Epistemological diversity and education research: Much ado about nothing much?

Abstract

This chapter is reprinted from the article with the same title in Educational Researcher 35(2):3-12, (2006). Research in education and the training of education researchers are often said to require attention to epistemological diversity: Researchers ought to be familiar with different ways of knowing and diverse epistemological perspectives. But the notion is unclear. What is “epistemological diversity”? What exactly is epistemological about? Why is it important for education researchers to be knowledgeable about it? In addressing these questions, Siegel argues that the call for epistemological diversity is not, where justified, as radical or significant as it is often taken to be; and that, where it is radical or significant, it is not justified. Harvey Siegel, Educational Researcher, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 3-12, copyright © 2006 by Educational Researcher (SAGE Publications), reprinted by permission from author and SAGE Publications.