Final Version May 5 07

Chapter Four:
Methodology
What you see depends on how you look.
(Heppner & Heppner, 2004, p. 136)
Research Study Overview
This study is premised on the assumption, that the act of research is dependent, to
a degree, on the beliefs of the researcher and does, in fact, reflect the values of the
researcher (Guba & Lincoln, 1998). The questions I have asked the research participants
and the methods I have utilized to observe the phenomena of emergent curriculum in
practice have been filtered through my particular lenses of knowledge, language, values,
and worldviews (Heppner & Heppner, 2004). In this chapter it is my goal to describe the
worldview and specific methodology that have influenced my research. I will describe
the rationale for choosing this worldview as well as detail the reasons for the selected
strategy of inquiry. I will illustrate how this particular method relates to the phenomenon
of interest and the purpose of the dissertation.
The paradigm that captures the methods utilized in this research falls within a
constructivist framework. This is a qualitative paradigm which stands in contrast to a
quantitative framework which presumes a scientific deductive stance. I use qualitative
research methods as they are inductive and congruent with the emergent nature of the
research content. Qualitative research claims its roots in a naturalistic phenomenological
philosophy that contends that multiple realities exist and must be recognized by giving
attention to group and individual constructions and perceptions of reality (Guba &
Lincoln, 1998). Qualitative research involves an investigation of a particular phenomenon
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