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Dissertation Information for Cynthia A. Tananis

NAME:
- Cynthia A. Tananis

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Education

SCHOOL:
- University of Pittsburgh (USA) (2000)

ADVISORS:
- R. Tony Eichelberger

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected

Title: Discursive evaluation: The journey of an "epistemorph" toward an interpretive practice and inquiry

Abstract: "This qualitative, grounded theory study traces my journey as an ""epistemorph"" as I grapple with the underlying issues of what I believe to be true (epistemology), real (ontology) and valuable (axiology) within my practice as an educational evaluator. The narrative portrays my journey as I ""morph"" in epistemology from a post-positivist to a more interpretivist perspective and uses the literature from the field of educational evaluation to highlight these different perspectives. The core concept of ""epistemorph"" is portrayed through the use of my evolving persona as an evaluator and how these persona situate my practice and inquiry in four thematic areas: connections between practice and inquiry, how one constructs ""other"" and self, the nature of the relationship with ""other,"" and how one constructs knowledge. I use the narrative portrayal of my journey in practice and inquiry as a way to explicate the concepts of the theory.

The grounded theory portrays the post-positivist evaluator persona as an ""insulated expert"" who relies on observation, measurement and prediction of an external reality from an objective, ""insulated"" stance to construct and communicate knowledge to others. The more interpretive ""discursive deliberator"" persona co-constructs wisdom with others within a sustainable, intimate relationship where ""other"" and self are revealed and re-created in collaborative dialogue. The narrative offers three more detailed personas within each perspective to reveal the more subtle nuances as I challenge my assumptions related to practice and inquiry.

This study represents a qualitative, more interpretive study using grounded theory procedures to build a substantive theory from the emerging ""text"" of the inquiry. Using original textual data (email correspondence, fugitive documents, professional and research journals, etc.), initial coding provided general themes from which I could generate narrative vignettes from practice and inquiry. These vignettes offered an interpretation for deliberation with colleagues. The concepts of the theory emerged from the interpretive interplay of the original data, the vignettes and the deliberation that together created the ""text"" of the inquiry. A critique of the dissertation explores the limits of the document as an interpretive representation and discusses areas of concern for the interpretive researcher."

MPACT Scores for Cynthia A. Tananis

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2010-11-08 23:43:23

Advisors and Advisees Graph

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Students under Cynthia A. Tananis

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- Essam Abd El-Halim Hassan Mansour - University of Pittsburgh (2002)