AMANDA HYNAN FINAL THESIS PDF

individual information from a group of young people who use AAC in order to
understand their experiences of using the internet and online social media. Whilst
predominantly using an interview methodology, there was recognition of the
challenges of this data collection method for people with complex communication
challenges and data was also gathered from other sources such as demonstrations
given by the young people, observational field notes from researcher experience
within the field, and explanatory conversations with people who were trusted and
known by the participants within the interview settings.
3.3. Methodological underpinnings
Creswell (2003) suggests a researcher should always address what knowledge claim is
being made and the decisions used to guide the approach and methods of data
collection and analysis when designing a study. The current research claims are based
upon a socially constructivist/constructionist paradigm.
3.3.1. A socially constructivist/constructionist paradigm
The terms constructivist or constructionist are often used interchangeably when
speaking of this paradigm approach depending on how radically the epistemological
position is viewed as either an individual construction of knowledge (‘v’) or a societal
construction (‘n’). Both terms refer to the idea that learning, either individually or
socially, is constructed by learners rather than just being received (Kim, 2001). The
term will be used interchangeably within this thesis in order to adhere to the point
being made by a quoted author. However, my preference is for constructivist (the
individualised level) in order to align the thesis with the constructivist grounded
theory approach (Charmaz, 2006) discussed later, although she also uses the term
constructionism on occasion (Charmaz, 2008).
Social constructionism is sometimes linked in the literature to interpretivism and
hermeneutics (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000, Ponterotto, 2005). Schwandt (2000) gives a
nuanced account of these three epistemological stances outlining their different
philosophical approaches to interpreting human behaviour as:
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