I feel it is important at this time to make a distinction between the subject
being studied and the methodology used. When I refer to the Natural Sciences
it is indeed in the positivist attitude of using an empirical method; it is
not that the study of human psychology compares to the study of chemical
reactions. Human behavior can be understood from a positivist paradigm,
however the timeframe for study is years and decades, not day to day. Gary,
I have read your 1998 article concerning abduction reasoning and certainly
appreciate your attempt to construct a method of studying daily thinnking.
Personally I would love for there to be a mechanism to utilize your construct
in a valid fashion. Just because you are studying a subject that is not
empirical in nature ( abductive reasoning) does not mean it cannot be studied
in a scientific manner. A thought on a method to use for this study would be
the Kinderman & Valsiner Person/Context Relationship paradigm. This paradigm
does not ignore measurable differences and seeks to explain how
person/context relationships help or hinder a person's development.
Further thoughts on using normed reference tools for diagnostic purposes:
let us say we are wondering why a 5th grader is struggling in school. In
order to provide help we as educators need to decide if his circumstances
qualify that 5th grader for assistance. Other then the scientifically normed
tools currently available I don't know of any other method of FAIRLY deciding
that one student qualifies and another doesn't. Performance often drops as a
result of situational changes (divorce, death in family), there is pretty
good evidence that intellectual ability is not as dependent upon such
situations. I am convinced there needs to be some empirically scientific
method used in order to make this determination. Now, before someone
suggests that we just go ahead and offer the help without the assesment I
remind you that providing special education services is a restriction upon
the student's educational rights. If one is to make a case for restricting a
person's rights there better be sound evidence. Now, if someone were to
suggest a different method for providing assistance to those who have
diagnosed disabilities then call your representative and let them know that,
IDEA 97 is due to be addressed in the 2002 session.
Just thinking out loud,
Eric
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 01 2001 - 01:02:19 PDT