Towards a Research Method as an Educational Practice: Beyond Methodological Dualism in Education

The purpose of this paper is to examine the paradigm of methodological dualism and explore whether methodological dualism is appropriate for educational research. Although quantitative methods and qualitative methods are based on different epistemologies, they are in fact inseparable. Quantitative and qualitative methods can be virtually integrated in the following three ways: pragmatic integration, phenomenological integration, and integration as a practice.

Pragmatic integration has the advantage of integrating from the viewpoint of utility, but has a limitation in that the standard of utility can be developed differently for each researcher. Phenomenological integration has the advantage of integrating while acknowledging the difference in interpretation but has a limitation in that the researcher's interpretation is excessively involved in interpreting the results. Integration as a practice is regarded as the most appropriate way in that it pursues internal goods in educational activities in which educators engage. Therefore, the method in educational research should be conducted to integrate as an educational practice that seems to overcome the methodological dichotomy between the quantitative method and qualitative method.