1.7 Methodology: Overview

The study relies on a variety of means to probe and profile the beliefs of teachers. The potential of the Internets a tool for research is exploited by the present investigation which relies on an online discussion list and e-mail correspondence with some of the discussion list participants. The study also includes use of a more traditional research technique, that of a mail-out, open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with some of the questionnaire participants. The data are collected, analyzed and interpreted in relation to the historical and conceptual framework outlined in Chapter 2 of this study.

The present research aims to understand the meanings which individuals in a particular context have evolved. Specifically, it seeks to understand some of the underlying beliefs or implicit theories of teachers. It attempts to make sense, to understand, to make more explicit, this underlying aspect of the teacher's complex world. The socially-constructed realities or worlds of teachers constitute the object of this study. The role of the researcher as ethnographer is to observe these multiple realities, to articulate, interpret and reconstruct them (McMillan Schumacher, 1997). The methodology is described in detail in Chapter 4 of this study.