Notes (1) This is a collaborative review, so the authors are listed alphabetically. Les McLean lmclean@oise.utoronto.ca Professor, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto: OISE/UT (416) 923-6641, ext. 2478 Margaret Myers lmmyers@gtn.net Doctoral Student, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning OISE/UT Carol Smillie csmillie@oise.utoronto.ca Doctoral Student, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning OISE/UT Dale Vaillancourt dvaillancourt@oise.utoronto.ca Doctoral Student, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning OISE/UT (2)Quine uses the term "translation" in the usual sense of finding a representation in a language of a text expressed in another, broadening and deepening the discussion in Word and Object (1960). The term "translation manual" has been extended to describe how a researcher understands what people in a "foreign" culture say and do, how we make sense of field notes, for example. There will always be more than one possible translation manual for any situation, just as there is more than one possible translation of a text from English to French. That said, we may argue in favour of one particular translation manual, just as we may say we prefer one translation over another. (3) "We will also use the phrase 'evidence-instance' to indicate that the qualitative data are now being recast as evidential statements for confirmation." M&F, p. 41. (4) Recollected narrative-call it "personal communication". (5) "obervation" (p. 8). "inherit" instead of "inherent" (p. 16). "accept" where "except" is intended (p. 22). "was" when "were" is correct (p. 44). viewed (p. 45). "this not entail …" does need "does" (p. 94). "or" (not 'of') (p. 119). "intact" rather than "in tact" (p. 145). References are missing from the end of Chapter 3, e.g. Miller (1990)! (6) M&F argue in the same spirit as Clyde Coombs (1964), who distinguished between "observations" and "data" (he dealt only with observations in the form of numbers). What M&F call data, Coombs called observations, which only became data after application of one of the scaling techniques coming to fruition and/or being developed by Coombs. The spirit is that information, whether qualitative or quantitative, comes to every researcher first in a raw form that must be refined before it can be used to make inferences. (7) Some of Hempel's rules (from M&F, p. 11): 9.1 Df. An observation report B directly confirms a hypothesis H if B entails the development of H for the class of those objects which are mentioned in B. 9.2 Df. An observation report B confirms a hypothesis H if H is entailed by a class of sentences each of which is directly confirmed by B. 9.3 Df. An observation report B confirms a hypothesis H if it confirms a denial of H. 9.4 Df. An observation report B is neutral with respect to a hypothesis H if B neither confirms nor disconfirms H. (8) By a 'methodologically unique class', we mean a situation where the researcher employs one dominant form of data collection, such as interviews, for instance. While such a situation is probably not realistic, it is a logical possibility and for this reason is included. (p. 42). Return to: Purpose Description Related Works Rules Application of Rules Appreciation