms of Data Representation

Abstract

S article addresses the potential strengths and weaknesses of alternative forms of data representation. As educational researchers become increasingly interested in the relationship between form of representation and form of understanding, new representational forms are being used to convey to "readers" what has been learned. These explorations are rooted in an expanding conception of the nature of knowledge and the relationship between what one knows and how it is represented. While new forms of representation have their potential virtues, they also have their limitations. The uses and limitations of these new methods are addressed in what follows.

Do You Want to Watch a Movie?: Conceptualizing Video in Qualitative Research as an Imaginative Invitation

“…This gap between the positivist and post-positivist concepts of knowledge makes it difficult to establish the nature of representation (Goldman, 2007). Key questions addressed by theorists (Eisner, 1997;Fish, 1980;Flaherty et al, 2002;Greene, 1994;Pink, 2001;Rabinow, 1986;van Maanen, 1995) across disciplines are: 1) Is representation the manifestation of truth or is it merely one of the varied vantage points present at any given time? 2) Do we represent absolute ideas or are our representations immersed in context and story?…”

Poetic Re-presentations on Trust in Higher Education

“…Our re-presented poems are shared with the intent to focus on our participant's lived experiences of trust. While each reader's reaction will be different, the poems are meant to evoke emotion and dialogue, build empathy, and elicit deeper understandings of the topic at hand (Cannon Poindexter, 2002;Eisner, 1997;Faulkner, 2007;Furman, Lietz, & Langer, 2006). In the discussion that follows, we explore how and why poetry is such a profound narrative tool (Wells, 2004) and the reasons why it is ideally suited for expanding the horizons of educational research.…”

“…When self-trust is absent, fear may come into play in the classroom and teachers may find it more challenging to interact or bond with their students. Clunis D'Andrea (2013) and others point out that trust is fundamentally linked to empathy (Cannon Poindexter, 2002;Eisner, 1997;Faulkner, 2007;Furman, Lietz, & Langer, 2006) and in strengthening the teacher-student bond:…”

“…Educational studies that rely on formal methods to examine processes, behaviours, methods, and curriculum, for instance, far outnumber those using poems or other forms of non-prosaic writing to explore affective interactions, nuances, or experiences (Bingham & Sidorkin, 2004). Emergent research practices, such as poetic inquiry, are sometimes devalued because they do not follow ingrained epistemological norms or academic practices (Eisner, 1997;Glesne, 1997;Nagy Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2008;1992). However, this is beginning to change as more educational and social science researchers use methods from the literary, visual, and performing arts, and as these researchers begin to examine issues of culture, power, and authority in new ways (Blumenfeld-Jones, 1995;Cahnmann-Taylor, 2009;Glesne, 1997;Richardson, 2000).…”

“…Writing poetry or even incorporating poetic ways of thinking and knowing into research, however, is still considered an "experimental" practice by many. In academia, each discipline has its own norms and values that influence what counts as research (Eisner, 1997;Richardson, 1992). Richardson (1992) writes: "Like other cultural groups, academics fail to recognize their practices as cultural/political choices, much less see how they are personally affected by those practices" (p.126).…”